'Syria collapse threatens region'

THE UN envoy for the Syria crisis is warning that further deterioration of conditions in the country could send an unbearable stream of refugees into neighbouring countries.

Speaking Saturday after meeting in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, peace envoy Lakhdar Braihmi said "if you have a panic in Damascus and if you have 1 million people leaving Damascus in a panic, they can go to only two places - Lebanon and Jordan. Neither Lebanon or Jordan can support without breaking 500,000 refugees."

Mr Brahimi said that "If the only alternative is really hell or a political process, then we have got all of us to work ceaselessly for a political process."

Neither official gave indication of significant progress toward resolving the 21-month-old conflict in which an estimated 40,000 people have died.

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Strong interest in apprenticeship program

ALMOST 500 potential apprentices have registered for the Gillard government's Kickstart program since it was launched two weeks ago.

The $57.5 million Kickstart program was designed to create up to 21,000 extra apprenticeships in the construction industry.

Tradies who take on a new apprentice before the end of February will get a bonus $3350 from the commonwealth, tripling the upfront incentive paid to employers in the first year.

Minister for Skills Senator Chris Evans said applications had been received from across the country, with the strongest demand so far in carpentry, plumbing and engineering fabrication.

"This is the perfect opportunity for school leavers in particular to get a head start on a successful and rewarding career in the industry," Senator Evans said.

"We will need more skilled tradespeople in the housing sector as we approach the predicted upturn in 2014 and 2015."

The three east coast mainland states have registered the most interest, with more than 200 potential apprentices applying in Victoria, 112 in NSW and 109 in Queensland.

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FBI releases Marilyn Monroe files

THE FBI has re-issued files it kept on Marilyn Monroe, removing dozens of redactions from entries related to surveillance of the actress for communist ties.

A large section of the files obtained by The Associated Press focuses on Monroe's 1962 trip to Mexico and her emerging friendship with Frederick Vanderbilt Field, who was disinherited from his wealthy family for leftist views.

Field was Monroe's guide on a trip in which she furniture-shopped for her new home.

The AP appealed the redactions in the file as part of a series of stories on the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death in 1962, but the bureau previously said it no longer had access to the files.

The bureau issued a new version after a request for details on the records' locations.

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Film composer Bennett dies aged 76

SIR Richard Rodney Bennett, a British composer, pianist and arranger who was nominated three times for Academy Awards, has died in New York City at age 76.

His publisher Novello & Co said in a statement that Bennett died on Dec. 24 following a brief illness.

He was nominated for Oscars for the scores for Far from the Madding Crowd in 1967, Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971 and Murder on the Orient Express in 1974.

A student of Pierre Boulez in 1957-58, Bennett's work evolved from the avant-garde to a more tonal style. As a pianist, he performed with singer Claire Martin and he recorded music by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen.

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'Worst of euro debt crisis over'

GERMANY'S finance minister says the worst of euro area's debt crisis appears to be over after three years of worries over Greece and other members of the group of 17 European Union countries that use the single currency.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted as telling the Bild newspaper: "I think we have the worst behind us."

Mr Schaeuble says Greece and others have recognised that they can only overcome the crisis by implementing reforms and that the Greek government - which has received two bailouts - "knows that it cannot financially overburden the other euro states".

Some in Germany have expressed concern about the economy of neighboring France. But Mr Schaeuble says the government there "knows very well that every country must constantly conduct reforms to remain competitive."

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Mubarak to be taken to hospital

EGYPT'S state prosecutor has ordered imprisoned former dictator Hosni Mubarak to be transferred to a military hospital after his health deteriorated, a source at the prosecutor's office said.

Mubarak, serving a life sentence over the killings of protesters, was briefly taken to hospital on December 19 for scans after he fell in his prison bathroom.

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Anti-terrorism hotline reaches 10 years

A NATIONWIDE anti-terrorism hotline set up in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombing was launched 10 years ago today.

The National Security Hotline was established to collect information on threats to national security and pass them to policing and intelligence agencies.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said in a statement on Thursday the hotline had received almost 170,000 calls since it was launched a decade ago.

"Calls to the hotline continue to make important contributions to major counter-terrorism investigations in Australia," Ms Roxon said.

"Our security agencies report that terrorism continues to present the most immediate threat to the security of Australians and Australian interests.

"Every little bit of information counts. Information from the public can and does make that extra bit of difference in exposing and preventing terrorism."

The hotline commenced operation on December 27, 2002, two-and-a-half months after the Bali bombing in which 202 people including 88 Australians were killed.

Members of the public who provide information can choose to remain anonymous if they wish, and can contact operators 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Since inception the hotline has evolved with technology, allowing the public to report suspicious activity via email, text or picture messages, computer screenshots and multimedia content.

"It's important that if a member of the public sees something that they feel isn't right or out of the ordinary that they call the hotline and report it," Ms Roxon said.

"It's better to be safe than sorry. The smallest piece of information from the public could help us to complete the picture and prevent a terrorist attack."

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China suspends officials after 11 kids die

A CITY in east China has suspended 12 officials, including a vice mayor, policemen and education administrators, after 11 children were killed in a road wreck involving an overloaded vehicle.

The Monday accident occurred in Guixi city, Jiangxi province when the overloaded mini-van plunged into a pond as it was transporting the four- to six-year-old children to kindergarten.

Kindergarten principal Zhou Chune, who was driving the van, and four other children survived the accident. Zhou has been taken into police custody, the Guixi city government said on its website.

The city further announced on Wednesday that 12 officials, including a vice mayor, several traffic police officials and numerous Guixi school administrators had been suspended from work pending an investigation into the accident.

On Monday, locals complained that the police response to the wreck was too slow and could have contributed to the high death toll.

China's roads are highly dangerous, with traffic laws and safety widely flouted and fatal accidents involving overloaded vehicles routine.

Nationwide concern over overcrowded school buses became a focus in December last year when 15 primary school children died after the bus they were travelling in rolled into a river in east China's Jiangsu province.

That accident came after 19 children died when their school bus collided head on with a truck in Gansu province weeks earlier.

Some 64 children had been crammed into the nine-seater bus with the tragedy prompting authorities to order checks on school transport across the country.

Last year, more than 62,000 people died in traffic accidents in China, state media said, citing police figures.

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Canberra homes damaged by storm

DOZENS of people have called for help after a thunderstorm battered Canberra.

The ACT State Emergency Service (ACTSES) received 30 calls for help on Christmas Eve.

In Oxley, families were forced from their homes because of leaking gas.

Four houses had to be evacuated after two gas leaks were discovered on Newman Morris Circuit.

Firefighters put a 50 to 100-metre exclusion zone in place as they waited for repairmen to arrive.

In Florey, a fallen tree caused damage to several houses in Summerville Crescent.

Part of the tree crashed through the roof of one home and into the lounge room.

ACT Rural Fire Service crews, the ACTSES and ACT Fire & Rescue will help families clean up through the night.

Just before 7pm (AEDT) on Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for Canberra and Queanbeyan.

The immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed, the Bureau said, but a more general thunderstorm warning remained in place for parts of NSW and the ACT.

Authorities later said the Oxley residents were being allowed to return to their homes.

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Eleven children die in China road accident

A VAN has plunged into a roadside pond in a rural area of China, killing 11 children.

Three children died at the scene of the accident in Guixi city in Jiangxi province and another eight died later in hospital, said an official from the propaganda office of the city's Communist Party committee.

The victims were aged from four to six years old.

Four children survived, said the official.

Police detained the driver for questioning and were investigating the cause of the accident, the official Xinhua News Agency.

Photos on the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post's website showed a silver minivan partially submerged in a grassy pond, with one of its three windows on the right side broken.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy said in a statement that cited no sources that the van was made to carry seven people but was overloaded with 17. The human rights group said it took 70 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Serious traffic accidents are common in China, due to poorly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

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UN envoy worried after talks with Assad

THE international envoy tasked with pushing to end Syria's civil war says the situation is "worrying" after discussing the crisis with President Bashar Assad.

In brief comments to reporters after meeting the Syrian leader at the presidential palace in Damascus, Lakhdar Brahimi said he and Assad exchanged views on the conflict and discussed possible steps forward, which he did not disclose.

"The situation in Syria is still worrying and we hope that all the parties will go toward the solution that the Syrian people are hoping for and look forward to," Brahimi said.

Syria's state news agency quoted Assad as saying his government supports "any effort in the interest of the Syrian people which preserves the homeland's sovereignty and independence".

Brahimi has apparently made little progress toward brokering an end to the conflict since starting his job in September, mostly because both sides adamantly refuse to talk to each other.

The government describes the rebels as foreign-backed terrorists set on destroying the country. The opposition says that forces under Assad's command have killed too many people for him to be part of any solution.

Brahimi's two-day visit was to end later Monday. It is his third to Damascus as an envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League.

The security situation in Damascus and elsewhere in the country has declined since Brahimi's previous visits. Instead of flying in to the Damascus International Airport as he did on earlier visits, Brahimi drove to Damascus over land from Beirut because of the fighting near the Syrian capital's airport.

Reports by anti-regime activists of the airstrike Sunday on a bakery in the central town of Halfaya that killed scores of people also cast pall over Brahimi's visit.

Amateur videos posted online showed the bodies of many dead and wounded scattered in a street.

On Monday, Syria's state news service blamed the attack on "an armed terrorist group" - its shorthand for the rebels - accusing them of filming the aftermath to "frame the Syrian army."

In the videos, however, armed rebels are clearly among those tending to the dead and wounded.

Anti-regime activists say the civil war has killed more than 40,000 people since March 2011.

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India and Russia sign major aircraft deal

RUSSIA and India have signed deals for military aircraft estimated to be worth several billion dollars during Russian President Vladimir Putin's day-long summit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Ten agreements were signed during the summit, including a contract for the supply of 42 Russian Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets to be manufactured under licence in India, the Indian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

A separate contract was signed for the delivery of 71 Mi-17 V5 attack helicopters.

Analysts estimated the deals to be worth about $A3 billion.

An agreement was also signed between India's Elcom Systems and Vertoleti Rassi for setting up a joint venture in India for the manufacture of Russian helicopters.

"Russia is a key partner in our efforts to modernise our armed forces and enhance our defence preparedness," Singh said.

Russia supplies 60 to 70 per cent of India's defence equipment, and the two countries have embarked on several joint ventures, including development and production of supersonic BrahMos missiles.

In recent years, however, France's Dassault Rafale and US-based Boeing have won contracts for supplying military aircraft.

The two leaders also discussed trade, investment, co-operation in the nuclear energy sector and the situation in Afghanistan, they said at a press briefing.

India and Russia have been trying to boost trade and investment and expand it in areas other than defence. Two-way trade stood at $A7.25 billion in 2009 and was estimated at $A10 billion in 2012, the Indian government said.

Monday's agreements included a memorandum of understanding between the Russia Foundation for Direct Investments and the State Bank of India to promote up to $A2 billion of direct investment between the two countries.

The other pacts signed aimed at boosting co-operation in the fields of science and technology, information technology, pharmaceuticals and cultural exchanges.

Singh and Putin discussed a nuclear energy plant at Kudankulam in southern India, which is being built with Russian assistance.

The first two units are near completion, but the third and the fourth unit have run into trouble with India enacting a nuclear liability law that Russia said would affect the price agreed for the project.

No details were given of the Kudankulam discussions, with Singh saying: "Negotiations for the construction of units three and four at Kudankulam have made good progress."

The two sides also discussed regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and West Asia.

"We reviewed the ongoing developments in Afghanistan and agreed to work together against threats posed by extremist ideologies and drug trafficking," Singh said.

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Xstrata hikes cost estimate for PNG mine

SWISS mining giant Xstrata says it will cost $US300 million ($A290 million) more than previously expected to develop the Frieda River copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

The Swiss company had, according to a statement, handed over a feasibility study to its local partner on the project, Highlands Pacific, showing that it now expects the total investments to tick in at $US5.6 billion, compared with a previous estimate two years ago of $US5.3 billion.

Xstrata, which owns nearly 82 per cent of the project, also said it had delivered a "Study Programme Report" examining the possibility of providing electricity to the mine through a gas-fired transmission line rather than the previously proposed hydro-electric dam.

"It also identified the potential for additional capital savings in relation to waste management," Paul Gow, Xstrata's manager of the project, said in the statement, pointing out the potential savings could reduce investments to $US5.0 billion.

In a separate statement, Highlands Pacific said the estimated investment increase was in part due to the depreciation of the US dollar in recent years - something that has significantly raised costs for a number of other new mining projects around the world as well.

Last June, Xstrata hinted it might consider selling its participation in the project, as it re-evaluated its global activities.

The Frieda River mine is expected to produce 204,000 tonnes of copper and 305,000 ounces of gold over a 20-year mine life, according to Xstrata, which began managing the project in 2007.

Highlands Pacific said it and Xstrata were set to hold discussions with the Papua New Guinea government next year to discuss equity ownership, permits and when project development can begin.

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Egypt opposition cries fraud in referendum

EGYPT'S opposition says it will appeal a referendum that voted in a new constitution backed by ruling Islamists, vowing to keep up a struggle that has spawned weeks of protests and damaging instability.

Polling "fraud and violations" skewed the results of the two-stage referendum, the final leg of which was held on Saturday, the National Salvation Front said.

"We are asking the (electoral) commission to investigate the irregularities before announcing official results," scheduled for Monday, a Front member, Amr Hamzawy, told a Cairo news conference.

"The referendum is not the end of the road. It is only one battle," said another member, Abdel Ghaffer Shokr. "We will continue the fight for the Egyptian people."

Germany immediately backed the call for a transparent investigation into the results. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "The new constitution can only meet with acceptance if the process of its adoption is beyond reproach."

But Westerwelle said it was "not the power of the street but rather the spirit of compromise and tolerance that should determine the way forward for Egypt".

State media and President Mohamed Morsi's supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood said the constitution was passed with the support of nearly two-thirds of voters, based on unofficial tallies.

Opposition to the charter fuelled demonstrations for the past month, some of them violent, such as clashes that wounded 62 people in the second city of Alexandria on Friday, the day before the final round of voting.

The army has deployed troops to reinforce police since December 5 clashes outside the presidential palace in Cairo killed eight people and injured more than 600.

Morsi and Islamists backing the charter say it is necessary to restore stability after the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

But the opposition sees the new constitution as a wedge to usher in creeping Islamic law through a weakening of human rights, particularly women's rights, and undermine the independence of the judiciary.

It accuses Morsi of steamrolling through the referendum without consensus on the charter, and argues that a low voter turnout of around 32 per cent undermined the plebiscite's legitimacy.

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