Sydney school fire 'suspicious'

POLICE are treating a fire which damaged an abandoned high school in Sydney's south as suspicious.

Emergency services were called to the former school on Willarong Rd, Caringbah about 3.30pm (AEDT) following reports an old gymnasium was alight, a Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said on Tuesday.

As a precaution, several people at an adjoining bowling club were evacuated while firefighters controlled the blaze.

Police said it's not yet known what caused the fire but the incident was being treated as suspicious.

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US priest to plead guilty to drug charge

A SUSPENDED Roman Catholic priest accused of making more than $US300,000 ($A289,000) from methamphetamine sales is expected to plead guilty to one of the charges.

The 61-year-old is scheduled to appear in the US District Court for a hearing in which he is expected to plead guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Authorities allege the priest had methamphetamine mailed to him from co-conspirators in California and made more than $US300,000 in sales out of his Connecticut apartment last year.

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CSG problems start with Labor: Joyce

NATIONALS Senator Barnaby Joyce has weighed back into the coal seam gas debate, saying it was Labor governments who oversaw approvals for projects now being brought into question.

The Queensland government is being urged to hold a full public inquiry into allegations the approval process for two major developments in that state were rushed.

The issue of coal seam gas (CSG) projects and their effect on water and agricultural land is also a hot topic in the federal electorate of New England in NSW.

Senator Joyce is hoping to get the nod to run as the Nationals' candidate for New England in the September 14 election.

The seat is held by independent Tony Windsor who has been a vocal advocate of the need for more scientific rigour in approvals of CSG mines.

Senator Joyce said the problems with licence approvals called into question the efficacy of new oversight processes the federal government has put into place.

"Don't forget that these problems emanate from a state Labor government that put in place these licences and a federal Labor government who had oversight," he told ABC TV on Tuesday.

He said the "Labor-Green-independent alliance" wanted to have it both ways on the matter.

"They're both for coal seam gas when they're handing out the licences and against coal seam gas when it suits them," he said.

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Afghan teenager fatally stabs US soldier

AN Afghan teenager has killed an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan by stabbing him in the neck while he played with a group of local children, officials say.

The killing comes as the monthly US death toll rose sharply in March to 14 with the start of the spring fighting season when the Taliban and other insurgents take advantage of improved weather to step up attacks.

Sergeant Michael Cable, 26, was guarding Afghan and US officials meeting in a province near the border with Pakistan when the stabbing occurred last Wednesday, two senior US officials said on Monday.

The attack occurred after the soldiers had secured the area for the meeting, but one of the US officials said the youth was not believed to have been a member of the Afghan security forces or in uniform so it was not being classified as an insider attack.

The official said the attacker was thought to be about 16 years old, but the age couldn't be verified.

The Afghan and American dignitaries were attending the swearing-in ceremony of Afghan Local Police in Shinwar district in Nangarhar province, senior district official Zalmai Khan said. Afghan Local Police, or ALP, recruits are drawn from villages and backed by the US military.

The soldier was playing with a group of children outside when the attacker came from behind and stabbed him in the neck with a large knife, Khan said, adding the young man had escaped to nearby Pakistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the young man was acting independently when he killed the soldier but had joined the Islamic militant movement since fleeing the scene.

At least 14 US soldiers died in March, compared with four in the previous two months, according to an Associated Press tally.

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Qld cops see double over drink drivers

QUEENSLAND police have pulled over the same car four times in one afternoon, resulting in drink driving charges for a man and woman who took turns in the driver's seat.

Officers first stopped the vehicle on North Stradbroke Island, southeast of Brisbane, at lunchtime on Monday, and breath tested a Redbank Plains woman behind the wheel.

The 27-year-old allegedly recorded a reading of 0.126 and was charged with drink driving.

A short time later, the woman's male passenger had taken the wheel when police pulled the vehicle over again.

The 34-year-old Redbank Plains man recorded a breath test reading of 0.110, and was also charged with drink driving.

The pair were released, but police say a short time later they saw the man back behind the wheel.

He recorded another positive breath test and was charged with drink driving for a second time as well as driving while suspended.

Not to be deterred, his partner allegedly got behind the wheel yet again.

She was again charged with drink driving, as well as driving while suspended.

Both are due to appear in the Cleveland Magistrates Court on May 14.

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Asian markets fall

ASIAN markets slipped in holiday-hit trade Monday, with investors unimpressed by a slight improvement in key economic indicators out of China and Tokyo.

The yen climbed against the dollar and euro ahead of a Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy meeting this week, while there are lingering concerns about political uncertainty in Italy as well as debt-ravaged Cyprus.

Tokyo slipped 2.12 per cent, or 262.89 points, to 12,135.02 on the back of the stronger yen and Seoul lost 0.44 per cent, or 8.90 points, to 1,995.99.

Shanghai slipped 0.10 per cent, or 2.22 points, to 2,234.40.

Sydney, Hong Kong and Wellington were closed for the Easter break.

The BoJ's closely watched Tankan survey of large Japanese manufacturers for the past three months showed a slight improvement in optimism for the world's number three economy, the first uptick in three quarters.

The survey showed sentiment at minus 8 between January and March, up from minus 12 three months earlier. The figures represent the percentage of firms saying business conditions are good minus those saying they are bad.

However, the figures were unable to prevent a sell-off in shares and a jump in the yen.

Hideki Matsumura, senior economist at Japan Research Institute, told Dow Jones Newswires: "Sentiment is getting better broadly, but the improvement isn't as strong as expected."

And Tachibana Securities market analyst Kenichi Hirano said the negative reaction "may have resulted from the perception that with the Nikkei having performed so well (gaining 19 per cent so far in 2012), general business sentiment should have been at least a little better".

The dollar slipped to 93.55 yen early in Asia, against 94.20 yen in New York trade on Friday, when trade was limited by the Easter holiday.

The euro bought $1.2812 and 119.85 yen compared with $1.2818 and 120.78 yen.

Australian bank Westpac said in a note to clients that investor focus was on Thursday's BoJ announcement, the first under the stewardship of Haruhiko Kuroda. He has promised aggressive measures to kick-start the economy and end decades of deflation.

"Some disappointment around this meeting is likely and we have a downward bias for the dollar-yen in the week ahead," Westpac said.

In China data showed manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest pace in almost a year last month, indicating the world's number two economy was showing signs of improvement.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit 50.9 in March, the highest since April 2012 and up from 50.1 in February. However, it was below the 51.0 that had been forecast.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion while anything below points to contraction.

Separately, British bank HSBC -- with a survey that focuses more on smaller enterprises -- said its final PMI for March stood at 51.6, up from 50.4 in February. That figure was also slightly off the 51.7 in HSBC's preliminary PMI last week.

Oil prices fell, with New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in May, down 50 cents to $96.73 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for May was down 37 cents to $109.65.

Gold was at $1,597.90 an ounce at 1030 GMT compared with $1,598.45 late on Friday.

In other markets:

-- Singapore was almost unchanged, slipping 0.52 points to 3,307.58.

United Overseas Bank shed 1.37 per cent to Sg$20.10 while oil rig maker Keppel Corporation gained 1.25 per cent to Sg$11.34.

-- Taipei fell 0.24 per cent, or 19.37 points, to 7,899.24

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.50 per cent higher at Tw$101.0 while leading smartphone maker HTC shed 1.64 per cent to Tw$240.5.

-- Manila closed 0.12 per cent, or 7.88 points, down at 6,839.59.

-- Jakarta was flat, 0.07 per cent or 3.41 points to 4,937.58.

Palm oil firm Astra Agro Lestari slipped 0.81 per cent to 18,350 rupiah and mobile phone provider Indosat fell 1.54 per cent to 6,400 rupiah.

-- Kuala Lumpur lost 0.24 per cent, or 4.02 points, to close at 1,667.61.

-- Bangkok eased 0.74 per cent, or 11.51 points, to 1,549.55.

Supermarket operator Siam Makro added 6.39 points to 566.00 baht, while telecoms company Advanced Info Service fell 2.08 per cent to 235.00 baht.

-- Mumbai rose 0.15 per cent or 28.98 points at 18,864.75 points.

Indian drug maker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories rose 3.34 per cent to 1,825.3 rupees. Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro rose 2.18 per cent to 1,394.7 rupees.

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Alarm over child solidier killings in CAR

SOUTH African soldiers who survived last week's rebel takeover of the Central African Republic are traumatised after discovering later that some of the rebels killed were child soldiers, local Sunday newspapers reported.

In what has turned out to be South Africa's heaviest military loss since apartheid, 13 soldiers were killed last weekend in Bangui in clashes with Seleka rebels who toppled president Francois Bozize.

Around 200 South African troops fought against some 3,000 rebels during the battle for the Central African capital that lasted several hours.

Some of survivors who have returned home recounted to local newspapers that they only discovered after the battle that they had been fighting against some teenage rebel soldiers.

"It was only after the firing had stopped that we saw we had killed kids. We did not come here for this... to kill kids. It makes you sick. They were crying calling for help... calling for (their) moms," a paratrooper told the Sunday Times.

South African President Jacob Zuma in January had approved the deployment of 400 soldiers to the Central African Republic to help local troops\ as part of a bilateral pact with the administration of now deposed Bozize.

In the end about 200 soldiers were sent.

Some of the Central African rebels were "teenagers who should be in school," the soldier told the paper.

In the City Press a soldier was quoted as saying many of the rebels were "only children".

The two papers also quoted the soldiers saying the South African troops were running out of ammunition.

South Africa's government now faces increasing calls at home for a probe into why troops were sent to the Central African Republic.

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N Korea vows to strengthen nuclear weapons

NORTH Korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear weapons, a day after announcing it is in a "state of war" with South Korea, and says it will never trade its atomic deterrent for aid.

Tensions have risen sharply on the peninsula since the United Nations tightened sanctions in response to the North's nuclear and missile tests, and the United States and South Korea launched military drills south of the border.

On Saturday the North declared it was in a "state of war" with the South and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

A meeting on Sunday of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party, guided by leader Kim Jong-Un, decided the country's possession of nuclear weapons "should be fixed by law", the official KCNA news agency reported without elaborating.

The nuclear armed forces "should be expanded and beefed up qualitatively and quantitatively until the denuclearisation of the world is realised", it added.

Members also decided to develop a light water reactor as part of a civilian nuclear power industry to ease electricity shortages, KCNA said.

The North in 2010 disclosed the existence of a uranium enrichment facility and light water reactor, purportedly to generate power. Experts said it could easily be reconfigured to make fuel for nuclear weapons.

The North in April 2009 formally abandoned six-party talks offering it economic and security benefits in return for denuclearisation.

On Sunday it reiterated its atomic weapons are not a bargaining chip.

"They are a treasure of a reunified country which can never be traded with billions of dollars," KCNA quoted the central committee members as saying.

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Clashes erupt in Mali's Timbuktu

MALIAN troops backed by French forces have clashed with Islamist fighters who infiltrated the northern city of Timbuktu, leaving two jihadists dead and four Malian soldiers wounded.

"Jihadists have infiltrated the centre of Timbuktu ... Our men are currently fighting them with the support of a unit of our French partner," a Malian officer told AFP by telephone.

"Two jihadists have been killed and four Malian soldiers have been injured. That's the provisional toll," the officer said, adding the fighting "is not yet over".

The Islamist fighters who had controlled the fabled Saharan city before French and Malian soldiers recaptured it in January have been able to blend into the population to launch attacks, infiltrating it by foot or bicycle.

The officer said the fighting began when the Islamist rebels opened fire on two sides of the centre of the city, targeting a hotel and a military base.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber blew himself up when he tried to force his way through a military barricade at the western entrance to Timbuktu, wounding a soldier manning the checkpoint.

Mali has been the target of a series of attacks claimed by Islamist insurgents since France launched on January 11 a military intervention against al-Qaeda-linked groups that had seized the north of the country.

The French-led operation has forced the extremists from the cities they had seized for 10 months in the chaotic aftermath of Mali's military coup in March 2012.

But French and African forces have faced continuing suicide blasts and guerrilla attacks in reclaimed territory.

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Firearms charges for NSW police employee

A NSW Police Force employee who was wanted over a missing arsenal of weaponry has handed himself in. Source: AAP

A NSW Police Force employee wanted for questioning over missing police weaponry has been charged with firearms offences.

There had been a statewide manhunt for the man who works with firearms at the NSW police centre in Sydney, but he handed himself into police on Saturday.

He has been charged with a number of firearms offences including aggravated possession of firearms and unauthorised manufacture of firearms.

Police said on Friday a raid of the man's Berkeley Vale home the previous day had uncovered firearms they believed were misappropriated from the Surry Hills centre.

A statewide manhunt began on Friday but the 38-year-old contacted police at Berkeley Vale around 10.15am (AEDT) on Saturday and was taken to Wyong police station.

He was charged with aggravated possession of firearms, unauthorised manufacture of firearms, two counts of possession of prohibited pistol, three counts of possession of prohibited firearm, five counts of possession of prohibited weapon and a single count of not keeping a firearm safe.

The man was refused bail and will appear in Gosford Local Court on Sunday.

Investigations are continuing and police anticipate laying further charges.

During Thursday's search of the man's home, detectives allegedly located firearms, firearm parts, ammunition of various calibers, machining equipment and prohibited weapons.

On Friday, Firearms and Organised Crime Squad Commander Ken Finch said the man had emerged as a person of interest in a long-running investigation into the missing equipment.

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