US position on Japan island dispute a 'bet

VEILED US warnings to Beijing not to challenge Japan's control of disputed islands encouraged Tokyo's "dangerously right-leaning" government and "betrayed" Washington's vow of neutrality, Chinese state media has reported.

The comments came as Japan's coastguard said three Chinese government ships had entered Japanese territorial waters around the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday said the area around the islands in the East China Sea was under Japan's control and therefore protected under a US security treaty with Tokyo.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington, and without mentioning Beijing directly, she said the US opposed "any unilateral actions" to undermine Japanese authority over the islands.

But in a commentary piece, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua criticised Washington's position, saying it "cast doubts on (US) credibility as a responsible power in the region".

It was "unwise" for Washington "to throw support behind Japan in Tokyo's islands dispute with Beijing", Xinhua said, adding: "This unbalanced position has betrayed its declared intention to stay neutral on the issue."

The US proposal for "tighter military alliance with Japan will only encourage Tokyo's dangerously right-leaning tendency", Xinhua said.

But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted by the agency as saying that Beijing "has always advocated to resolve issues between relevant countries through bilateral dialogue and by peaceful means".

Three Chinese government surveillance vessels sailed in waters around the disputed islands on Saturday for nearly five hours but had all left Japanese waters by 1.52 pm (1552 AEDT), the Japan coastguard said.

China has repeatedly sailed into the waters since Japan nationalised the chain in September, a move that triggered anger and demonstrations in China.

The United States insists it is neutral on the ultimate sovereignty of the islands.

"We want to see China and Japan resolve this matter peacefully through dialogue," Clinton said on Friday.

"We do not want to see any action taken by anyone that could raise tensions or result in miscalculation that would undermine the peace, security and economic growth in this region."

China has persistently criticised the US position and the sending of maritime surveillance ships to the potentially gas-rich area is seen by experts as a way to contest the notion that Japan holds effective control.

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Record high radiation level found in fish

A FISH contaminated with radiation levels more than 2500 times the legal limit has been caught near Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, its operator says.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said caesium equivalent to 254,000 becquerels per kilogram - or 2540 times more than the government seafood limit - was detected in a "murasoi" fish.

The fish, similar to rockfish, was caught at a port inside the Fukushima plant, a TEPCO spokesman said.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was battered by a towering tsunami following a huge earthquake on March 11, 2011, causing reactor meltdowns which spewed radioactive contamination into the atmosphere.

Fishing around Fukushima was halted and the government banned beef, milk, mushrooms and vegetables from being produced in surrounding areas.

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India tightens surrogacy laws

INDIA has issued new rules barring foreign gay couples and single people from using surrogate mothers to become parents, according to a notice on the home ministry website.

Commercial surrogacy is a booming industry in India and in recent years the ranks of childless foreign couples have been swelled by gay partners and single people looking for a low-cost, legally easy route to parenthood.

The rules, circulated to Indian embassies late last year, say foreign couples seeking to enter into a surrogacy arrangement in India must be a "man and women (who) are duly married and the marriage should be sustained at least two years".

The directive adds the visa application must also state whether the couple's home country recognises surrogacy and give an assurance that the country will permit the entry of the child born from an Indian surrogate.

There have been several publicised cases of babies born out of cross-border surrogacy in recent years who have been trapped in citizenship limbo because their parents' countries refused to grant them passports.

Applicants seeking a surrogacy arrangement must also apply for a medical visa instead of a tourist visa, according to the rules posted on the home affairs ministry website.

"Entering into surrogacy arrangement under any other visa not sought for surrogacy is punishable under the Indian law," added a notice on the websites of Indian consulates abroad.

The changes were not publicly highlighted and only came to light in the Indian media on Friday. While the rules were drawn up last year, they were circulated to Indian missions abroad late in the year.

In recent years, India has become a popular destination for gay couples seeking children even though it remains a largely conservative country and only decriminalised consensual sex between homosexuals in 2011.

Accurate estimates of the turnover generated by surrogacy services are almost impossible to come by, but doctors and experts agree demand is growing rapidly.

The new visa rules come as draft legislation to regulate the industry has yet to be passed by parliament.

Critics have said lack of legislation governing surrogacy encourages "rent-a-womb" exploitation of young, poor Indian women.

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UN bracing for surge in displaced people

SOME 700,000 more Malians are expected to be displaced by the new wave of fighting in the restive country in the coming months, the UN refugee agency says.

"We believe that in the near future there could be up to 300,000 people additionally displaced inside Mali, and over 400,000 additionally displaced in the neighbouring countries," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

Those numbers came in addition to the existing 229,000 people already displaced inside the country and 147,000 refugees already in neighbouring nations, she said.

France launched an assault on January 11 to help the Malian army stop the advance of Islamist rebels who have been occupying northern Mali since April.

Since then the numbers of displaced people had been rising steadily, Fleming said, adding that her agency was urgently reinforcing its staff in and around the country to handle the situation.

Since the fighting and airstrikes began, 2744 Malian refugees had fled the country, with 1,411 entering Mauritania, 848 going to Burkina Faso and 485 arriving in Niger.

Many more are unable to leave Mali due to the high costs, Fleming said, pointing out that taking public transportation to Burkina Faso, for instance, cost around $US50 ($A47.64) - "for many equivalent to more than a month's earnings."

Even though the Malian army announced progress in fighting back the Islamist rebels' advance beyond their stronghold in the north, Fleming said it seemed unlikely the number of people uprooted by the conflict would subside any time soon.

"Nobody thinks this is going to be over tomorrow," she said, pointing to pre-existing differences and reports of growing ethnic tensions in the country.

It was important to secure funding and a plan for the expected surge in displaced Malians, she told AFP, although she acknowledged the numbers could turn out to be smaller and the displacement for many might be brief.

"We've been hearing horrific accounts" from refugees, she said, pointing out many had reported seeing Islamists impose strict Sharia punishments like executions and amputations.

The UN human rights office also listed a long line of abuses in the country dating back to the first fighting a year ago, including stonings, amputations, widespread rape and forced marriages of girls as young as 12 to Islamist rebels.

Children as young as 10 were being used as soldiers by extremist groups, OHCHR spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters, citing details from a recent report.

The UN's World Food Program meanwhile said on Friday that its distribution of food aid in northern Mali was still suspended because of a lack of security, but that it was managing to get aid to the capital Bamako.

Some 1.8 million people live in the affected northern areas and that a third of them are already "food-insecure".

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Swan warns against 'endless pessimism'

FEDERAL Treasurer Wayne Swan is determined to have a "positive debate" about the economy in the 2013 election year.

Mr Swan will tell a financial services forum in New York on Saturday (AEDT) that "endless pessimism" is a risk to the global recovery, "just as it weighs on business and consumer sentiment in Australia's economy".

"I am determined to have a positive debate in Australia in 2013 about how we lock in the gains we've made in the last five years, and set our economy and our community up for the next five years," the treasurer says, adding "the future of our region is remarkably bright".

Mr Swan's vow comes after the government and opposition appeared to blame each other for weak jobs data released on Thursday.

Acting Employment Minister Kate Ellis took the chance to score a political point by blaming the rise in the national unemployment rate on Queensland's conservative government, while Opposition Leader Tony Abbott linked the numbers to Labor's decision to back away from a budget surplus in 2012/13.

Mr Swan says turbulence in the world economy during the second half of 2012 forced Australia to write down in just four months the revenue losses it had expected over a full year.

Despite this, the government is still delivering one of the biggest fiscal consolidations in Australia's history.

"We'll continue our fiscal discipline despite the big revenue write-downs which have made a surplus unlikely this year," the treasurer says.

While the government's previously promised surplus is not likely to eventuate in 2012/13, the budget outcome will have "no bearing at all on our determination to make room for our medium-term priorities like the Gonski education reforms and the National Disability Insurance Scheme", Mr Swan says.

He reiterates that "savage cuts" to public spending would be detrimental to the economy.

"We'll keep doing what's right for our economy, protecting the jobs and livelihoods of the most vulnerable in our community, while making room for our priorities and investing for the nation's future," Mr Swan says.

The government plans to make a "thorough assessment" of its budget in early 2013, "methodically working through the facts to ensure we continue to manage the economy responsibly and support employment".

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'Very, very challenging' fire day in NSW

TWO properties have been destroyed, a property owner hospitalised and several firefighters have collapsed after a "very, very challenging" day of bushfires in NSW.

Despite plummeting temperatures bringing a cool change across the state on Friday night, firefighters were warning the battle against the blazes is far from over.

The number of total fires burning in NSW rose to 120 on Friday after a day of intense heat and gusts of up to 90km/h fanned the flames of existing fires and sparked new blazes.

Twenty-six of those were uncontained as of 11pm (AEDT) on Friday.

"It's been a really, really challenging day for firefighters across the state," an RFS spokeswoman told AAP.

"It didn't get into catastrophic, but it was up at the high end of extreme in a number of places.

"And while the cool change will certainly provide some relief, we've got many large bushfires burning that are not going to be wrapped up just because the temperatures drop."

Disaster struck in the Bega Valley on Friday evening after a new bushfire west of Merimbula destroyed two properties and two sheds in the Millingandi area.

It brings to 53 the number of properties destroyed in the devastating NSW fires this year.

That fire crossed the Princes Highway on Friday afternoon and was threatening more properties between Wolumla and Millingandi, with firefighters working desperately thorough the night to contain it, the RFS said.

At Nowra, a rural property owner was taken to hospital after an "erratic" fire at Barringella Creek swept through a farm and destroyed a shed on the town's outskirts.

The bushfire, burning 12km southwest of Nowra, was downgraded to 'watch and act' on Friday, but there were still concerns some properties could be at risk if the wind changed.

Temperatures across the state were well into the 40s, sparking a number of blazes, including a fast moving grassfire at Boorowa, east of Young.

Fears the town of 1000 people would come under threat were assuaged when the fire line closest to it was contained.

However, it then changed direction and was threatening properties at Douglas Gap and Campbellfields roads.

In Sydney, which recorded its hottest-ever temperature of 45.8C, a fire broke out in the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, sending smoke and burning embers across the northern suburbs.

Firefighters were expected to work through the night to protect properties in the area.

Meanwhile, fires in Campbelltown and Marsden Park in the west were contained relatively quickly.

The state's most damaging blaze in the Warrumbungle National Park west of Coonabarabran continued unabated throughout the day, with more than 170 firefighters battling the 46,000-hectare fire.

Also of concern was a fire started by a torched car near Cessnock, in the Hunter region, which caused the evacuation of some residents.

Rain brought some relief to conditions there on Friday night, but it also put paid to firefighters' backburning efforts.

A number of firefighters collapsed as they worked to protect homes from blazes in "furnace-like" conditions.

"We're having fires popping up all over the state," Rural Fire Service (RFS) Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said.

"We've had a number of firefighters collapse with heat exhaustion.

"It's been incredibly hot for them."

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) was predicting a cool change for much of NSW over the weekend, bringing much lower temperatures and a strong chance of rain.

"It's going to bring the fire danger ratings right down," a BoM spokesman said.

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Melbourne grassfire deemed suspicious

A GRASSFIRE that burnt through 10 hectares of land and threatened homes in the outer Melbourne suburb of Pakenham is being treated as suspicious, police say.

The CFA issued an emergency warning for Pakenham and Pakenham Upper as the blaze put homes in the area under direct threat on Thursday afternoon.

Residents near Army Road and Reynolds Road were told to implement their fire plans before the blaze was contained later on Thursday.

Police say they are investigating the blaze and are treating it as suspicious.

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Granville anniversary sparks funding call

ON the 36th anniversary of the Granville rail disaster, the rail workers' union is calling on the NSW government to reverse the underfunding of rail maintenance.

A ceremony will be held at Granville town hall on Friday to mark the anniversary of Australia's worst rail disaster, which left 83 dead.

The Sydney-bound train from Mount Victoria derailed and crashed into the Bold Street overpass at Granville in Sydney's west, on January 18, 1977.

Eighty-three people were killed and over 210 were injured after the bridge collapsed and crushed two passenger carriages.

A report into the crash concluded "derailment of some vehicle was almost inevitable so long as the poor condition of the track remained uncorrected".

Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) national secretary, Bob Nanva, on Friday said the lessons of Granville must never be forgotten.

"The Granville rail disaster will live in our memories forever," Mr Nanva said in a statement.

"We must ensure we never see another disaster on the same scale."

Mr Nanva referred to media reports that RailCorp senior executives warned the state government that continued cuts to maintenance funding would jeopardise the safety of the network.

Despite the warning, maintenance funding was cut in real terms in the first year of the O'Farrell government, he said.

"The anniversary of Granville is an appropriate moment for all of us to pause and commemorate the lives of the rail workers and commuters who died," Mr Nanva said.

"It is also an opportunity for the state government to reverse the underfunding of rail maintenance that we have seen in the last few years."

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Road rage may have sparked shooting

A MAN has been shot in a car park after an altercation with another man which may have been sparked by a road rage incident.

Paramedics were called to a supermarket car park on High Street, Lalor, in Melbourne's north, around 10pm (AEDT) where a 30-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.

Police were told the the man had been standing in the car park when he was approached by another man driving a black BMW and who produced a firearm and shot him after an argument.

The wounded man was taken to the Northern Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Investigators want to talk to anyone who may have seen a black BMW driving erratically or involved in a road rage incident prior to the shooting.

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TV campaign to tackle sugary drinks

HEALTH organisations are trying to take the fizz out of Australians' love of soft drinks.

Along with the launch of a new TV campaign to warn of the dangers of sugary beverages, they've also proposed a tax on drinks with high sugar levels.

The campaign, Rethink Sugary Drink, launched on Thursday, will encourage Australians to give up the soft drink habit and switch to water and reduced-fat milk.

The TV ad, borrowed from a similar New York campaign, is part of a call to action by the Cancer Council, Diabetes Australia and the National Heart Foundation to stem obesity rates.

They have called for a government tax on sugary drinks and asked schools and non-government organisations to limit their sale and availability.

Cancer Council Australia public health committee chair Craig Sinclair said a regular 600ml soft drink contains about 16 packs of sugar.

"Soft drinks seem innocuous and consumed occasionally they're fine, but soft drink companies have made it so they're seen as part of an everyday diet," Mr Sinclair said in a statement.

"They're often cheaper than bottled water and are advertised relentlessly to teenagers."

Sugary drinks including energy, fruit and sports drinks can cause weight gain and obesity, which are risk factors for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, the groups say.

"They're being consumed at levels that can lead to serious health issues for the population," said Mr Sinclair.

In additions to taxes, the group also recommends restricting the sale and marketing of sugary drinks to children at schools and limiting their availability in workplaces and public places.

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Tiny pill joins the firefighting effort

A LITTLE pill could rival the water-bombing helicopter called Elvis as the firefighter's new best friend.

The tiny ingestive capsule is changing the way Australian firefighters work on the front line.

The pill can relay an individual's core temperature in real time, giving a better understanding of the body's vulnerability to heat stress to protect firefighters.

Victoria's Country Fire Authority health and wellbeing officer Peter Langridge said the data gathered in a CFA trial had led to changes in firefighters' work patterns, including the length of time they are exposed to blazes.

About 50 CFA firefighters swallowed the data-gathering pill during a training exercise in which they evacuated 20 people from a burning medical centre.

The Equivital EQ02 LifeMonitor capsule used in the CFA trial is a plastic-coated pill containing a thermometer and small transmitter.

Core temperature measurements from the thermometer are fed through the transmitter to a device worn on the chest, which collects skin temperature, heart and respiration rate data, which is then sent to an external computer.

The CFA research has tested firefighters' core temperature when they are exposed to temperatures ranging from -3C to 124C, for about 20 minutes, Mr Langridge said.

Changes in the body's core temperature over time were analysed, giving researchers information about the danger periods.

"As the (external) temperature rises we see the core temperature going up earlier," Mr Langridge said.

The CFA looked for ways to assess core body temperature more accurately after the standard test - measuring temperature via the ear - was found to be ineffective.

"We were seeing firefighters that still looked heat-stressed, even though the temperature on the ear probe was showing normal," Mr Langridge said.

Firefighters working in extreme conditions during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria also succumbed to heat stress, despite following hydration procedures, he said.

This prompted action to find ways to better manage the condition, Mr Langridge said.

A heat-stressed firefighter can be treated in a number of ways, including applying wet towels to their arms, submerging the arms in water or placing ice packs placed under their armpits, or a combination of these, he said.

Research using the capsule will continue, with trials planned to test the device at temperatures ranging from 100C to 600C, Mr Langridge said.

The device was recently used to measure skydiver Felix Baumgartner's vital signs during his world-record jump to earth from space.

And for anyone who is wondering, the pill is usually expelled naturally from the body within one to two days of ingestion.

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Australian witness to chopper crash

AN Australian man has detailed how he sheltered from showering debris after a fatal helicopter crash in central London.

Patrick Gartland was cycling to work when the chopper struck a crane at a building site at Vauxhall on the southern bank of the River Thames about 8am (1900 AEST) Wednesday.

The crash killed two people and injured nine others.

Mr Gartland told Sky News that he and another cyclist took cover in a nearby bus shelter for up to 15 minutes as debris rained down.

"The helicopter was ablaze to the right of us," said the former Melbourne resident who moved to UK seven years ago.

"Watching the helicopter cartwheel down and the first realisation there's people in the helicopter and they're not going to survive," Mr Gartland said, relaying what went through his mind during the ordeal.

"And then you watch the helicopter crash and explode and then you're snapped back into reality with construction workers yelling for people to take cover and you realise 'I need to get away from this and protect my own safety.

"Your instincts kick in a little. Once we were under the safety of the bus shelter and you realise you're out of immediate danger, you start realising the gravity of what you've just witnessed."

Emergency service personnel say the pilot was the only person on board the chopper and that the second person killed and those injured were on the ground.

Mr Gartland said he was okay but had not yet contacted his Australian family and friends.

"I'm okay. It is a bit to take in. I'll be fine and I'll contact them in due course," he said.

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Lap-band patients maintain weight loss

HUNDREDS of obese patients who had lap-band surgery maintained significant weight loss more than a decade after the treatment, an Australian study shows.

More than 3000 patients who had lap-band surgery in Australia between 1994 and 2011 were analysed.

Of those, 714 had surgery at least 10 years ago and had maintained an average weight loss of 26kg.

There were similar results for 54 patients who were treated 15 years ago.

The study, published in the Annals of Surgery journal, found the average age of patients was 47 and 78 per cent were women.

No deaths occurred as a result of the surgery or follow-up operations, which were needed in about half of patients.

Weight loss associated with gastric banding was similar to that achieved with more invasive gastric bypass procedures, the research found.

The lap-band operations were carried out by Monash University's Professor Paul O'Brien and Associate Professor Wendy Brown, president of the Obesity Surgery Society of Australia and New Zealand (OSSANZ).

Prof O'Brien from the Monash's Centre for Obesity Research and Education said the research showed lap-band surgery was a safe and effective long-term solution for obesity.

He said access to weight-loss surgery in Australia remained limited because few patients were treated in the public health system, but this needed to be improved.

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Iran renews plan to send monkey into space

IRAN will try again to send a live monkey into space after a previous attempt failed in 2011, media reports say, quoting the space chief, who gave a launch date of before mid-February.

"The final tests for launching the capsule, carrying a monkey, have been completed," Iran's Space Organisation chief Hamid Fazeli said in remarks reported by the Mehr news agency.

Fazeli said the launch would take place during a 10-day period starting January 31, which marks the 34th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, the state television website reported.

Iran has already sent small animals into space - a rat, turtles and worms - but its previous attempt to send a live monkey into space failed in 2011, which was announced without explanation.

Fazeli said the monkey project would help Iran "implement the preparations of sending a man into space," which officials say is scheduled for 2020.

The previous project envisaged launching a capsule with life support using the Kavoshgar-5 rocket to an altitude of 120 kilometres for a 20-minute sub-orbital flight.

Iran says it has successfully launched three satellites - Omid in February 2009, Rassad in June 2011 and Navid in February 2012.

But it postponed, without explanation, the planned launch in May of another satellite called Fajr.

Iran's space program deeply unsettles Western nations, which fear it could be used to develop ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads they suspect are being developed in secret.

Tehran has repeatedly denied that its nuclear and scientific programs mask military ambitions.

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Granny dead after pool fall with toddler

A GRANDMOTHER has died and her one-year-old granddaughter is in hospital after they were both found unconscious in a backyard pool on the NSW south coast.

The 63-year-old Korean national had gone for a walk with the child strapped to her in a baby harness at an address in Dapto, south of Wollongong at about 2.30pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, a police spokesman told AAP.

Shortly after, the woman's grandson raised the alarm after finding the pair unconscious in a pool in the backyard.

The girl was resuscitated and taken to Wollongong Hospital, but the grandmother could not be revived, the spokesman said.

The woman was believed to suffer from a medical condition, and police do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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Man fatally stabbed in WA Kimberley

A WOMAN will remain in WA police custody overnight after a man was fatally stabbed in the Kimberley region.

Emergency services were called to the Mardiwah Loop Aboriginal Community, Halls Creek, just before 3pm (WST) on Tuesday following reports a man had been stabbed.

A 24-year-old man was taken to Halls Creek Hospital but died as a result of his injuries.

A 47-year-old woman was identified as a person of interest, police said, and taken into custody.

She will not be interviewed or charged until Wednesday.

The Major Crime Squad are flying to Halls Creek to investigate the death.

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France girds for new threats after Mali op

ARMED soldiers are on guard in Paris' subways, train stations and some of the world's most recognisable monuments to head off terror attacks after France's military launched an operation to push back al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in Mali.

Since the operation in Mali began on Friday, the soldiers have reinforced already tight security with a far more visible presence. Interior Minister Manuel Valls said France is well aware of the dangers of attacks from terrorists angry over the intervention. But he said he believed the long-term threat posed by the advance of the militant Islamist fighters in Mali was far greater, because it could become a potential training ground for terrorists.

Declaring France had "opened the gates of hell" with its assault, the rebels from the Sahel desert region that includes Mali threatened retribution on Monday.

"France is watching individuals who want to go to Afghanistan, Syria and the Sahel. We're watching those who could return here," Valls told the French television network BFM. "We're facing an exterior enemy and an interior enemy."

He said France had already fallen victim to attacks in recent months, referring to a French-born radical Islamist Mohammad Merah who targeted French soldiers and a Jewish school in the south, and a group of men accused of firebombing a kosher grocer in September.

The French government late last year passed a law barring citizens from training for terrorism abroad in response to the deadly attacks in the south by Merah, who received paramilitary training in Pakistan.

Marc Trevidic, a French judge who has investigated terrorism cases, said he was not worried about the threat of attacks in the short term.

"The Malian Islamists currently have other priorities than carrying out a terrorist attack in France," he told Le Parisien newspaper. But long term, he said, the threat is very real, especially given how easy it is to travel between France and Mali. "With this military intervention, we're on the front lines. Suddenly, France is a priority target."

Some 100,000 Malians are residents of France, and there are regular direct flights between Mali's capital, Bamako, and Paris.

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India rape suspect 'is a juvenile'

DOCUMENTS presented in a hearing indicate that a suspect in the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a New Delhi bus in December was a juvenile at the time of the attack, a court official present at the hearing says.

Two principals from the suspect's elementary school showed paperwork indicating that the suspect was a juvenile at the time of the attack, which would make him ineligible for the death penalty, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a gag order on the case.

A judge is expected to rule on the suspect's age in a January 28 hearing, the official said, adding that the suspect did not appear in court on Tuesday.

The suspect, who is not being identified by The Associated Press because he says he is 17, would face three years in a reform facility if convicted as a juvenile. A conviction as an adult could lead to his execution.

Five other men also have been charged in the case, which has put an international spotlight on sexual abuse against women in India. One of the five now says he is also a minor.

Police say the 23-year-old victim and a male friend boarded the bus on December 16 after seeing an evening movie. But the bus turned out to be off-duty and was being driven by a group of friends who, police say, attacked the couple and then took turns raping the woman. They also penetrated her repeatedly with a metal bar, causing massive internal injuries. The two were eventually dumped on the roadside. The woman died two weeks later in a Singapore hospital.

Figuring out the young suspect's age could be complicated. He is believed to lack a birth certificate - a common occurrence in India, where many people are born at home. In such cases, school records are often used as proof of age or identity.

There are also medical tests that can indicate a person's general age, though it's unclear if the technology would be able to give a precise age.

While sexual violence is believed to be a major problem across India, the issue has seldom been raised in a country where women are still often regarded as second-class citizens. Victims are often blamed for sexual attacks - by their families or authorities - and the shame of rape keeps many women from reporting such attacks at all.

The bus rape, though, has drawn protests and intense media attention. Rapes have become front-page news nearly every day across the country, with demands that police do more to protect women and that the courts treat sexual violence seriously.

Late on Monday, more than 150 people gathered outside a school in the western state of Goa to protest the rape of a second grade student.

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Ruby arrives at court for Berlusconi trial

The dancer at the centre of Silvio Berlusconi's sex trial is expected to testify for the first time. Source: AAP

THE Moroccan woman at the centre of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex-for-hire trial has arrived at court to testify as a witness for the first time as defence lawyers sought to shut down the trial because of Italy's election campaign.

Karima el-Mahroug was ordered by the court to appear after failing to show on two previous dates, reportedly because she was in Mexico on holiday. She has been called as a defence witness.

Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby, when she was 17, and then trying to cover it up. Both deny sexual contact.

El-Mahroug is the last witness due to testify, meaning that a verdict could come before the February 24-25 elections in which Berlusconi is heading a centre-right coalition.

But Berlusconi's defence lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, filed a motion to suspend the proceeding, citing the demands of the election campaign.

The prosecution opposed the request, arguing that Berlusconi is not the formal head of his party and that he has infrequently shown up for trial anyway, as is his right.

The judges were deliberating. A decision on the motion was expected later on Monday.

El-Mahroug looked relaxed, chatting with her lawyer.

She wore a dark parka with fur trim and carried a fashionable Louis Vuitton handbag.

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Apple cutting orders for iPhone 5

APPLE shares are falling in premarket trading after The Wall Street Journal reported the company has cut its orders for iPhone 5 components due to weaker-than-expected demand.

The newspaper says two people it did not identify by name told it that Apple's first-quarter orders for iPhone 5 screens have dropped to about half of what the company had planned to order.

The report says one of the sources told the newspaper the US-based company has also cut orders for components other than screens. The Journal says it was told Apple notified the suppliers of the order cut last month.

Apple didn't immediately return an email seeking comment.

Apple shares dropped $US18.81, or 3.6 per cent, to $US501.49 in premarket trading on Monday.

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Mali town falls to Islamists

FRENCH Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says Islamist rebels in Mali have seized the town of Diabali, 400 kilometres north of the capital, in the government-held south.

"We knew there would be a counter-offensive towards the west," he told BFM Television on Monday.

"They have taken Diabali, which is a small town, after heavy fighting and resistance from the Malian army, which was insufficiently equipped at that exact point."

A local government official in the area told AFP: "The Islamists are in the town of Diabali. They are numerous. This morning they exchanged fire with Malian soldiers then the shooting stopped and the Islamists entered the town."

A Malian security source said the Islamists had "come from the Mauritanian border where they were bombed by the French army."

A regional security source confirmed the attack, which he said was being led by Abou Zeid, a leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

"They left the Mauritanian border to avoid raids by French planes," he said.

The French offensive kicked off on Friday to block the advance of Islamist forces towards the capital from their bases in the north, which they have controlled since last April.

On Sunday, French Rafale fighter planes struck bases used by al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Gao and Kidal, two of the main towns in northern Mali.

Sixty Islamists were killed in Gao alone on Sunday, according to residents and a regional security source.

French warplanes attacked jihadist positions in the town of Nampala some 50 kilometres north of Diabali, as well as a base in Lere, near the border with Mauritania.

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Russians march against anti-US adoption

AT least 20,000 Russians have marched through Moscow protesting a ban on US adoptions of Russian orphans which has led to a further split in an already polarised society.

The protest dubbed "the March Against Scoundrels" was aimed at naming and shaming the MPs who fast-tracked the anti-adoption bill through the lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

Besides slogans such as "Stop Lying," participants carried pictures of MPs Alina Kabayeva, a former gymnast, and Irina Rodnina, Russia's Olympic gold figure skating champion, along with others who voted for the measure.

The word "shame!" was splashed across their portraits in red.

The Duma passed the bill without debate in a quick 420-7 vote during a third and final reading in December.

"I am against our Duma and the thieving authorities," Yulia Shamanova, a young mother, told AFP.

"This is a very shameful law that should be cancelled."

Moscow authorities said up to 20,000 people could participate in the protest amid a heavy police presence and temperatures of minus 12C.

At least 20,000 took part in the march, an AFP photographer said, while leftist activist Sergei Udaltsov said up to 50,000 had turned up.

City police put the turnout at just under 10,000.

"A little goes a long way," said another march participant Alexei Sharapanyuk.

"Sooner or later something will change in the country. It is no longer possible to tolerate this."

The latest anti-Kremlin march comes after President Vladimir Putin signed off on a measure that introduced a blanket ban on US adoptions in reprisal for Washington legislation targeting Russian officials who have allegedly committed rights abuses.

Critics say the measure will rob many disabled orphans of the chance to receive adequate medical treatment abroad and triggered a rare split in the government.

Scores of Russians had said they planned to join the march for the first time since unprecedented protests against Putin's 13-year rule first shook Moscow in response to widespread fraud during parliamentary elections in December 2011.

Since then the protests, which at their height gathered up to 120,000 near the Kremlin have died down, with Putin launching a tough crackdown on civil society following his presidential comeback in May.

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Philippines bans guns ahead of elections

A 150-DAY ban on the carrying of firearms outside residences across the Philippines has begun to prevent violence that could erupt during May 13 elections in a country awash with weapons and plagued by a history of deadly poll rivalries.

Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr said the ban, which started Sunday and ends June 12, suspends all permits to carry firearms in public areas and exempts only top officials, on-duty troops and police, and people facing threats. Violators could be jailed up to six years.

Election and police officials staged a march in metropolitan Manila and inspected security checkpoints to dramatise their call for peaceful mid-term elections - an often-futile goal in a country where rivalry for power among old and new political clans has been blamed for electoral violence and fraud in past years.

In the country's worst elections-related violence, 58 people, including 32 media workers, were killed by more than 100 gunmen in a 2009 massacre blamed on a political rivalry between two powerful clans in southern Maguindanao province.

Army-backed police contingents began to enforce the ban on guns and armed bodyguards, especially in about 800 towns in 15 provinces, including Maguindanao, considered security hotspots because of a recent history of election violence or the presence of private armed groups, Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said.

Police have identified at least 60 privately maintained militias across the country, along with 43 criminal gangs, which could be tapped by candidates in the elections, Sarmiento said, adding that a government crackdown was under way to hunt down and dismantle those groups.

About 50 million Filipinos have registered to elect more than 18,000 national and local government officials, including nearly 300 members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, on May 13.

As in the 2010 presidential election, optical counting machines will be used to tally votes to speed up the notoriously slow hand-counting of ballots that fostered cheating, violence and unrest in the past, Sarmiento said.

But such automation cannot prevent vote-buying and intimidation, he said.

"There's danger because of the armed groups," Sarmiento said. "My other fear is there might be massive vote-buying."

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Radical Vic gov plan for high-rise estates

MELBOURNE'S public housing of high-rise estates built on prime land in popular inner-city suburbs is set for its biggest shake-up in decades, Fairfax Media says.

There is a proposal to the state government to knock down the towers and build an equal mix of public and private housing developments.

Fairfax says in order to underwrite such a radical overhaul, the state government could allow shops and offices to be built on the border of estates in North Richmond and Fitzroy.

The paper says the new estates are being developed in partnership with private enterprise, and the state government had received $175.3 million to build 547 homes on the Fitzroy, Prahran and North Richmond estates through the federal government's Housing Affordability Fund.

The departmental brief is due to be endorsed by Housing Minister Wendy Lovell by January 21.

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