Scientists turn eyes toward Europa

US astronomers looking for life in the solar system believe that Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, is much more promising than desert-covered Mars, which is currently the focus of the US government's attention.

Europa, which has an ocean, is the most "likely place in our solar system beyond Earth to possess ... life", says Robert Pappalardo, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

"And it is the place we should be exploring now that we have a concept mission we think is the right one to get there for an affordable cost," he says.

"Europa is the most promising in terms of habitability because of its relatively thin ice shelf and an ocean. We know there are oxidants on the surface of Europa."

At the request of NASA, a proposed mission to explore Europa was revised to significantly reduce the cost, the scientist told the media on Friday on the sidelines of an annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

As a result of this review, the JPL and the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland developed a new exploration project named Clipper with a total coast of $US2 billion ($A1.95 billion) minus the launch.

Following the successful example of Cassini, a probe that explored Titan, a moon of Saturn, a spacecraft would orbit Jupiter and conduct numerous close flybys of Europa.

If the plan is approved, Clipper could be launched by 2021 and take three to six years to reach Europa. By comparison, it takes six months to reach Mars.

But NASA announced at the end of 2012 that there would be no funds for the Clipper mission, he said.

Noting that Mars consumed most attention, Pappalardo said the agency should not ignore planets that have a high scientific priority.

In his view, life could have existed on Mars several billion years ago, but Europa could have life today.

Europa was closely observed for the first time by the twin Voyager probes in 1979 and then, in more detail, by Galileo in the 1990s.

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Pope considered resignation in August

POPE Benedict XVI said last August his strength was diminishing and "not much more" could be expected from him as pontiff, according to a German journalist who interviewed him for a 2010 book in which Benedict said popes should in some circumstances consider resigning.

In an article in Saturday's issue of the German weekly Focus, Peter Seewald recalls that he asked Benedict last August what more could be expected of him and his papacy.

Seewald says Benedict replied: "From me? From me, not much more. I am an old man and my strength is running out. And I think what I have done is enough."

Asked whether he was considering resignation, Benedict responded: "That depends to what extent my physical strength will compel me to."

Benedict announced on Monday that he would resign on February 28, making him the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.

The announcement stunned the world, but the pope had laid the groundwork for a possible resignation when Seewald interviewed him for his 2010 book, Light of the World.

"If a pope clearly realises that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign," the book quoted Benedict as saying.

Resignation was, however, not an option to escape a particular burden, such as the scandal over sexual abuse by clerics.

In Saturday's article, Seewald recalls asking the Pope how badly the scandal over leaks of papal documents, in which the Pope's ex-butler was convicted of aggravated theft, had affected him.

It "is not as though I were somehow falling into a kind of desperation or world-weariness - it is simply incomprehensible to me," Benedict said, according to Seewald.

Benedict said the affair had not thrown him off his stride or made him tired of his office, "because I think this can always happen".

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Bird flu forces ducks to the slaughter

ABOUT 14,000 ducks at a German farm are being slaughtered following a bird flu outbreak.

A federal laboratory confirmed Friday the H5N1 virus was detected at the farm near Seelow, east of Berlin - the first such finding in Germany in more than three years.

On Saturday, officials started slaughtering the farm's ducks. Local council spokesman Tobias Seyfarth said that all poultry within a one-kilometre radius of the facility will be kept under observation for the next 21 days, with owners told to keep their birds where they are and report any symptoms.

The H5N1 virus normally spreads between sick poultry, but it can sometimes spread from poultry to humans. Bird flu has killed 367 people worldwide since surfacing in 2003, the World Health Organisation says.

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Sea Shepherd activists 'confront whalers'

ANTI-WHALING group Sea Shepherd says Japanese whalers have harpooned a large minke in Australian Antarctic waters.

The group says the Yushin Maru No 2 harpooned the whale shortly before 6pm (AEDT) inside Australia's Antarctic Territory, some 92 kilometres from Australia's Davis research station.

The Sea Shepherd's SSS Bob Barker has positioned itself between the whale and the mothership Nisshin Maru.

"The Yushin Maru No 2 has made nine unsuccessful attempts to transfer the dead whale, coming as close as 10 metres to the Bob Barker," the Sea Shepherd said in a statement.

"The Bob Barker has not moved."

Activists in small boats are protecting the anti-whaling ship against possible attempts to damage the vessel's propeller with long lines.

The group fears that once the minke is transferred to the whale factory ship, the Yushin Maru No 2 will move on to kill more whales.

Japan and some other countries do not accept Australia's claim over Australian Antarctic waters.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt told AAP late on Friday that the government had "turned a deliberate blind eye", despite receiving multiple warnings about the possibility of a confrontation between the Japanese fleet and activists.

"Allegations that a whale has been slaughtered in Australian waters are deeply disturbing," he said.

"We are against whaling anywhere but if the Australian government is unable to protect our waters, that is a double blow."

The coalition has pledged to send a Customs vessel to monitor next year's hunt if it wins the September election.

Environment Minister Tony Burke has been approached for comment.

The confrontation comes the same day the US Supreme Court upheld an injunction ordering Sea Shepherd to keep away from Japanese whaling ships in the Southern Ocean.

Sea Shepherd appealed to the court to lift the injunction, issued in December, which bans the group and its former head Paul Watson from attacking or endangering the whaling ships.

The injunction was sought by the Institute of Cetacean Research which undertakes the Japanese government's whaling program through a loophole in International Whaling Commission rules that allows whales to be killed for research.

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Oscar Pistorius appears in court

Olympic amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius (C) has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend. Source: AAP

A SOBBING Oscar Pistorius has been formally charged with the Valentine's Day murder of his model girlfriend.

The 26-year-old Paralympian gold medallist wept on Friday as Pretoria magistrate Desmond Nair announced a single charge of killing blonde covergirl Reeva Steenkamp.

The double amputee sat hunched as the court was told prosecutors would argue the murder was premeditated, a charge that could carry a life sentence.

Steenkamp, 29, who was due to appear in a celebrity reality show from this weekend, was shot four times at Pistorius's upmarket Pretoria home in the early hours of Thursday.

She was shot with his 9mm pistol, suffering wounds to the head and hand and died at the scene.

The Beeld newspaper, which first broke the dramatic news of his arrest, said on Friday the shots that killed Steenkamp were fired through a bathroom door, but there has been no police confirmation of this.

Pistorius had been expected to make an application for bail on Friday, but the hearing was postponed until Tuesday to allow the defence more time to prepare. He will remain in police custody until then.

Known as Blade Runner because of his carbon fibre prostheses, Pistorius has inspired millions by becoming the first double-amputee to compete alongside able-bodied athletes at the Olympics.

Journalists from around the world crammed in the courtroom to cover the case.

Police, who were called to Pistorius's home about 4am on Thursday, denied initial reports that Pistorius had shot Steenkamp, his girlfriend since late last year, after mistaking her for a burglar.

Steenkamp, once an FHM cover girl, was described as "the kindest, sweetest human being; an angel on earth," by Sarit Tomlins of her management agency.

Born in Cape Town, she grew up in Port Elizabeth where she graduated with a degree in law.

Police said there had been previous allegations of domestic disputes at Pistorius's home.

"There were always rumours attracted to Oscar Pistorius, but most of them I just put down to him being a celebrity," said Kyle Wood, 25, a fellow resident of the gated community.

In 2009, Pistorius spent a night in jail after allegedly assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a party.

He has often spoken publicly about his fondness for guns. Last year a UK newspaper reported that he has a pistol, machine gun, cricket bat and baseball bat placed around his home for fear of burglars.

In November, Pistorius tweeted about arriving home and hearing the washing machine on "and thinking it's an intruder to go into full combat recon mode into the pantry! waa".

Pistorius is known as an adrenaline junkie, with a love of speed reflected in a passion for motorbikes. Four years ago he crashed his boat in a river south of Johannesburg, breaking two ribs, an eye socket and his jaw.

Empty alcohol bottles were found in the boat, but he was not tested for alcohol.

Any problems off the track were eclipsed by his athletics success.

The Johannesburg-born athlete won gold in the 4x100m relay and the 400m individual at the Paralympic Games in London. He was triple gold medallist in the Beijing games in 2008.

He was named by Time Magazine last year as one of the world's 100 most influential people.

Pistorius had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old after being born without lower leg bones.

Sponsors are now racing to distance themselves from the sprinter.

A South African pay television channel has canned a campaign featuring the runner.

There was no immediate comment from global sports giant Nike on its sponsorship of Pistorius, whom it featured in an advert showing the runner setting off from the starting blocks with the line "I am the bullet in the chamber".

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Pope makes one of his last appointments

POPE Benedict XVI has signed off on one of the last major appointments of his papacy, approving a German lawyer to head the Vatican's embattled bank.

Ernst Von Freyberg has solid financial and Catholic credentials as a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an ancient chivalrous order drawn from European nobility.

The appointment on Friday ends a nine-month search after the Institute of Religious Works ousted its previous president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, for incompetence.

The ouster came just as the Vatican was submitting its finances to a review by a Council of Europe committee in a bid to join the list of financially transparent countries.

The Vatican said Von Freyberg had been appointed by the bank's commission of cardinals and that the pope had "expressed his full consent".

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NZ dollar gains from positive surveys

THE New Zealand dollar rose against the British pound, touching a post-float high, after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said economic growth is likely to remain weak even as inflation stays above the central bank's target.

The kiwi dollar rose to 54.07 British pence from 53.66 pence at 5pm in Wellington on Wednesday, having earlier risen to 54.14 pence. The local currency traded at 84.01 US cents from 84.10 cents.

King said in the BoE's Inflation Report that a prolonged period of above-target inflation "must therefore be considered alongside the weakness of the real economy". The pound fell against the euro and the greenback after the report was released.

"Overnight, all eyes were on the UK," said Mike Jones, strategist at Bank of New Zealand. "A toxic mix of lower BoE growth forecasts, but higher inflation took a toll."

The kiwi may extend its gains, as "relative growth and monetary policy expectations are both skewed in favour of ongoing NZD/GBP strength", he said. "We forecast 0.5550 by year end."

Traders will be watching for the release of the BNZ PMI report for January today for signs of the strength of the domestic manufacturing sector, which has struggled in the face of a strong New Zealand dollar. The PMI was at 50.1 in December, barely in positive territory at 50.1.

The kiwi fell to 81.24 Australian cents from 81.31 cents on Wednesday. It traded at 63.49 euro cents from 52.56 cents. The trade-weighted index rose to 76.24 from 76.17.

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Man sets himself alight at Rome airport

AN immigrant from Ivory Coast has set himself on fire at Rome airport after receiving a deportation order, sparking panic among passengers in the busy terminal.

A police officer quickly put out the flames with a fire extinguisher but the man was badly burnt and has been hospitalised in a serious condition.

The officer has also been hospitalised.

The part of the airport where the man set himself on fire was closed to the public for an hour on Thursday.

He had been ordered to present himself to border police at the airport for expulsion from Italy.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467

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NT law would keep sex offenders in jail

NORTHERN Territorians convicted of the most "horrendous" sex offences could be jailed indefinitely under proposed laws.

The Serious Sex Offenders Act 2013, introduced in the NT parliament on Thursday, would enable the Supreme Court to order that serious sex offenders stay in jail or remain under continuous supervision if released.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice John Elferink said the legislation would be used against serious sex offenders who posed a real danger to the community.

"It will be applied where there is an unacceptable risk that an offender will commit another serious sex crime if released," Mr Elferink said in a statement.

"These are people who have been found guilty of committing horrendous offences."

The Attorney-General would have the onus of satisfying the court that the person is a serious danger to the community, Mr Elferink said.

The proposed sex offender laws came as a Queensland criminal waits to learn whether he will be released from jail.

Twice-convicted rapist Robert John Fardon, 64, was scheduled to be freed on Thursday afternoon.

But the state government won a last-ditch legal attempt to keep him temporarily behind bars until February 27, when a full appeal will be heard.

Also on Thursday, the NT parliament passed laws that guaranteed jail time for convicted violent offenders.

Changes to the territory's Sentencing Act remove the option for a magistrate to fully suspend a jail sentence when the offender has committed a violent assault.

"Serious violent offenders now face mandatory minimum sentences of three months for the first offence, or twelve months for repeat offenders," Mr Elferink said.

"Exceptional circumstances will be considered on a case by case basis and the magistrate can use the exemption clause included in the legislation."

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EU says US deal is a 'game-changer'

AN EU-US free trade agreement to be negotiated shortly is a global "game-changer" which will boost growth and provide much-needed jobs, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso says.

An accord setting up the largest free trade bloc in the world will be "ground-breaking ... a game-changer," which will add 0.5 per cent to the EU economy every year once it is in place, Barroso said on Wednesday.

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Nothing to fear from me, says Geert Wilder

CONTROVERSIAL rightwing anti-Islamic Dutch politician Geert Wilders says Australia has nothing to fear from him when he visits the country starting next week.

Mr Wilders, speaking on the ABC's Lateline on Wednesday, said he was on a global jihad to preserve freedom.

He said he wants to warn Australia against allowing the mass immigration of people from Muslim countries "because Islam and freedom are incompatible".

"I believe with mass immigration into our free societies, those societies will change, and they will change for the worse," Mr Wilders said.

The leader of the Party for Freedom holds the balance of power in the Dutch parliament after receiving around 10 per cent of the national vote.

He wants to tell Australians that we must learn from the mistakes they made in Europe and be vigilant of Islam.

"It is not a religion of peace - it is a totalitarian ideology," Mr Wilders said.

He conceded that the majority of Muslims living in Europe were moderates but their religion of Islam was totalitarian that has no room for anything but Islam.

Mr Wilders said that when he visits Australia next week he not only wanted to talk to people who agreed with him but to those who did not.

"I am a lawmaker not a law breaker," he said.

When asked if he would be accompanied by Dutch Security Service he said that he could not talk about security arrangements or he would make himself more vulnerable.

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Two firefighters killed at Victorian fire

TWO firefighters, a man in his 30s and a young woman in her late teens, have died after a tree fell on their vehicle as they battled a large bushfire in a remote part of Victoria's alpine region.

Police believe the pair were in their emergency vehicle when it was struck by a falling tree around 3.35pm (AEDT).

Emergency services tried to reach the scene but were forced back because of fire and hazardous conditions.

Crews finally reached the fire ground around 8.10pm.

The dead man is believed to be from Corryong and the young woman from Tallandoon.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) said the firefighters were working on the Harrietville fire burning near Mount Hotham.

The Australian Workers Union (AWU) Victorian secretary Cesar Melhem said two DSE firefighters were killed in the line of duty.

Mr Melhem said DSE firefighters were "unsung heroes" and there was little recognition of their work because they were not usually seen, working behind the fire lines.

"These DSE firefighters work in the most horrific conditions imaginable, away from the big centres, out in the bush, and with very little recognition for their heroic contribution to this state," he said in a statement.

"They have died heroes, which will be small comfort to those that grieve them."

DSE and CFA firefighters have been making the most of mild weather conditions working around the clock to control hotspots and build containment lines around the fire, but have faced a challenge in getting into isolated locations where it is still burning.

Crews have had to trek for more than two hours to get to hard-to-reach locations to construct control lines to help stop the spread of the fire if it flared up again, Ovens incident controller Tony Long said earlier on Wednesday.

"Where crews can't walk into the affected areas, we use rappel crews who rappel down ropes from a hovering helicopter carrying their gear to put out hot spots," Mr Long said.

The Harrietville fire has burned 27,000 hectares since it was started by lightning on January 21 and Mr Long said it would continue to burn until the alpine region received significant rain.

The deaths come a month after Peter Cramer, a DSE firefighter and CFA volunteer from Tyers in Gippsland, died while working on bushfires in Tasmania.

Mr Cramer, 61, died on January 13 at Taranna, east of Hobart, while working on foot to identify potential containment lines on the southern boundary of the Forcett fire about two to three kilometres from the active fire edge.

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Queen tops Britain's female power list

SHE has no formal political role, but Queen Elizabeth II has been named Britain's most powerful woman by a BBC radio program.

The monarch topped the list of 100 female figures announced on Tuesday on Woman's Hour.

Home Secretary Theresa May - Britain's interior minister - ranks second, followed by Ana Botin, chief executive of Santander UK bank.

The top five also includes Supreme Court judge Brenda Hale and Elisabeth Murdoch, chair of television company Shine Group and daughter of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

The list was assembled by a panel that included journalist Eve Pollard, politician Priti Patel and crime novelist Val McDermid.

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Dutch pull frozen food on horsemeat fears

DUTCH supermarkets have became the latest European shops to remove frozen meals from their shelves amid fears they may contain horsemeat disguised as beef.

"Plus supermarkets have withdrawn frozen lasagne of the Primafrost brand from shelves as a precaution," spokeswoman Debbie Huisman told AFP.

She said the withdrawn products were not dangerous but could contain horsemeat without it being marked on the packaging.

Boni supermarkets have withdrawn the same product, said Roel Vincken, spokesman for the Dutch Food and Goods Authority (NVWA).

"This is a decision that the supermarkets are taking themselves, we have to wait for the results of the enquiry to take official decisions," he told AFP.

The NVWA on Monday opened a probe to see whether any beef products stocked on shelves contain horsemeat as the frozen food scandal spreads across Europe.

The authorities are also investigating whether any Dutch company has been involved in fraudulent horsemeat trading.

The first results of the probe are expected early next week.

Supermarket chains in Britain, France and Sweden have pulled millions of frozen ready meals, including lasagne and moussaka dishes, from store shelves after it emerged last week that meals labelled as containing processed beef were actually found to contain up to 100 per cent horsemeat.

Horsemeat is readily available on Dutch shelves and the country produced about 1000 tonnes of horsemeat in 2011, according to the Dutch central statistics office.

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Rebels overrun Syria military airport

REBELS have seized a military airport in Syria's northern province of Alepp, capturing for the first time a fleet of deployable warplanes including MiG fighter jets, a watchdog says.

During their operation to take over the Al-Jarrah aiport, rebels killed, injured or imprisoned some 40 troops, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The remainder of the troops pulled out from the airport, leaving behind several warplanes and large amounts of ammunition," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"This is the first time rebels capture warplanes, among them MiG fighter jets," Abdel Rahman said, adding that airports captured in the past by rebels had only "damaged or otherwise unusable" planes left behind by regime troops.

Tuesday's capture of the Al-Jarrah military airport came a day after Islamist rebels overran the town of Tabqa, situated in the neighbouring province of Raqa, before taking control of the nearby strategic Al-Thawra dam on the Euphrates.

"The rebels' progress in this area has been extremely quick," Abdel Rahman said.

"While the army has full control of parts of Damascus province, the capital and the central province of Hama, it is suffering losses in Homs in the centre, Deir Ezzor in the east, and Aleppo and Raqa in the north.

"There are clashes all over the country, and it is impossible for the army to control every flashpoint."

Activists in Aleppo have told AFP that rebel fighters in the north have shifted their focus in recent weeks to the capture of military airports and bases.

"They are important because they are an instant source of ammunition and supplies, and because their capture means putting out of action the warplanes used to bombard us," Aleppo-based activist Abu Hisham said via the internet.

The capture of Al-Jarrah airport came just over a month after rebels overran Taftanaz airbase, the largest in northern Syria.

Amateur video shot by rebels overrunning Al-Jarrah on Tuesday and distributed via the internet showed a fleet of warplanes lining the airport's runways.

"Thank God, Ahrar al-Sham (Islamist rebels) have overrun the military airport" at Al-Jarrah, said an unidentified cameraman who shot a video at the site.

"MiG warplanes are now in the hands of Ahrar al-Sham. And here is the ammunition," the cameraman added, filming two Russian-made fighter jets like those the army has used since last summer to bombard rebel targets.

Meanwhile, clashes raged on Tuesday near other airports in Aleppo province, activists said.

Rebels were targeting Nayrab and Kwayris military airports, as well as Aleppo international airport, which has been closed since January 1, activists said.

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Pope was considering quitting for months

THE Pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger, says the pontiff had been advised by his doctor not to take any more transatlantic trips and had been considering stepping down for months.

Pope Benedict XVI announced on Monday that he would resign on February 28.

Talking from his home in Regensburg to the news agency dpa, Georg Ratzinger said his brother was having increasing difficulty walking and that his resignation was part of a "natural process".

"His age is weighing on him," the 89-year-old said of his 85-year-old brother. "At this age my brother wants more rest."

Georg Ratzinger did not answer his telephone for calls seeking further comment.

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Woman sells cigarettes at Sydney market

A WOMAN has been charged with selling cigarettes, with an estimated total value of $65,000, at a market stall in western Sydney.

Detectives visited the Blacktown Markets on Cricketers Arms Road on Sunday morning and will allege they were offered cigarettes by the woman operating the stall.

They raided the stall and the woman's car, allegedly finding 2799 packets of cigarettes of various brands.

Police also seized 18 bags of tobacco with an estimated value of $800.

Inquiries are being made about the ownership of the products.

A 33-year-old Bonnyrigg woman has been charged with selling tobacco product by retail from booth/tent.

She has been granted conditional bail to appear at Blacktown Local Court on February 28.

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French retailers withdraw horse products

SIX major French retailers have withdrawn foods provided by producers Findus and Comigel over fears they may contain horsemeat, the FCD retail association said on Sunday.

Retailers Auchan, Casino, Carrefour, Cora, Monoprix and Picard have pulled the prepared products, including pasta dishes with meat sauce, shepherd's pie and moussaka, from their shelves, the association said in a statement.

It said the withdrawal was the result of a "labelling non-compliance in regards to the nature of the meat" in the products.

"The retailers are following the investigations carried out by suppliers with the greatest attention and waiting for the results of public inquiries," the statement said, noting that French authorities had indicated there was no health risk from the products.

Prepared foods have been pulled from the shelves in Britain, France and Sweden after it emerged that frozen food companies had been using horsemeat in products labelled as containing beef.

Findus has lodged a legal complaint in France after evidence showed the presence of horsemeat in its supply chain "was not accidental", while a French meat-processing firm said it would sue its Romanian supplier.

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US must change before direct talks: Iran

PRESIDENT Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the United States must change its attitude if it wants to hold direct nuclear talks with Iran, as he hit out at Washington for imposing sanctions on Tehran.

His comments, in a speech marking the 34th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed shah in 1979, came just days after Iran's supreme leader rejected US Vice-President Joe Biden's call for direct talks.

They also come at a time when Tehran and six world powers are preparing to resume stalled talks over Iran's nuclear program in the Kazakh city of Almaty on February 26.

"The change of tone is necessary but not sufficient," Ahmadinejad said at Tehran's landmark Azadi (Freedom) Square amid chants of "Death to America".

"Stop pointing weapons at the Iranian nation and I will myself negotiate with you," he said, addressing the United States directly.

"Talks should be with respect, fairness and not under pressure."

"You have done everything to prevent us from becoming nuclear and you have failed. The best solution is co-operation and understanding."

Last week Biden made a "serious offer" for direct talks in the framework of negotiations between Iran and the so-called P5+1 (the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany) on Tehran's nuclear program, which world powers suspect is aimed at making atomic weapons.

Iran vehemently denies the allegation.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all national issues, rejected Biden's offer outright.

"I am not a diplomat but a revolutionary and I speak frankly," Khamenei was quoted as saying on his website on Thursday. "You (Americans) are pointing the gun at Iran and say either negotiate or we will shoot."

On Sunday, Ahmadinejad called on Iranians to remain "united behind" Khamenei, reiterating that "the Iranian nation will not give up an inch of its legitimate rights".

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians, chanting anti-US and anti-Israel slogans, marked the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on Sunday.

Waving Iranian flags and portraits of Islamic republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and of Khamenei, crowds gathered at Azadi Square in a government-sponsored rally that has become a regime cornerstone.

The authorities put on display a replica of a rocket that Iran says was used to carry a monkey into space in late January.

Sunday's nationwide rallies mark February 11, 1979 when the then Iranian army declared solidarity with the people, turning its back on shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Ten days beforehand, Khomeini had returned in triumph from exile in France to lead the revolutionaries to power.

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