Man charged after 200km/h pursuit

A DRINK driver has been charged with evading police after he was caught travelling at more than 200km/h in western Victoria.

Police pursued the man on the Western Highway at Stawell, 230 kilometres west of Melbourne, after the allegedly stolen car he was driving was detected speeding around 9.30am (AEDT) on Saturday.

Police abandoned the pursuit, but the man was spotted at Waubra two hours later and stopped with police spikes, and arrested.

Glenroy man Toufic Tlais, 30, was charged with negligent driving while pursued by police, dangerous driving, theft of a motor vehicle, theft of petrol, exceeding the speed limit and other traffic offences.

He was remanded in custody to appear in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Monday.

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ALP vice-president savages NSW Right

SENIOR Labor figure Tony Sheldon has launched a scathing attack on one of the party's factions and says the organisation is in a potentially catastrophic situation.

Mr Sheldon, who is the secretary of the Transport Workers Union and Labor's national vice-president, launched the critique in a speech to the Young Labor National Right Conference in Canberra on Friday.

He said the scandal-plagued NSW Right faction was bringing the rest of the party down.

"Like cockroaches, B-grade politicians are able to thrive on the corruption and detritus that lies under the dishwasher," Mr Sheldon said.

Labor had steadily lost its political compass in recent years, he said.

"Our crisis is more than just a crisis of trust brought on by the corrupt behaviour of property scammers and lobbyists," Mr Sheldon said.

"It's a crisis of belief brought on by a lack of moral and political purpose.

"The memory of what we once stood for is starting to fade."

AAP pbc/goc/rs

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Thomson strip searched, lawyer says

CRAIG Thomson was stripped naked and searched by prison guards on the NSW Central Coast in an attempt to intimidate him, the embattled federal MP's lawyer says.

Chris McArdle, who is representing Thomson in his fight against 149 fraud offences, made the claim on Thursday night.

He said Thomson, 48, was strip searched by two prison guards after being arrested via a warrant from Victoria Police about 1pm (AEDT) on Thursday at his electorate office at Tuggerah.

"These two goons put on rubber gloves, one stood in front of him, one stood behind him, and they said 'take off your shirt'," Mr McArdle told Network Ten.

"They examined his shirt to see if there were any molotov cocktails.

"He had to take all of his clothes off and stand naked in front of these two galoots who then took him into the court and sat each side of him."

Mr McArdle described the treatment of his client as "absolutely extraordinary intimidation of an innocent man".

The former Labor member represented himself during a brief bail application in local court that police did not oppose.

Outside court, he made a brief statement and did not take questions even though it went "against the grain" as a politician.

Court documents state the alleged offences occurred between February 2003 and April 2008.

Thomson's matter will come before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

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Feds accused of cutting med intern program

THE Victorian government says it has stepped in to prevent medical intern positions being cut across the state because of a commonwealth funding cut.

Victorian Health Minister David Davis said the federal government had gone back on its promise not to cut funding for the Postgraduate General Practice Placement Program, putting interns at risk, particularly in regional areas.

"This cut will force some health services to either abandon their medical training positions or use their existing budget to cover the funding cuts," Mr Davis said in a statement.

"To date, intern positions at Kyneton, Horsham and Bendigo have been affected by the cuts handed down from Canberra."

However, a spokesman for federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Victorian government had refused to come to an agreement over intern positions, unlike most other states.

"When it comes to medical training, Minister Davis is again missing in action," the spokesman told AAP.

"The Gillard government has made a huge investment in training places.

"By 2014, we will have doubled the number of GPs in training with more being trained in each state and territory."

The two governments have each tried to shift the blame to the other over recent bed closures and service cuts.

The federal government last October used a revised estimate of Victorian population figures to cut $475 million from the state's health budget over four years.

For its part, the Victorian government has cut $616 million of health spending between 2011/12 and 2015/16.

Ms Plibersek and Mr Davis are set to hold a 45-minute meeting at Melbourne Airport on Friday morning.

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African billionaire gives away half wealth

MINING billionaire Patrice Motsepe has announced he will give half his family's fortune to charity, becoming the first African to match a pledge made by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

The Soweto-born tycoon, worth an estimated $US2.7 billion ($A2.59 billion), announced he would join the Giving Pledge, which challenges the world's wealthiest to give at least 50 per cent of their fortune to charity.

"The need and challenges are great," Motsepe said in a statement, pledging to give away "at least half of the funds generated by our family."

A close aide told AFP it was difficult to put a figure on the amount that would be donated, but it would be "half of all his wealth, both current and future. There's no period. This will go on into perpetuity."

The money, Motsepe said, would be used to help "poor and other disadvantaged and marginalised South Africans."

"We hope that our Giving Pledge will encourage others in South Africa and other emerging economies to give and make the world a better place."

The 51-year-old made his billions through black empowerment deals, designed to redress white economic dominance that stemmed from apartheid laws.

He founded and owns mining company African Rainbow Minerals (ARB) and is Africa's eighth richest person according to Forbes magazine.

ARB earned $390 million in the last six months of 2012, from its extensive gold, platinum, iron ore and coal operations in South Africa and copper interests in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He also owns Pretoria-based football club Mamelodi Sundowns.

Since Microsoft mogul Gates and investment guru Buffett launched the Pledge in 2010, more than 70 billionaires have joined.

Motsepe thanked Buffett and Gates personally for their encouragement during separate meetings last year, which influenced his decision.

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Spanish economy plunges in final quarter

SPAIN'S economy shrank at the fastest pace in more than three years in the final quarter of 2012, official data shows, casting a shadow over the prospects of nearly six million unemployed.

Total economic output slumped 0.7 per cent from the previous quarter, the steepest decline since the second quarter of 2009, after a 0.3 per cent dip the previous quarter.

The preliminary report by the National Statistics Institute showed the recession, which started in the final months of 2011, still tightening its grip on the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.

Just days earlier, a separate report showed Spain's unemployment rate shot to 26.02 per cent in the fourth quarter -- the highest level since the re-birth of Spanish democracy after death of General Francisco Franco in 1975 -- as 5.97 million people sought in vain for work.

Raj Badiani, economist at London-based research house IHS Global Insight, predicted another 0.5-per cent decline in gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2013 as households snap their purses shut.

"The outlook for the remainder of 2013 and 2014 is no better," he said in a report.

"The main impediments to any recovery prospects remain the fallout of the ongoing financial crisis hanging over Spain, coupled with still-punishing employment losses lifting the unemployment rate to 26 per cent at the end of 2012, the continued fiscal squeeze, disrupted credit flows and still acute house price falls," Badiani said.

"This casts a considerable shadow over the household economy, suggesting consumer spending, which now accounts for 56 per cent of GDP, will struggle to provide any positive impetus to economic activity in the next two years."

Latest figures also showed that gross domestic product for the whole of 2012 declined by 1.37 per cent, slightly better than the 1.5-per cent contraction predicted by the government.

"Amongst all the bad news, this figure is a bit better than expected," said Gayle Allard, economist at IE Business School.

"I have hope that this was the worst quarter. From here on we will improve. Businesses are doing what they have to do: seeking an exit through foreign markets," Allard added.

"If the government pursues its promised reforms that will also help. In training, in collective bargaining, in unemployment benefits and the duplication of work in the public sector... there is a lot that can be done."

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said in Davos, Switzerland on Friday that he expected the economy to return to growth in the second half of 2013.

But activity is being curbed by his government's programme of spending cuts and tax rises, aimed at saving 150 billion euros ($A194.77 billion) between 2012 and 2014, prompting mass street protests.

The government has vowed to lower the public deficit from the equivalent of 9.4 per cent of annual gross domestic product in 2011 to 6.3 per cent in 2012, 4.5 per cent in 2013 and 2.8 per cent in 2014.

Analysts say those targets will be hard to reach in a period of declining economic activity.

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Vic Supreme Court clearing backlog

THE Victorian Supreme Court is clearing its backlog of cases at a quickening pace, according to new figures released on Thursday.

Chief Justice Marilyn Warren said the average clearance rate in all trial and appeal areas in 2011/2012 had jumped 10 per cent from the previous year to 116 per cent.

In some areas, clearance rates ranged from 109 per cent to 151 per cent.

The court's overall backlog of cases dropped by 21 per cent in 2011/12.

"The civil backlog is under control, with more than 1200 extra cases cleared during the reporting period," Chief Justice Warren said.

The court also collected feedback from court users and jurors, finding more than 80 per cent were happy with the treatment they received in court from staff.

But only a little more than 40 per cent were happy with the way opposing parties were kept separated and safe during court proceedings, while around 70 per cent of jurors were satisfied with lunchtime catering.

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Project decisions to shape investment peak

FINAL decisions on $126 billion of planned resources projects during 2013 will determine whether the investment pipeline slows gradually or comes to an abrupt halt, an independent forecaster says.

Deloitte Access Economics expects the mega-resources investment projects that have been a major driver of economic growth in recent years will likely peak in late 2013.

In its latest Investment Monitor released on Thursday, partner David Rumbens says the top 10 planned projects worth $126 billion are due to get the final nod this year.

"A key question for the Australian economy over the next few years will be what sort of business investment profile we see after resources investment peaks?" Mr Rumbens says in the report.

"What happens to this top ten list will go a long way to answering the above question."

The list includes Woodside Petroleum's $43 billion Browse LNG project and Arrow Energy's $20 billion Arrow LNG project.

The total value of projects in the Investment Monitor data rose by 2.9 per cent in the December quarter and 4.5 per cent over the year to $953.6 billion.

Mr Rumbens said this was despite some high-profile cancellations and a number of large projects moving into the production phase.

"However, much of the rise in project values has again been from cost revisions, including a $9 billion blow-out for the Gorgon LNG project," he said.

The value of definite projects - those under construction or committed - fell by 3.6 per cent in the December quarter to $444.9 billion.

Planned projects - under consideration or possible - rose by $43.7 billion in the quarter to finish the year at $508.7 billion.

Mr Rumbens says there's a danger that as multi-billion-dollar resources projects eventually reach completion, they will only be replaced by multi-million projects in other sectors.

"The rollercoaster of commodity prices over the past few months and concerns over cost blow-outs in major projects underway means Australia's mega-projects may soon be an endangered species," he said.

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Baillieu told to lift game or get dumped

VICTORIAN Premier Ted Baillieu was told before Christmas by party leaders that he would have to lift his game or he would be replaced.

The Australian newspaper says the man gunning for his position was 38-year-old Planning Minister Matthew Guy, who would need to transfer from the upper house to replace Mr Baillieu.

The paper says this explains the activity in the lead-up to Christmas including a campaign of media appearances, policy announcements and public engagements by Mr Baillieu designed to promote government initiatives and achievements.

The paper said tentative talks were also held about promoting Energy and Resources Minister Michael O'Brien but sources said Mr Guy had emerged during the revolt as clear favourite to replace Mr Baillieu.

It said that as long as Mr Baillieu changed his ways, the party would give him a clear run at the job this year.

"A senior MP said Ted deserves a chance to pick himself up and that cabinet had now united behind Mr Baillieu," said the News Ltd newspaper.

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Consumers happy to borrow money for cars

CONSUMERS appear to be more comfortable about borrowing money but there's still reluctance about taking on a home loan, new data suggests.

Cautious consumers have tended to shy away from new credit since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

However, figures from consumer data provider Veda show credit demand rose by a solid 4.1 per cent over 2012, led by a strong rise in personal loans.

Personal loan applications rose by 9.6 per cent in 2012, boosted by an 11.8 per cent rise in the December quarter.

In contrast, while mortgage applications rose 3.7 per cent in the final three months of last year, they fell by 0.7 per cent over 2012, despite a series of interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Veda general manager of consumer risk Angus Luffman says housing markets have been weak since late 2010 and the credit data suggests that will continue for a while.

"There is little evidence in the latest Veda data that the RBA rate cuts are having much effect in reigniting housing turnover," Mr Luffman said, releasing the data on Wednesday.

"This generally soft mortgage applicant demand suggests that house price growth will be relatively subdued for at least the first half of 2013."

However, he said personal loans were being taken out in greater numbers to finance a period of car-buying, with motor vehicle purchases rising sharply over the past year.

But while credit card applications rose 11.9 per cent in the December quarter, they were down 1.6 per cent over the year.

"The continuing weakness in credit cards and mortgage inquiries still indicates that the attitude of consumers towards borrowing is still broadly one of caution," Mr Luffman said.

"While there are encouraging signs, it's still too early to call (it) a sustained turnaround in the weak consumer credit environment of the past few years."

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Focus turns to Brazilian club safety

THERE was no alarm, no extinguishers, no sprinklers and almost no escape from the nightclub that became a death trap for more than 200 Brazilian college students.

As investigators began poking through the rubble and families mourned their dead, the university city in southern Brazil tried to understand how the Sunday morning blaze that killed 231 people could have been sparked in the first place, then rage rapidly out of control.

Why was there only one door available for exit and entry? What was the flammable material in the ceiling that allowed the conflagration to move so quickly? And, more pointedly, why was a band playing at the club allowed to use pyrotechnics inside the building?

Police were leaning toward the pyrotechnics as the cause of the blaze during a party at the Kiss nightclub organised by several academic departments at the Federal University of Santa Maria.

Inspector Antonio Firmino, a member of the team investigating the fire, said it appeared the club's ceiling was covered with an insulating foam made from a combustible material that ignited with the pyrotechnics.

Firmino said the number and state of the exits is under investigation but that it appeared that a second door was "inadequate," as it was small and protected by bars that wouldn't open.

The disaster, the worst fire of its kind in more than a decade, also raises questions of whether Brazilian authorities are up to the task of ensuring safety in such venues as it prepares to host next year's football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

Some critics have said conditions in many Brazilian bars and clubs are ripe for another deadly blaze. They say that in addition to modernising sometimes outdated safety codes and ensuring sufficient inspectors, people must change their way of thinking and respect safety regulations.

Hundreds of people marched peacefully outside the nightclub Monday night to remember the victims, and demand justice. Some carried signs with slogans such as, "May God's justice be carried out."

Brazilian police said they detained three people on Monday in connection with the blaze, while the newspaper O Globo said on its website that a fourth person had surrendered to police. Police Inspector Ranolfo Vieira Junior said the detentions were part of the ongoing police probe and those detained can be held for up to five days.

Vieira declined to identify those detained, but local media has identified them as two co-owners of the club and two members of the band that was using a spark machine inside the building when the fire erupted.

According to state safety codes, clubs should have one fire extinguisher every 1,500 square feet as well as multiple emergency exits. Limits on the number of people admitted are to be strictly respected. None of that appears to have happened at the Santa Maria nightclub.

Witnesses said security guards who didn't know about the blaze initially blocked people from leaving without paying their bills. Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they're allowed to leave.

Inside the club, metal barriers meant to organise the lines of people entering and leaving became traps, corralling desperate patrons within yards of the exit. Bodies piled up against the grates, smothered and broken by the crushing mob.

About 50 of the victims were found in the club's two bathrooms, where the blinding smoke caused them to believe the doors were exits.

The group's accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other band members made it out safely. Witnesses believe Jacques made it out of the building and later returned to save his accordion.

The first funeral services were held on Monday for the victims, including brothers Pedro and Mercello Salle. Most of the dead were college students 18 to 21 years old, but they also included some minors. Almost all died from smoke inhalation rather than burns.

National Health Minister Alexandre Padilha cautioned that the death toll could worsen dramatically, telling news media in Santa Maria on Monday that 75 of those injured were in critical condition and could die.

Santa Maria Mayor Cezar Schirmer declared a 30-day mourning period, and Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, said officials were investigating the cause of the disaster.

The blaze was the deadliest in Brazil since at least 1961, when a fire that swept through a circus killed 503 people in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro.

Sunday's fire also appeared to be the worst at a nightclub anywhere in the world since December 2000, when a welding accident reportedly set off a fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309 people.

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Girl crushed by snowball froze in fear

A BRITISH teenager who was crushed by a giant snowball she'd made with friends says she "froze on the spot" when she saw the projectile hurtling towards her.

Nicole Wignall, 16, is recovering in hospital after the snowball pinned her against a wall, breaking her pelvis in four places.

Freezing weather gripped the United Kingdom last week resulting in more than 10 deaths.

Ms Wignall built the giant snowball with friends when her school was closed due to the freezing conditions.

"It took seven of us to push it to the top of a steep hill then we had a break," the student told British newspaper The Sun on Monday.

"(Later) we saw the snowball coming down really fast.

"My friend moved out of the way but I froze on the spot and the snowball smashed into me."

Ms Wignall's mother Fiona said the 1.5m snowball "was the size of a small car".

"She had a very lucky escape."

More than 200 flood alerts are in place across the UK as heavy rain mixed with melting snow marks the latest weather battle.

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British citizenship test revised

ASPIRING British citizens will face a revised general knowledge test, including an appreciation of Monty Python, in their bid to join the nation's ranks.

The British Home Office has updated its 2007 handbook, Life In The UK, and subsequent exam, shifting the focus to cover events and people "who have contributed to making Britain great".

The profile of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher has been given a boost.

Described in the last edition as a "divisive" figure who caused "massive industrial decline", the Iron Lady is held in high regard in the new handbook.

Stars of the London Olympics also feature in the latest citizenship guide, with heptathlon gold medallist Jessica Ennis among those named.

Along with politics and sport, the 45-minute citizenship test will also touch on the arts, science, history, inventions, landmarks and a section titled "unique", which features comedy group Monty Python and aims to highlight the British sense of humour.

"The new book rightly focuses on values and principles at the heart of being British," Immigration Minister Mark Harper told British tabloid the Daily Express.

"We have stripped out mundane information about water meters, how to find train timetables, and using the internet."

Previously migrants were not tested on British history.

Questions about public transport, credit cards and job interviews will be removed from the new publication, which is already on sale and will form the basis for exams from March.

In 2012 some 150,000 people sat the citizenship test hoping to secure a British passport.

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Timbuktu mayor says Islamists burned texts

French-led troops are closing in on Timbuktu without meeting any resistance from Islamist militants. Source: AAP

ISLAMIST extremists have torched a library containing historic manuscripts in Timbuktu as French and Malian forces close in on the desert city.

Mayor Ousmane Halle said he heard about the burnings early on Monday.

"It's truly alarming that this has happened," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Mali's capital, Bamako.

"They torched all the important ancient manuscripts. The ancient books of geography and science. It is the history of Timbuktu, of its people."

He said he did not have details or know whether the rebels were still in the town.

Ground forces backed by French paratroopers and helicopters took control of Timbuktu's airport and the roads leading to the town in an overnight operation, a French military official said on Monday.

It marked the latest success in the two-week-old French mission to oust radical Islamists from the northern half of Mali, which they seized more than nine months ago.

French Colonel Thierry Burkhard, the chief military spokesman in Paris, said the town's airport was taken without firing a shot.

"There was an operation on Timbuktu last night that allowed us to control access to the town," he said. "It's up to Malian forces to retake the town."

The Timbuktu operation comes a day after the French announced they had seized the airport and a key bridge in a city east of Timbuktu, Gao, one of the other northern provincial capitals that had been under the grip of radical Islamists.

The French and Malian forces have met little resistance from the Islamists, who seized northern Mali in the wake of a military coup in the distant capital of Bamako, in southern Mali.

Timbuktu, which is on an ancient caravan route, has entranced travellers for centuries. It is about 1,000 kilometres northeast of Bamako, the capital. During their rule, the militants have systematically destroyed UNESCO World Heritage sites in Timbuktu.

A spokesman for the al-Qaeda-linked militants has said the ancient tombs of Sufi saints were destroyed because they contravened Islam, encouraging Muslims to venerate saints instead of God.

Among the tombs they destroyed is that of Sidi Mahmoudou, a saint who died in 955, according to the UNESCO website.

Timbuktu, long a hub of Islamic learning, is also home to some 20,000 manuscripts, some dating back to the 12th century. Owners have succeeded in removing some of the manuscripts from Timbuktu to save them, while others have been carefully hidden away from the Islamists.

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Thailand to turn away Myanmar boat people

THAILAND will turn away any more Rohingya boat people from neighbouring Myanmar (Burma) who try to land on its shores, a top official says.

"The Thai navy from now on will be stricter with them and will no longer allow them to land," National Security Council secretary-general Paradorn Pattanathabutr told AFP on Monday.

"If we find them, we will provide them with food, water and necessities so they can go to their destinations," he added.

An explosion of tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine since June 2012 has triggered a huge exodus of Muslim Rohingya, mostly heading for Malaysia.

More than 1000 have been detained by Thailand after landing on its shores.

Paradorn said the existing detainees would be allowed to stay in Thailand for six months at immigration centres or local police stations while the government works with the UN refugee agency to find third countries willing to accept them.

The tougher stance comes a week after Thai authorities said they were investigating allegations that army officials were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya boat people.

Described by the UN as among the most persecuted minority groups in the world, Rohingya have for years trickled abroad to neighbouring Bangladesh and, increasingly, to Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.

The UN estimates that about 13,000 boat people fled Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2012.

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NSW cop has surgery after pot knockout

A MAN has allegedly hurled a heavy cooking pot at a constable, knocking her out, at a unit on the NSW Central Coast.

Officers went to Nambucca Drive in Woy Woy to arrest an 18-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy over an alleged assault shortly before 12.45pm (AEDT) on Monday.

The pair was spotted walking along the road but fled to a nearby unit.

Two officers followed them but were blocked from entering the unit by a 29-year-old man who slammed the door.

A senior constable was then confronted by the older man who closed a kitchen window so hard it smashed in her face, police said.

Glass fell onto the woman causing cuts to her hands.

The man then allegedly threw a heavy cooking pot through the window which struck the officer on her jaw, leaving her unconscious.

Paramedics treated the officer before taking her to Gosford Hospital for treatment to her injured jaw and microsurgery to a severed tendon in her hand.

About 1.20pm the man, two teenagers and a woman were removed from the premises.

The woman was released shortly after.

The 13-year-old boy has been charged with common assault and offensive language and granted conditional bail to appear at Woy Woy Children's Court on March 8.

The 18-year-old man was charged with common assault and granted conditional bail to appear in the same court on March 5.

The 29-year-old man has been charged with wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and refused bail to appear at Gosford Local Court on Tuesday.

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Mali crisis to dominate African summit

EFFORTS to end conflict across Africa, especially in Mali, dominated the African Union summit opening on Sunday, with the 54-member bloc's chief saying greater efforts are needed to build peace.

"Much still needs to be done to resolve ongoing, renewed, and new conflict situations in a number of countries," AU Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in her opening speech.

"We cannot overemphasise the need for peace and security -- without peace and security no country or region can expect to achieve prosperity for all its citizens," she told the bi-annual summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The 20th ordinary summit, which continues on Monday, opened with a minute's silence in memory of the late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, who died last year.

The meeting is expected to focus on the war against Islamist militants in northern Mali, including the scaling-up of African troops to support the weak Malian army.

Mali's army, boosted by the recent French military intervention, is battling Islamist insurgents, who seized swathes of Mali's desert north following a coup last year.

Dlamini-Zuma told leaders that the AU "must remain firm on its stance of no unconstitutional change" of leadership and that it must boost its "capacity to defend democratically-elected governments."

Following a security meeting on Friday, the AU resolved to bolster the strength of the African-led force in Mali, or AFISMA, and gave member states one week to commit troops to the mission.

"The force size will have to be significantly augmented," AU peace and security commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told reporters after the security meeting.

Lamamra said AFISMA's strength should be increased "to better respond to the needs on the ground," but declined to give numbers.

The AU will also seek urgent "temporary" logistical support from the United Nations to enable the AFISMA force to "speedily deploy and effectively implement its mandate," according to an AU statement.

The logistical support should include transportation, medicine and field hospitals.

Also high on the summit agenda is the slow progress between the rival leaders of Sudan and South Sudan to implement stalled oil, security and border deals.

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At least 90 dead in nightclub fire in Brazil

AT least 90 people died today in a fire that erupted at a nightclub in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria, local media reported.

"We have just taken the fire under control," Colonel Silvia Fuchs of the local fire department was quoted by the G1 website as saying. "Now we are removing the bodies."

Local media reported that as many as 2000 people were in the nightclub when the fire started, and that police were still counting the dead.

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Nightclub fire kills at least 90

A FIRE in a nightclub in southern Brazil killed at least 90 people early Sunday, police and firefighters said.

Sandro Meinerz, spokesman for the police in the city of Santa Maria, told local media that the fire broke out at the Kiss club while a band was performing. He said at least 200 people were injured.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, officials said. The total number of victims is still unknown and there may be hundreds injured, Civil Police and regional government spokesman Marcelo Arigoni told Radio Gaucha.

He told the radio a truck carrying 70 bodies had arrived at the Municipal Sports Centre, which was being used as an improvised morgue. Police believe there are about 20 bodies still inside the club.

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Qld cities brace for floods - again

A sixth tornado has hit Queensland's Bundaberg region and forecasters say more could develop. Source: AAP

RESIDENTS of Brisbane and Ipswich are again preparing for floods, two years after the 2011 deluge that inundated thousands of homes and caused millions of dollars in damage.

But the floods won't be as bad this time, authorities say.

About 4850 homes and businesses in Brisbane and 50 in Ipswich to the west are expected to be affected when the Brisbane and Bremer rivers peak about midnight on Monday.

A second flood peak is expected at noon on Wednesday, the Queensland premier said in a press conference on Sunday afternoon.

Torrential rain from the low pressure system that was tropical cyclone Oswald has caused minor flooding in the Lockyer Creek and the Bremer River which feed into the Brisbane River.

Scientific modelling shows Brisbane can expect a 2.6m flood peak, nearly half of the 4.46m peak in 2011.

The Ipswich peak is expected to be five metres less than the 19.4m peak two years ago.

"There will be flooding but the flooding is much much lower than what we saw in 2011," Premier Campbell Newman told reporters.

The west Brisbane suburb of Moggill will be hit first, and other affected suburbs include: Bundamba, Wacol, Riverhills, Wolston Creek, Pinjara Hills, Kenmore, Hemmant, Wynnum, Tingalpa, Cannon Hills, Murarrie, Newmarket, Herston, Windsor, Bowen Hills, Albion and Newstead.

The Brisbane CBD is not expected to be affected.

In January 2011, 22,000 homes and 7600 businesses were flooded in Brisbane and 3000 homes and businesses in Ipswich.

The damage bill for Brisbane's infrastructure was $400 million.

The premier urged people to check flood maps on the Brisbane City Council website and prepare if they were in an area that may flood.

Standing alongside Mr Newman, Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the message to residents was to stay calm.

"The time to act is now. The time to prepare is now," he said.

An emergency alert has gone out to residents in the Lockyer Valley as floodwaters rise in the area, which was the main disaster zone in the 2011 floods.

Central Queensland has already born the brunt of ex-tropical cyclone Oswald, with torrential rain and destructive winds bringing floods, tornados and destructive winds to the east coast and inland.

An elderly man was killed, more than a dozen people were injured and 250 homes were damaged when a serious of tornados ripped through the coastal towns of Burnett Heads, Bargara, Burrum Heads and Coonarr near Bundaberg on Saturday afternoon and evening.

The man's body was recovered from the water at Burnett Heads on Sunday morning after he fell overboard from a yacht that had been ripped from its moorings.

Meanwhile hundreds of people have been pouring into evacuation centres at Maryborough, Bundaberg and Gympie with flood peaks in central Queensland expected to exceed 2010-2011 levels on Sunday night and Monday.

The Burnett River at Bundaberg is expected to peak at 8.5m from 8.30pm (AEST), with 400 homes and businesses tipped to flood.

The Mary River is forecast to peak over 9m at Maryborough early on Monday, and 21m at Gympie at 7am (AEST) on Monday.

There were fears for three families stuck on the roofs of their homes at Widgee near Gympie on Sunday evening and a 27-year-old man who went missing after he tried to cross a swollen creek in the Gympie area.

There were also grave concerns for a young woman last seen driving into floodwaters at Pacific Haven near Maryborough on Sunday and a fisherman who has been missing off Port Alma near Rockhampton since Thursday night.

Meanwhile the Gladstone region has experienced severe flooding which has prompted the evacuation of 900 homes.

The areas of Boyne Island and Tannum Sands, south of Gladstone, and Baffle Creek, between Gladstone and Bundaberg, were the worst affected.

Around Queensland, 125,000 homes were without power on Sunday night.

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150 dead in Brazil nightclub fire

LOCAL media report 150 people have died in a fire that erupted at a nightclub in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria.

The death toll from the early Sunday morning disaster stood initially at 70 but quickly increased as firefighters searched the charred remains of the establishment named Kiss.

Santa Maria fire chief Guido de Melo said the final toll was still unclear, suggesting that it could rise.

"There was panic after the fire started and many revellers got trampled," he is quoted as saying by Estadao newspaper. "The main cause of death was asphyxiation."

According to media reports, the fire erupted after 2am (1300 AEDT) when the nightclub hosted a university party featuring a rock band.

The band used pyrotechnics as part of its show, O Globo newspaper reported on its site.

"We have just taken the fire under control," Colonel Silvia Fuchs of the local fire department was quoted by the G1 website as saying. "Now we are removing the bodies."

Family member have gathered outside of the burned-down building in the hope of getting news of their loved ones.

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