'Syria collapse threatens region'

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

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

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

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

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Strong interest in apprenticeship program

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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'Worst of euro debt crisis over'

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

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

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

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

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Mubarak to be taken to hospital

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

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

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World's longest fast train line opens

CHINA has opened the world's longest high-speed rail line that more than halves the time required to travel from the country's capital in the north to Guangzhou, an economic hub in southern China.

The opening of the 2,298 kilometre-line was commemorated by the 9am local time departure of a train from Beijing for Guangzhou. Another train left Guangzhou for Beijing an hour later.

China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.

But it has in recent months faced high-profile problems: part of a line collapsed in central China after heavy rains in March, while a bullet train crash in the summer of 2011 killed 40 people. The former railway minister, who spearheaded the bullet train's construction, and the ministry's chief engineer, were detained in an unrelated corruption investigation months before the crash.

Trains on the latest high-speed line will initially run at 300kp/h with a total travel time of about eight hours. Before, the fastest time between the two cities by train was more than 20 hours.

The line also makes stops in major cities along the way, including provincial capitals Shijiazhuang, Wuhan and Changsha.

More than 150 pairs of high-speed trains will run on the new line every day, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Ministry of Railways.

Railway is an essential part in China's transportation system, and the government plans to build a grid of high-speed railways with four east-west lines and four north-south lines by 2020.

The opening of the new line brings the total distance covered by China's high-speed railway system to more than 9300km - about half its 2015 target of 18,000 km.

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Man charged with Yarraville murders

A 24-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with the murders of an elderly couple whose bodies were found in their burning house last Saturday.

In an out-of-sessions court hearing, Ross Konidaris of Sunshine West, in Melbourne's north, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of arson.

Last Saturday, fire destroyed the home of the elderly couple in Yarraville, in Melbourne's inner west, and police said the fire was suspicious.

Konidaris, who was arrested in Yarraville on Wednesday, was remanded in custody to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.

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Dig uncovers ancient Judaean temple

ISRAELI archaeologists have uncovered a rare temple and religious figurines dating back to the Judaean period nearly 3000 years ago, Israel's Antiquities Authority said.

The discoveries were made at Tel Motza, outside Jerusalem, during archaeological work taking place ahead of new highway construction in the area.

"The ritual building at Tel Motza is an unusual and striking find, in light of the fact that there are hardly any remains of ritual buildings of the period in Judaea," the dig directors said in a statement.

Anna Eirikh, one of the directors, said that the discoveries were rare evidence of religious practice outside Jerusalem during the Judaean period.

"What we can say for sure is the figurines served for religious purposes, and that Tel Motza was a Judaean kingdom," she said.

The findings date to the 9-10th century BC, when the First Temple would have already been built in its Jerusalem location.

The Jews of that era seemed to have kept some of the prevalent pre-Judaism practices alongside the mainstream worship in the Jerusalem temple, she said.

"It's very interesting to see these religious artifacts and temple so close to Jerusalem, a walking distance," she said.

"We know very little about religious practice during the Judaean kingdom, there are two or three more sites of worship, and this is the closest to Jerusalem."

The items discovered, near an altar of a temple, include ritual pottery vessels, fragments of chalices and figurines of animals.

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Four killed in northern Kenya cattle raid

FOUR people have been shot dead in a raid to steal cattle in northern Kenya, despite a major security operation after 42 policemen were killed in an ambush by alleged rustlers in the same area last month.

"Four people were killed and 12 others were injured in the raid, all of them sustained gunshot wounds," a senior police officer in Baragoi, a remote rural locality in the arid north, said after Monday's attacks.

"The raid was done by Turkana herdsmen who stole cattle, we believe some of them must have escaped with injuries," the officer said, adding that they also made off with 200 goats but that some had been recovered.

Police and the military have mounted a security operation in the Baragoi area after 42 police officers were killed in an ambush as they were hunting cattle rustlers, the deadliest such attack against the country's police force.

Cattle theft and ensuing clashes between rival pastoralist groups claim dozens of lives every year in northern Kenya.

The violence is not believed to be linked to politics, but it raises concerns over security in volatile areas of the country ahead of the March elections, the first being held since the December 2007 vote that triggered a wave of deadly unrest.

The ethnic violence in the aftermath of the disputed vote left 1100 people dead and shattered Kenya's image as a beacon of regional stability.

Kenyan police have come under fierce criticism for failing to stop inter-communal killings.

Earlier this month, 45 people including women and children were hacked to death in an attack on a remote village in the southeastern Tana River Delta coastal region. Another 100 lives were lost in similar violence in the area in August and September.

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UN envoy worried after talks with Assad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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India and Russia sign major aircraft deal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Xstrata hikes cost estimate for PNG mine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Pell says sorry to victims of clergy abuse

Cardinal George Pell, leader of the Catholic church in Australia, says he is "deeply sorry" for the pain caused by those in his organisation. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited

AUSTRALIA'S most senior Catholic has apologised to those who have "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers.

While not specifically mentioning allegations of child sex abuse by members of the clergy, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell said he was "deeply sorry" for the hurt that had occurred, calling it "completely contrary" to Christ's teachings.

"I am deeply sorry this happened," Cardinal Pell said.

"I feel too the shock and shame across the community at these revelations of wrongdoing and crimes."

In his statement, Cardinal Pell said people had "suffered at the hands" of fellow Christians, Christian officials, priests and religious teachers.

The Christmas message comes after the federal government this year announced a royal commission to investigate child abuse in Australia, including in the Catholic Church.

It follows claims abuse by clergy was covered up by Catholic Church hierarchy.

Faith in "God's goodness and love" was needed "to help those who have been hurt", Cardinal Pell said in his message.

"We need the hope that comes to us from Christ's birth with his call to conversion, to sorrow for sins and the necessity of reparation," he said.

"The light of Christ shines through this darkness."

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Elderly woman dies in NSW crash

A ELDERLY woman has died following a crash near Wollongong, marking the first death on NSW roads during the Christmas toll period.

Police said the woman, aged 79, was travelling with her husband and another married couple, aged 73 and 74, when the car they were in collided with another car in Mount Ousley just after 1pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

Police said the woman was taken to Wollongong Hospital but died a short time later.

Her 80-year-old husband is in a serious but stable condition with suspected spinal fractures.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or the circumstances leading up to it is urged to contact Southern Region Crash Investigation Unit on (02) 4232 5411 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012 until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Monti won't run but could still rule

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who handed his resignation in on Friday, will not directly campaign to run the country. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

ITALY'S caretaker Premier Mario Monti has said he won't run in February elections, but if political parties that back his anti-crisis agenda ask him to head the next government he would consider the offer.

Mr Monti ruled out heading any ticket himself, saying "I have no sympathy for 'personal' parties."

At a news conference, Mr Monti also made clear he was spurning an offer from his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi to run on a centre-right election ticket backed by the media mogul, citing Mr Berlusconi's heavy criticism of his economic policies.

Mr Monti's decision ends weeks of speculation that have dominated Italian politics and preoccupied Europe, which is eager to see Mr Monti's financial reforms continue.

The premier, an economist who has spent 13 months tasked with trying to right Italy's troubled economy, said Mr Berlusconi's flipping back and forth between condemning the government's economic policies and then praising the premier convinced him that "I couldn't accept his offer".

Mr Monti was tapped by Italy's president to lead the country after Berlusconi was forced to resign, having lost the confidence of international markets. He stepped down on Friday after Mr Berlusconi's party withdrew its support from his technical government, but has been asked stay on in a caretaker capacity in the run-up to Febraury 24-25 elections.

Other centrists parties in Parliament have been urging him to run for another stint as premier. Mr Monti said "I won't line up with anyone," but made clear he was available to head the next government.

"If one or more political forces is credibly backing (Mr Monti's) agenda or even has a better one, I'd evaluate the offer," Mr Monti said.

"I don't like aligning myself with parities, but with themes" of a political and economic agenda, Mr Monti added.

Mr Monti expressed gratitude to Mr Berlusconi for his backing of key anti-crisis measures as pension reform.

"But I struggle to understand his line of thought," he said. "Yesterday, we read that he assessed the work of the (Monti) government to be a complete disaster. A few days earlier I read flattering things."

The logic of Mr Berlusconi's positions "escapes me" and "I couldn't accept his offer," Mr Monti said, drawing chuckles.
 

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