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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