French-led troops in Mali seize airport

FRENCH-LED troops have seized the airport and a key bridge serving the Islamist stronghold of Gao in a major boost to a 16-day-old offensive to rout al-Qaeda-linked rebels from Mali's sprawling desert north.

The stunning advance came as the extremist Muslim group controlling Gao since June said it was ready for talks to free a 61-year-old French hostage kidnapped in November.

In a parallel movement, Chadian troops deployed in Mali's eastern neighbour Niger started rolling towards the border to join a contingent of Niger soldiers as part of African efforts to boost the French-led offensive.

"They are a very big contingent and they have tanks and four-wheel drives with machineguns," a Niger security source said.

It was not clear whether they were set to cross the border, which lies only 100km from Gao.

France on Saturday confirmed the capture of the airport and the Wanbary bridge at Gao but said fighting was continuing in Gao itself.

The airport is located about 6km east of Gao, while the bridge lies at the southern entrance to the town, held by the al-Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).

Sources said earlier that the Islamists had left Gao in the wake of the French-led military offensive on January 11 to stop a triad of al-Qaeda-linked groups from pushing southward from their northern bastions towards Bamako.

An alliance of Tuareg rebels who wanted to declare an independent homeland in the north and hardline Islamist groups seized the northern towns of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal in April last year.

The Islamist groups include MUJAO, Ansar Dine, a homegrown Islamist group, and al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, of which MUJAO is an offshoot.

The Islamists then sidelined the Tuaregs to implement their own Islamic agenda. Their harsh interpretation of sharia law has seen transgressors flogged, stoned and executed, and they have forbidden music and television and forced women to wear veils.

The MUJAO said it was ready for negotiations to release Gilberto Rodriguez Leal, a French national of Portuguese origin who was kidnapped in western Mali.

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Number of new Aussies up on Australia Day

A RECORD number of people will become citizens this Australia Day, marking the end of the migrant journey and the start of their new lives in Australia, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen says.

Mr Bowen says 17,059 people from 145 countries will become Australian citizens on Saturday, with 430 ceremonies planned across the nation.

Australia Day is always the most popular day for citizenship ceremonies, he says.

"Australia Day is a special day for all Australians to come together to celebrate what is great about our nation - our rich history and our promising future," Mr Bowen said in a statement.

"It is also a fitting opportunity for all of us - whether Australians by birth or by choice - to recognise our common bond and unique diversity while celebrating the privileges and responsibilities of Australian citizenship."

Queensland will naturalise the most people - almost 5000.

Brisbane City Council will host the largest single ceremony at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, where about 1200 people will become Australians.

NSW and Victoria will each welcome 3800 new citizens, South Australia 1300, Western Australia 2500, Tasmania 320 and the Northern Territory 260.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Julia Gillard will confer citizenship on 22 people in the national flag-raising and citizenship ceremony in Canberra.

"On behalf of the Australian government and the people of Australia, I congratulate all new citizens as they mark the end of their migrant journey and the start of their new lives as Australians," Mr Bowen said.

More than four-and-a-half million people have become Australian citizens since the first ceremony in 1949, he said.

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Britain warns of Benghazi threat

BRITAIN'S Foreign Office has urged its nationals to leave the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi immediately, saying it has become aware of a "specific and imminent threat to Westerners" there.

The warning came a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave an emotional appearance before Congress about the attack on the US mission in Benghazi on September 11 that killed the US ambassador and three other people.

The Foreign Office has been advising against travel to most of the country since last September, but has now stepped up its warning.

A spokesman said on Thursday: "We are now aware of a specific and imminent threat to westerners in Benghazi, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately.

"We have updated our travel advice to reflect this. The British Embassy in Tripoli has been in contact with British nationals for whom we have contact details to alert them to the advice."

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Spanish newspaper sorry for Chavez bungle

A TOP Spanish newspaper has apologised after publishing a front-page photograph supposedly of ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in his hospital bed, and then discovering the patient was someone else.

El Pais, Spain's best selling newspaper and one of the most influential in the Spanish-speaking world, said Thursday's issue of the newspaper was recalled and the photograph remained on its online site for about half an hour. Some copies of paper were sold before distribution was halted.

The dramatic photograph, which claimed to show Chavez lying in a Cuban hospital after his cancer operation with tubes emerging from his mouth, sparked a furious reaction from Venezuela.

"It is as grotesque as it is false," Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said in a comment on his official Twitter account. The photograph was actually taken from a video of an operation posted on YouTube, he said.

"El Pais apologises to its readers for the harm caused. The newspaper has opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of what happened and the errors that may have been committed in verifying the photograph."

El Pais said it received the photo from the Gtres Online news agency, which claimed the image was of the Venezuelan leader.

It stressed that the caption on the photograph had emphasised that El Pais was unable to independently verify the circumstances, the place and date of the photograph.

El Pais said print editions of the newspaper could be unavailable to readers because of the interruption to distribution.

Chavez, who has been convalescing in Cuba since his fourth round of cancer surgery, has not been seen in public since December 10 and official information about his health has been sketchy.

The Venezuelan leader was too ill to attend his scheduled inauguration on January 10, but in recent days officials have said he has been making encouraging progress.

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Syria TV shows Assad at religious ceremony

SYRIA'S embattled President Bashar al-Assad has been shown on state television attending prayers at a mosque in a northern district of Damascus to mark the Prophet Mohammed's birthday.

The leader was shown in a live broadcast kneeling in Al-Afram mosque flanked by Syria's mufti, the highest religious authority in the country, and the religious endowments minister.

The minister, Mohammed Abdel Settar, earlier called for "million man prayers" at mosques on Friday to appeal for the re-establishment of security in the country, rocked by a deadly anti-regime uprising since March 2011.

"Prayers will be held after Friday services in Syria's mosques with the appeal for a return to security and safety in the homeland," Settar said, quoted by state news agency SANA.

The last time Assad appeared in public was for a rare speech to supporters on January 6, in which he dismissed calls for his removal and said he had no partners with whom to negotiate for an end to the 22-month conflict.

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Spending down in December: CBA study

EDS: THIS STORY IS NOT FOR USE UNTIL 0001 AEDT, Thursday, January 24, 2012

By Caroline Smith

SYDNEY, Jan 24 AAP - Australian consumers are still cautious with their money.

Spending fell 1.9 per cent in December, seasonally adjusted, according to Commonwealth Bank's business sales indicator (BSI), released on Thursday.

After a rise of 2.4 per cent in November, it reflects the volatile trend for spending throughout 2012.

But while seasonally-adjusted spending was weak, the more stable trend estimate rose 0.3 per cent in December, after also rising 0.3 per cent in November and 0.4 per cent in October.

CBA local business banking general manager, operations and sales strategy, Lex Thornton said Australians still seemed reluctant to spend.

"Although the overall economic picture showed signs of improvement in the latter half of 2012, consumers are still proceeding with trepidation," he said.

"If consumers remain prudent, it is unlikely that we will see any consistent or significant spending trends form in the near future.

"For 2013, it is important that businesses make sure they have solid processes and plans in place to navigate future volatility."

Of the 20 industries included in the BSI study, transportation was the strongest performer, rising 1.8 per cent in December, while government services rose 1.4 per cent in trend terms.

However, 12 sectors contracted, with service providers, hotels and motels and automobiles and vehicle rentals the weakest - down 3.6 per cent, 1.0 per cent, and 0.9 per cent, respectively.

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Miners worried about China slowing: report

THE mining industry is worried a potential slowdown in China and is making less effort to attract the most qualified workers, a report shows.

The global survey of 374 mining companies comes only days after official Chinese data showed the economy for Australia's largest trading partner grew by 7.8 per cent in the year to December 2012.

The result was an improvement on the previous quarter but the annual Mining Executive Insights report for 2012, by US industrial firm Ventyx, shows the resource sector is cautious about the global economy.

"Encouraging signs of new growth, albeit limited, in North America are offset by uncertainty in the EU and a potential slowdown of the Chinese economy, all of which translate into unpredictability for the mining sector," the report said.

As a result, mining companies are shifting from finding the most qualified workers to improving efficiencies.

Mining companies are also focusing more on expanding operations at existing sites instead of developing new sites, citing regulatory burdens as an impediment to ramping up new operations.

When it comes to challenges, workforce safety was cited as the most important concern for miners, with 31 per cent of surveyed recipients nominating it as their top priority.

This was followed by managing capital projects (25 per cent), maximising production effectiveness (21 per cent) and equipment reliability (8 per cent).

The report did not reveal which mining companies had taken part in the study, but coal, iron ore and copper operators were surveyed.

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Man's body found in Sydney car park

POLICE are appealing for information following the discovery of man's body in the car park of a Sydney shopping centre.

Police said the body of a man, aged in his 50s, was found in the inner city car park on Broadway at about 5.20pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.

Despite attempts to revive the man, he was not able to be resuscitated, police said.

A crime scene was established, and investigators are awaiting a post mortem to determine how the man died.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Airlines profit from EU carbon tax freeze

AIRLINES have made up to half a billion euros in windfall profits by passing on a carbon surcharge to travellers despite an EU decision to freeze its controversial carbon tax, environmentalists say.

Green group Transport and Environment said on Tuesday that airlines chalked up extra revenues estimated at 486 million euros ($A620 million) even though EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard in November decided to "stop the clock" on an EU carbon tax angering the global aviation industry.

She offered to freeze the measure for a year on flights to and from non-European nations amid hopes of negotiating a global CO2 emissions in the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

But Transport and Environment said that airlines throughout the year had passed on the cost of their permits to pollute to passengers even though 85 per cent of the permits were allotted free, enabling carriers to make up to 1.3 billion euros in windfall profits in 2012.

And the EU freeze had enabled them to make extra profits, the group said.

"The "stopping of the clock" proposal turns revenues raised by airlines to cover the costs of their CO2 permits into additional windfalls," it said.

Asked for comment, Hedegaard's spokesman said "all we can do is ask for greater transparency in tariffs," said Isaac Valero, spokesman for Hedegaard.

The EU imposed the scheme on January 1 last year, but 26 of ICAO's 36 members, including India, Russia, China and the United States, opposed the move, saying it violated international law.

The EU tax forces airlines operating in the bloc, whatever their flag, to buy 15 per cent of their carbon emissions, or 32 million tonnes, to help battle global warming.

Pay-up time however was due only from 2013, once billing for 2012 had been completed.

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Bolshoi chief undergoes plastic surgery

THE Bolshoi ballet's artistic director has undergone successful plastic surgery following an acid attack that left the former dancer barely able to see the fingers on his hand.

Doctors said Sergei Filin was receiving family visits on Tuesday after undergoing a high-tech procedure to remove lesions from the third-degree burns to the face.

He was attacked outside his home on Thursday night.

"The operation was a success," the Moscow city health department said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

The violent incident shook the global artistic community and cast a spotlight on rivalries raging between superstars of the 237-year-old institution - one of Russia's most prominent brands.

Police have since spoken to several Bolshoi staff members as they sift through allegations that the attack was triggered by either personal rivalries or criminals with links to the globetrotting troupe.

Filin - a principal dancer before moving into the artistic management side - said in his first detailed post-attack interview that he had felt threatened for several weeks.

"I associate what happened with my work," Filin told the mass-circulation Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

"The only thing I blame myself for is carelessness," he added. "I should have told the media about the threats right away, before New Year."

Friends said that Filin had told them about his car tyres being slashed and his social media account being hacked - and its explicit content republished - within the past few weeks.

Filin named no suspects in the interview while hinting darkly that he knew where the trouble was coming from.

Doctors said the hooded assailant threw the sulphuric acid cocktail on the right side of Filin's face.

As a result, the former dancer has begun recovering his vision first in his left eye, while his right could barely distinguish between shadows of dark and light.

"My eyes worry me the most," Filin said in the interview.

Doctors said Monday they hoped to restore Filin's vision in at least his left eye while ruling out the possibility of his travelling abroad for treatment because of his weakened state.

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Catastrophic fire warning in southeast WA

A CATASTROPHIC fire danger warning has been issued for people living in the southeast of Western Australia.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast the worst possible conditions for bush or grass fire on Wednesday for the Eucla, which includes the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area, as well as the shire of Dundas.

Residents have been warned that any fire that takes hold will be "extremely difficult to control and will take significant firefighting resources".

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said spot fires would start well ahead of the main fire, causing rapid spread of the fire with embers coming from many directions.

DFES said people living in or near bush with high fuel loads would be at risk and needed to act.

"If you are not prepared to the highest level, leaving bushfire risk areas early in the day is your safest option," DFES said in a statement.

Residents should also read through their bushfire survival plans.

Meanwhile, severe fire danger advice has been issued for inland parts of the Pilbara and coastal parts of the Great Southern for Wednesday, while extreme fire danger will be experienced in central and southern parts of the Interior.

A total fire ban has been declared for the Shire of Esperance.

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French troops advance toward key Mali town

ABOUT 200 French infantrymen supported by six combat helicopters and reconnaissance planes are advancing toward the town of Diabaly, seized one week ago by Islamic extremists.

The extremists included fighters under the command of the mastermind of the deadly terrorist attack in Algeria.

Diabaly, a small bucolic town in central Mali, has become the scene of the first major battle in the war to retake northern Mali from bearded fighters who have occupied the region for nine months.

"The operation in Diabaly is currently ongoing," said Captain Romain, the deputy in charge of France's 21st Marine Infantry regiment, positioned in the town of Markala about 140 kilometres from the front line.

"We don't know what we will find there," he said of Diabaly, giving only his first name in keeping with French military policy.

On the road to Diabaly, there were scenes that indicated the area is returning to normal life. Women washed children in an irrigation canal, others washed clothes and placed them to dry on the banks. Families with suitcases and bags headed north in donkey-drawn carts, apparently returning home after fleeing the conflict.

The French military used fighter planes and helicopter gunships to carry out a dozen operations over the weekend in Mali.

France said it had targeted "terrorist vehicles" in six of the strikes over the last 24 hours, and that the campaign against the militants was making progress.

In an interview with France-5 TV, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he wasn't aware of any civilian casualties.

He said the air strikes had caused "significant" - though unspecified - losses among the jihadists, and only minor skirmishes involved French forces on the ground.

Also Sunday, the extremist group behind the deadly hostage crisis in Algeria threatened more attacks against foreign targets if France does not bring an immediate halt to its military operation in Mali.

In a statement, the Masked Brigade warned of more such attacks against any country backing France's military intervention in Mali.

"We promise all the countries that participated in the Crusader campaign ... that we will carry out more operations if they do not reverse their decision," it said, according to a transcript released by SITE Intelligence Group.

France began its military offensive in Mali on Jan. 11, and has said that African nations must take the lead though it could be some weeks before they are ready to do so.

On Sunday, France said that some 400 troops from Nigeria, Togo and Benin had arrived in the Malian capital Bamako to help train an African force for Mali. Troops from Chad, who are considered hardened fighters familiar with the desert-like terrain of northern Mali, also have arrived, Le Drian said.

A top official with the West African regional bloc said on Sunday the cost of the African intervention could top $US500 million ($A478 million).

ECOWAS Commission President Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, who gave an interview to state television in Ivory Coast, said the initial estimate "may vary depending on the needs" of the mission and the situation on the ground.

About 100 American trainers also have been deployed to Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo and Ghana "to discuss training and equipping and deployment needs of those countries in the interest of getting them ready to go into Mali," said US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

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Syria groups delay govt-in-exile decision

THE Syrian opposition says it has postponed a decision on forming a government-in-exile at its meeting in Istanbul, saying it needs guarantees of support from dissident forces on the ground.

The Syrian National Council (SNC), a key component of the opposition, said the meeting held on Sunday formed a five-member panel to consult with the rebel Free Syrian Army, and other concerned parties on the issue.

"After studying the proposals and after deliberation on the question of creating an interim government, we decided to set up a five-member committee tasked with consulting with the forces of the revolution, the Free Syrian Army and friendly countries," the council said.

The Syrian National Council is an influential member of the National Coalition, which was set up in Doha in November in a bid to unify opposition forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Since it was formed, the National Coalition has been recognised by scores of states and organisations as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Syria's 22-month revolt has been racked by political schisms and unmet promises of financial and military aid by the international community, dissidents say.

The opposition said the five-member committee would also be tasked with exploring "the extent of (opposition and international) commitment in order for the work to be financially and politically feasible."

The panel includes, among others, National Coalition chief Moaz al-Khatib, Syrian National Council head George Sabra and prominent Paris-based dissident, Burhan Ghalioun.

The opposition is due to meet again on January 28 in Paris, along with representatives of some 20 countries that back the revolt against Assad.

More than 60,000 people have been killed so far in the conflict that erupted in March 2011, according to United Nations figures.

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Man caught filming up girls' skirts

A MAN has been charged with using his mobile phone to film up the skirts of teenage girls at a shopping centre in Sydney's inner west.

Police say they were on foot patrol in a Burwood shopping complex on Monday afternoon when they witnessed a man, 53, approach two young women, before placing a mobile phone up their skirts.

After following the man for a short period, officers allegedly saw him use a phone to video under the skirts of two 14-year-old girls.

He was arrested, with an examination of his phone revealing further offences, police allege.

The Croydon man was charged with 13 counts of filming a person's private parts, one of attempting the same and two counts of possessing cannabis.

He was allowed bail and will appear in Burwood Local Court on February 14.

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Patriot missiles arrive in Turkey

FOUR batteries of Patriot missiles have arrived in Turkey as part of a NATO mission to protect the Turkish border from any spillover of the conflict in neighbouring Syria, a NATO source has told AFP.

A ship carrying two German Patriot missile batteries anchored at the southwestern port of Iskenderun on Monday and its cargo was being unloaded, the source said.

The source said a second ship carrying two Dutch Patriot missile batteries also arrived at Iskenderun after a two-week journey, waiting behind the German ship to unload its cargo, as well as 300 support troops.

The United States has also begun deployment of two Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries to contribute to the mission, which NATO says will be operational by early February.

Its first shipment arrived by air earlier this month at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey's southeast. Additional equipment will be sent by sea later in January.

The six batteries of the US-made missiles, effective against aircraft and short-range missiles, will be deployed in the southern city of Adana and the southeastern cities of Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, along with 350 troops from each contributing nation.

Turkey requested help from its NATO allies after shells landed on its border areas from Syria in October, killing several villagers.

NATO approved their deployment in December, saying the use of ballistic missiles by the Syrian regime posed a threat to Turkey and insisting that the move was purely defensive.

But Syria's allies Iran and Russia oppose the Patriot deployment, fearing that it could spark regional conflict also drawing in NATO.

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Fitch highlights economic threat of ageing

MANY advanced economies will be threatened by another, long-term fiscal shock unless they tackle the problem of ageing populations, the ratings agency Fitch has warned.

"Whilst a successful resolution of the current fiscal crisis remains the most important driver for many advanced-economy ratings, without further reform to address the impact of long-term ageing these economies face a second, longer-term fiscal shock," a Fitch statement said on Monday.

Few countries face immediate threats, and reforms implemented by indebted eurozone members such as Greece, Italy and Portugal "have effectively neutralised the long-term impact of ageing on public finances in those countries", it added.

But others, in particular Cyprus, Ireland and Japan, could well see the cost of ageing populations jump over the next decade, the agency said, warning this would affect the sovereign debt ratings of such countries at some point.

"Luxembourg, Belgium, Malta and Slovenia face the most severe impact over the very long term," Fitch noted.

Based on the agency's calculations, barring any reforms, debt to GDP (gross domestic product) ratios for the European Union's 27 member countries would rise by 6.9 per cent by 2020, and by 119.4 per cent by 2050.

"Without reforms to boost labour productivity and/or participation rates in many other advanced economies, population ageing will cause potential GDP growth to decline over the long-term, exacerbating the fiscal challenge," Fitch added.

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Rock climber rescued after falling

A ROCK climber has been rescued after falling down a cliff in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

The 23-year-old local and his friend arrived at Centennial Glen, near Blackheath, to go rock climbing about 9.30am (AEDT) on Sunday.

Before they started, the man fell about 10 metres down a cliff face and landed on a ledge.

His friend and another climber abseiled to him before contacting emergency services.

After arriving on the scene, police rescue and paramedics abseiled to the man and started treating him for serious head and internal injuries.

A helicopter was dispatched to the area but was unable to assist due to poor weather.

A complicated roping system was then set up to retrieve the injured climber safely.

About 5.15pm, he was carried out of the bush by a team of emergency service workers and taken by ambulance to Westmead Hospital.

His injuries are not considered life threatening, police said.

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Syrian opposition to meet in Paris on Jan

THE leaders of Syria's main opposition National Coalition will meet in Paris on January 28 along with representatives of countries supporting them, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says.

Speaking on Europe 1 radio on Sunday, Fabius provided no other details of the meeting.

He also denied reports Syria had used chemical weapons in December.

"We asked for our intelligence services to check - and not just us - and we're told 'no'," that chemical weapons had not been used, he said.

Earlier this month, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States was increasingly focused on how to secure Syria's chemical weapons if the Assad regime were to fall.

Panetta said he would not consider sending ground troops into the war-torn country, even to secure chemical sites, but he left the door open to some US military presence if President Bashar al-Assad's downfall was followed by a peaceful transition.

Fabius downplayed the presence of Islamic extremists among the Syrian opposition, saying one of the most prominent such factions, the Al-Nusra front, "came from Iraq and is an ultra-minority group".

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4 die in Egypt clashes

EGYPT'S Health Ministry says overnight clashes between police and residents of a densely populated district just north of Cairo have left four people dead and 12 wounded.

Security officials say the clashes began when a bystander was hit by a stray bullet fired by police chasing an alleged drug dealer.

They began on Saturday night and continued until Sunday.

The ministry said in a statement the wounded included two officers and a police conscript.

Clashes between police and civilians have been common since the ouster of autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak in an uprising nearly two years ago.

Police brutality was one of the major causes of the 2011 uprising.

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Five family members die in Syria air raid

Syrian Kurds have urged the opposition to halt a siege against them by Islamist rebels. Source: AAP

FIVE members of one family have been killed in air raids on a town in Damascus province, with Syrian warplanes bombarding a battleground town southwest of the capital.

A couple and their three children were among seven civilians killed in air strikes on the village of Baraka, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday, adding that the toll may rise as a number of people were buried under debris.

The Britain-based watchdog also reported artillery shelling and air raids on Daraya as army reinforcements arrived in the town, strategic for its location next to Al-Mazzeh military airport east of Damascus.

Pro-regime daily Al-Watan said on Sunday that "the terrorists on the outskirts of Daraya and Moadamiyet al-Sham have appealed for help after being hit very hard by the Syrian army, which destroyed several of the hideouts where they barricaded themselves."

Syrian authorities use the term "terrorists" to describe rebels against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

"The army continued its assault yesterday and completely destroyed these hideouts and plans to conduct a qualitative ground operation to root out the remaining terrorists," the newspaper said on Sunday.

In Damascus on Sunday, a man was shot dead in the southern district of Qadam as troops and rebels clashed, and another man was killed in shelling on the northeast suburb of Douma, the Observatory reported.

The army also bombarded several districts in the central city of Homs which have been under siege for months, as well as locations in the northern province of Aleppo, the northwest province of Idlib and Latakia on the coast.

In the southern province of Daraa, two rebels died in clashes near Busra al-Harir, while one civilian was killed and another critically wounded by regime gunfire in the town, the watchdog said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics for information, said that 138 people were killed nationwide on Saturday: 62 civilians - including 13 children - 35 soldiers, 39 rebels and two Kurdish fighters.

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French yachtsman rescued in Southern Ocean

A cruise ship will reach a stranded French yachtsman on a life raft near Tasmania at 8pm on Sunday. Source: AAP

AFTER three days adrift on a life raft in the remote Southern Ocean, round-the-world yachtsman Alain Delord has been rescued by a cruise ship returning from Antarctica.

The Orion rescued the stranded Frenchman about 500 nautical miles southwest of Hobart on Sunday night.

A spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) confirmed the 63-year-old was picked up by the ship, which was diverted about 1800km to perform the rescue, in an alert issued just after 9.30pm (AEDT).

"I'm very pleased to confirm the solo sailor, who had been in a life raft in the Southern Ocean for the past three days, has been recovered by the cruise ship Orion, and AMSA believes he is being taken to Hobart," she said.

There were "scant" early details of the rescue but AMSA said Delord had been recovered "safely and without injury".

"He is currently receiving medical attention and early indications are that he is healthy," the spokeswoman said.

"Weather conditions were better than expected and there was plenty of light in the area."

Delord, who set off at the beginning of October, abandoned his yacht Tchouk Tchouk Nougaton after it lost its mast and its hull was damaged in rough weather.

The location was too distant for a helicopter rescue with MSA using three aircraft to maintain contact with the sailor until a vessel could reach him.

The Orion, with 100 passengers and 80 crew on board, was on its way from Antarctica to the world heritage-listed Macquarie Island when it responded to the call for help.

The ship had battled deteriorating weather conditions throughout Sunday to reach Delord, with fears he would have to spend a third night at sea.

The yachtsman had received an air drop of food, water, communications equipment and a survival suit while he waited for his rescue.

The captain of the Orion Mike Taylor reported that Delord was recovered safely and without injury.

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