Syrian army moves to secure Damascus

Clashes have raged near Damascus airport, as members of the Friends of Syria group meet in Tokyo. Source: AAP

THE Syrian army has shelled the outskirts of Damascus in a drive to establish a secure perimeter around the capital, including the key airport road that has come under sustained rebel attack.

The 27-kilometre highway remained perilous a day after troops said they had reopened the key link to the outside world in heavy fighting that followed repeated deadly fire on a bus carrying airport staff and at least two attacks on UN convoys, a watchdog said.

The fighting on Saturday sparked mounting expressions of concern from UN officials.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the conflict had reached "appalling heights of brutality". UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Syria was in danger of becoming a "failed state" if a political settlement was not reached soon.

The army shelled both the southwestern outskirts of the capital and the town of Douma in the northeastern suburbs, human rights monitors and opposition activists said.

Douma forms part of the so-called Eastern Ghouta region where troops have gone on the offensive to secure the airport highway.

Analysts say President Bashar al-Assad's regime has been trying to establish a secure perimeter around Damascus at all costs in a bid to be in a position to negotiate a solution to the 20-month conflict.

The repeated firing on the airport road prompted the cancellation of a string of international flights.

Airport officials said flights had resumed on Friday, but a military source acknowledged more heavy fighting lay ahead to fully secure the road.

Traffic resumed after the army cleared rebels from the western side of the highway and part of the eastern side on Friday.

"But the most difficult part is yet to come," the military official said. "The army wants to take control of the eastern side, where there are thousands of terrorists and this will take several days."

Shelling and fighting between troops and rebels also rocked Syria's second city Aleppo on Saturday, scene of urban warfare for more than four months, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Also, clashes were reported in the central city of Homs, dubbed by activists "the capital of the revolution".

In the east, troops re-entered the Al-Omar oilfield, three days after pulling out, the Observatory said.

"Despite Thursday's pullout, rebels did not enter the oilfield for fear that it was mined," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

The oilfield is one of the regime's last positions east of the city of Deir Ezzor. Rebels last week seized a huge swathe of territory stretching from the city to the Iraqi border, the largest in Syria outside government control.

Early last month, the rebels seized control of the Al-Ward oilfield, the first it had captured. The army has since also lost control of the Al-Jofra oilfield and the Conoco gas reserves, according to the Observatory.

Syria's oil and gas production is now largely for domestic consumption as a result of embargoes on its exports by its biggest pre-conflict customers. But rebel activity has also taken a mounting toll on output.

Violence nationwide killed at least 122 people on Friday, including 73 civilians and 22 fighters from neighbouring Lebanon, the Observatory said, bringing to more than 41,000 the number killed since the uprising erupted in March 2011.

UN chief Ban predicted that Syrian refugee numbers would surge to more than 700,000 by next month as more civilians fled the fighting in residential areas, up from 480,000 now.

Peace envoy Brahimi warned the intensifying conflict could see "the state and its institutions withering away, lawlessness spreading, warlordism, banditry, narcotics, arms smuggling and worst of all the ugly face of communal and sectarian strife take hold of Syria".

Google and Twitter said that they had reactivated a voice-tweet program, last used in 2011 when the internet was shut down in Egypt during its revolution, to allow Syrians affected by an internet shutdown to get messages out.

Most phones and internet networks were down for a second straight day on Friday, the Observatory said.

Syrian authorities blamed maintenance work. Washington accused Damascus of deliberately cutting communications.

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Man arrested after Darwin navy boat raid

POLICE believe a number of people were involved in a conspiracy to steal weapons from a navy patrol boat during a midnight raid in Darwin.

A dozen semi-automatic pistols and two pump-action shotguns were stolen from the armoury of the Armidale-class patrol boat Bathurst at midnight (CST) on Thursday, while it was moored at HMAS Coonawarra, near the city centre.

A duty sailor on board was overpowered during the robbery, assaulted and then restrained with cable ties.

Following an "around the clock" investigation into the robbery, Northern Territory police surrounded a unit in Darwin city about 2.30pm (CST) on Saturday.

A 40-year-old man tried to run from the area, but was captured and taken into custody nearby, Commander Richard Bryson, of the NT Police, said.

He said all 14 weapons were recovered at the unit, however police were still investigating what the man's involvement in the robbery was.

"We have a number of avenues of inquiry to go (on)," Cmdr Bryson told reporters on Saturday.

"The police force need to establish whether this person received the weapons or if he is one of the principal offenders.

"It would appear a number of people have conspired."

Cmdr Bryson said it appears several people were involved in the patrol boat raid, the ABC reported.

"Investigators will continue those investigations until all persons that had a hand in that conspiracy have been brought to justice," he said.

No charges have yet been laid and investigations are continuing.

Cmdr Bryson said he was happy to have the patrol boat's weapons removed from the streets.

"I commend all the officers involved with this investigation for working around the clock to achieve such a positive outcome," he said on Saturday.

On Friday, police said a person, allegedly wearing a balaclava and military clothing, boarded the patrol boat.

Cmdr Bryson told reporters on Friday that it appeared the intruder had good knowledge of the layout of the vessel and Australian Defence Force (ADF) procedures.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Ray Griggs has ordered an investigation of the security at Australia's fleet of ships and bases around the country in response to the theft.

Another five firearms were stolen from a business at Berrimah, near Darwin, about 5.30am on Friday after a shop's gun safe was broken into, but police have not identified any link between the two thefts as yet.

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North Korea to test long-range rocket soon

NORTH Korea says it will launch a long-range rocket between December 10 and 22, a move likely to heighten already strained relations with the US and South Korea, where a presidential election will be held on December 19.

This would be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power after his father Kim Jong Il's death nearly a year ago.

The announcement comes several weeks after US President Barack Obama was elected to a second term and before his public inauguration on January 21.

Washington considers North Korea's rocket tests to be veiled covers for tests of long-range missile technology banned by the United Nations.

An unnamed spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said North Korea had "analysed the mistakes" made in a failed April launch and improved the precision of the rocket and satellite, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The April launch broke up shortly after lift-off, but quickly drew condemnation from the UN, Washington, Seoul and other capitals.

North Korea's statement said a rocket carrying a polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite will blast off southward from its northwest coastal space centre.

The US has criticised North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles as a threat to Asian and world security.

Under its young leader North Korea has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal unless Washington scraps what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy.

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Gold Coast Titans hit by porn scandal

The Gold Coast Titans CEO David May (centre). His wife Kortney Olson, who has confirmed on a fitness website that she has made ''fetish videos'', has a training role with the club's under-20s side. Picture: Adam Head Source: The Courier-Mail

NATIONAL Rugby League club the Titans have been hit by a fresh scandal following explosive revelations a fetish-porn star, who has overcome a drug and alcohol addiction, is training their under-20s squad.

And in a further concern for the NRL and the club, it can be revealed the female in question, Kortney Olson, is the wife of recently-appointed Titans chief executive David May.

News Limited online has obtained a slew of offensive and pornographic material featuring Olson, a natural bodybuilder and fitness fanatic, found widely on a number of internet porn and bodybuilding websites.

But the Titans have defended the move, claiming Olson is only a volunteer, although the Gold Coast boss' wife claims in a personal blog on her fitness website that she is an "official employee of the Titans".

Speaking exclusively to News Limited online, Titans boss May confirmed he was aware of his wife's pornographic work, but said he was proud she had overcome battles with drugs and alcohol to play a respected role at the club.

"Before I met her she had issues with drugs and alcohol," May said.

"But I am very proud of Kortney and she has turned her life around."

At least two Titans staffers, furious at Olson joining the club a fortnight ago, have complained to Gold Coast management.

In one interview with a fitness website, Olson confirms "making fetish videos" and claims her "bisexual side ... puts a lot of stress on a person's relationship".

Some of the pictures and videos are so sexually explicit they cannot be published.

The explicit content is a major breach of the NRL's code of conduct, chiefly Sections 12 and 14, which pertain to upholding the image of the NRL and public confidence in its brand.

With May's knowledge, Olson was appointed assistant strength-and-conditioning coach to the Titans' under-20s side two weeks ago.

The 31-year-old American, who has competed in a number of bodybuilding competitions, also claims to work with the under-16s and under-18s outfits and Aboriginal kids as part of the Titans for Tomorrow program.

Sporting the tattoo 'KO' on her shoulder, Olson has a cult following of fans and an online presence via a surfeit of naked and salacious photographs. Her name is associated with dozens of ``adults only'' sites.

Her Youtube page includes a spoof video, uploaded this year, in which she gives a demonstration of ``how to dominate a man in the bedroom."

In an interview on a bodybuilding website in January, Olson reveals her partner May's dislike for her partaking in pornographic films.

"I would NEVER do girl/guy videos. For me personally that is crossing the line," Olson says.

"I would still do girl/girl videos if my fiance didn't mind.

"I miss it…I love beautiful women!"

The ARL Commission will come under pressure to take action against the Gold Coast, which almost went broke with debts of $25 million earlier this season.

Olson's involvement is particularly disturbing because the NRL has made a strategic move to attract mothers and females to the sport, with the code now celebrating the Women in League round annually.

An image of Kortney Olson from her webpage, where she claims to be an official employ of the Gold Coast club.

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Three in hospital after car hits house

THREE people have been taken to hospital "as a precaution" after a vehicle slammed into a home on Brisbane's northside tonight.

Police, ambulance and fire crews raced to the home on Main Avenue at Wavell Heights after 7.10pm on Friday.

It is understood a wall of the single-storey brick house collapsed as a result.

A Community Safety spokesman said no one was trapped or injured from the house.

Three occupants from the car were taken to the Royal Brisbane Hospital with minor injuries "as a precaution".

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Eurozone unemployment hits record high

THE recession in the economy of the 17 euro countries has pushed unemployment in the region up to a record 11.7 per cent in October.

Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, said on Friday that 18.7 million people were out of work across the 17 EU countries that use the euro.

The increase from the previous month's 11.6 per cent was anticipated in light of the eurozone's return to recession in the third quarter.

Spain and Greece have the region's highest unemployment rates - both over 25 per cent, with youth unemployment levels heading towards 60 per cent.

Eurostat also says that inflation in the eurozone fell by more than anticipated to 2.2 per cent in November. However, it is still above the European Central Bank's target of keeping price rises at just below 2 per cent.

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Man charged with sexually assaulting girl

A MAN has been charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of aggravated indecent assault for allegedly abusing a girl in his care.

After receiving a tip-off, police arrested the 65-year-old man at his home about 1.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

"The tip-off came from a member of the public whose daughter had told her a school friend was being abused at home," police said in a statement.

Police allege the girl was "sexually assaulted on a number of occasions by her primary carer".

The man was refused bail and will appear in Newcastle Local Court on Friday.

Child abuse squad acting commander Superintendent Anthony Holton urges anyone with information about child abuse to report it immediately to police.

"Its the whole community's responsibility to ensure the safety of our children," he said,

"If you see something, hear something, or even just suspect a child is being abused, then you need to report it."

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Top Pakistani militant hit by blast

PAKISTANI intelligence and government officials say a suicide bomber targeted a prominent Pakistani militant commander in the country's northwest, wounding him and killing three people.

The officials say the bomber attacked Maulvi Nazir on Thursday in Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal area. Nazir was one of 14 people wounded in the bombing.

Nazir is the most prominent militant commander in South Waziristan and is believed to have a non-aggression pact with the Pakistani military. Nazir has focused his fighting against US-led forces in Afghanistan, not against the Pakistani state.

The officials say Nazir was attacked at an office in Wana he uses to meet with locals and hear their complaints. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

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Science students discharged from hospital

STUDENTS and teachers taken to hospital after a classroom science experiment went wrong have been discharged.

Thirteen high school students and two teachers from Moorebank High School, in Sydney's southwest, were taken to Liverpool and Bankstown Hospitals after they were exposed to a sulfuric-based solution in a science classroom about 3pm (AEST) on Thursday.

All have since been discharged, a hospital spokeswoman told AAP.

A total of 120 students and teachers were evacuated from the school and sent home after the mishap.

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European stocks drop at open

EUROPE'S main stock markets declined at the start of trading on Wednesday, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.29 per cent at 5,782.77 points.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index dipped 0.20 per cent to 7,317.49 points and in Paris the CAC 40 reversed 0.38 per cent to 3,488.75.

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Blasts kill 38 near Syria capital

SIMULTANEOUS car bombings in a mostly Christian and Druze town near Damascus killed at least 38 people as rebels downed a military aircraft for the second successive day.

The blasts occurred when explosives-packed cars were detonated at daybreak on Wednesday in a pro-regime area of the town of Jaramana, residents, state media and a rights watchdog reported.

They were the fourth bomb attacks since August 28 to rock Jaramana, home to predominantly Christians and Druze, an influential minority whose faith is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.

Sectarian divides are a key factor in Syria's armed rebellion, with many in the Sunni Muslim majority frustrated at more than 40 years of Alawite-dominated rule.

The blast ripped through a central square of Jaramana, said the official SANA news agency.

There was a ball of fire at the end of a narrow lane, and the impact of the explosions brought walls down onto cars, crushing them and scattering debris over the ground. Pools of blood were seen in the middle of the street.

The death toll mounted as the morning wore on, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights giving tallies of 20, then 29 and finally at least 38. The interior ministry put the count at 34.

"Activists and residents in the town said most of the victims were killed when a suicide attacker blew up his car, just after an explosive device was used to blow up another car," said the Observatory.

SANA reported that "terrorists" blew up the two car bombs at the same time, as two separate explosive devices were set off without claiming any lives.

The Syrian uprising erupted in March 2011 with peaceful pro-democracy protests, inspired by the Arab Spring. It transformed into an armed insurgency when the government began a bloody crackdown on dissent.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad, himself an Alawite, insists it is fighting foreign-backed "terrorists".

The failure of international diplomacy has enabled it to press on with its all-out military campaign to crush the rebellion, and the fighting has resulted in more than 40,000 deaths, according to the Observatory.

In the latest violence, an AFP correspondent on the Syria-Turkey border reported that rebel fighters shot down a fighter jet in the embattled northwest.

The warplane came down in a massive explosion, leaving behind a plume of smoke, the journalist said, reporting several kilometres away from the impact.

The aircraft was hit by a missile and crashed at Daret Ezza, said the Observatory, a Britain-based watchdog that relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground for its information.

It came a day after rebels downed an army helicopter for the first time with a newly acquired ground-to-air missile, in what the Observatory said had the potential to change the balance of military power in the conflict.

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PNG stands firm on Ross Garnaut ban

PAPUA New Guinea's leader is standing firm on his decision to ban Australian climate change adviser Ross Garnaut from entering his country.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill maintains Professor Garnaut insulted his nation's leaders during a media interview and is no longer welcome there.

Prof Garnaut, who is chairman of Ok Tedi Mining, was quoted by The Australian newspaper as saying that with such an accumulation of wealth in PNG, it was "tempting for political figures to think of better ways of using it right now rather than putting it into long-term development".

Mr O'Neill said Prof Garnaut's statement was not true and could damage his country's reputation.

"As a leader of the country I cannot stand by and allow comments like those to continue," he told reporters at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

"It was irresponsible. He has to take ownership of that statement."

Mr O'Neill says his government has sought an explanation.

"Some of the explanations he's given to us are not acceptable to us," Mr O'Neill said.

Mr O'Neill has previously said Prof Garnaut, who until recently was also chairman of the PNG Sustainable Development Fund (PNGDF) trust, would not be allowed back in until control of the Ok Tedi mine was given back to the PNG people.

The trust was given ownership of the Ok Tedi mine, located in PNG's Western Province, by mining giant BHP Billiton.

Mr O'Neill claims BHP is running the PNGSDF by remote control from Melbourne and has questioned whether the 37-year-old nation had benefited from the project.

The prime minister on Wednesday reiterated his call for BHP to back off.

"There is no longer a valid reason for it to continue to exercise any control over the board appointments to that fund," he said.

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OECD confirms Australia's resilience: Swan

TREASURER Wayne Swan says the Australian economy is set to grow at twice the average pace of the 34 economies that make up the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Mr Swan says the OECD's latest economic outlook released on Tuesday confirms the resilience of the local economy in the face of challenging global conditions.

"We recognise that not everyone is on easy street, and some sectors of the economy face big challenges," he said in a statement.

"This report from the OECD confirms our economy remains very resilient in the face of global headwinds, unlike most other advanced economies."

While the Paris-based institution has slashed its 2013 prediction for Australian growth to three per cent, from 3.7 per cent six months ago, its compares with the OECD average of just 1.4 per cent expected for the same year.

The OECD expects Australia will have grown by 3.7 per cent in 2012, while it is forecasting 3.2 per cent in 2014.

Mr Swan said the latest forecasts were consistent with the government's own projections contained in the mid-year budget review.

"The Australian economy has now completed 21 years of economic growth, more than twice as long as any other advanced economy," Mr Swan said.

"While some sectors continue to face headwinds from a strong dollar and weak global demand, the OECD expects that Australia's economic growth will be underpinned by strong investment, solid consumption and a lift in export volumes."

The report also highlights significant downside risks to the global outlook, particularly from the euro area crisis and the looming US 'fiscal cliff'.

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Police probe fatal German workshop fire

INVESTIGATORS are combing through the charred debris of a workshop for the disabled in Germany, where a fire claimed 14 lives.

Police confirmed on Tuesday that those killed by smoke inhalation were 13 disabled adults and one staff member of the Catholic charity-run facility in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany.

Germany was shocked by the tragedy on Monday, which started with an explosion in a storage room and saw people flee in panic from the woodwork and metalcraft workshop in the city of Titisee-Neustadt.

A patient protection group demanded tougher fire safety rules in disabled care facilities, with one group calling current standards "unbearable", as it emerged the facility had no sprinkler system.

Police cautioned that "there is no information yet on the cause of the accident as a meticulous investigation has yet to be completed".

They were to give a press conference later to identify the dead.

The blaze claimed the lives of 13 people with disabilities - 10 women aged from 28 to 68 and three men aged 45 to 68 - and killed a female caregiver aged 50. Nine people were seriously injured.

Survivors and relatives of the dead were still receiving counselling, and the city of Titisee-Neustadt was planning a memorial service for those killed, said its mayor Armin Hinterseh.

The facility for people with mental or multiple disabilities is run by the Catholic charity Caritas, with the aim of integrating handicapped people and giving them a meaningful occupation.

Caritas president Peter Neher told German broadcaster ZDF that emergency drills were regularly held at the site, but that fire safety regulations would be reviewed.

"Of course, after a catastrophe like this ... all operational plans, all emergency measures need to be reviewed," he said.

Patient protection group the German Hospice Foundation demanded that all such facilities be fitted with sprinkler systems within four years, in comments in the daily Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung.

"What applies to German airports must also apply to disabled care facilities," said its board member Eugen Brysch, urging speedy government action and asking facilities to move even quickly.

"They should take safety into their own hands," he said, labelling current conditions "unbearable" and pointing out that fires were a regular occurrence in disabled facilities that could be prevented.

The government expert on such care facilities, Willi Zylajew, denied there were systemic problems, saying: "Fire regulations for care and disabled facilities are extremely high and perfectly adequate and are usually followed correctly."

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Olympic swimmer Sullivan in hot water

OLYMPIC swimmer Eamon Sullivan has a date with an Adelaide magistrate after being reported by police for assault and disorderly behaviour after a joy-ride on a motorised scooter went wrong.

Sullivan was in Adelaide for a buck's party on October 18 for an AFL footballer and was drinking at the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler when it's alleged he borrowed a motorised scooter belonging to pensioner John Guppy.

Mr Guppy told the Nine Network that one of the men at the buck's party asked "for a spin" on the scooter.

Nine said Sullivan and a footballer took the scooter onto the footpath and crashed into a table outside the pub injuring two people.

Publican Adrian Armstrong told the network that the people in the buck's party did not appear to be intoxicated but he asked them to move on after the incident.

Police have reported Sullivan, 27, from Western Australia, to appear before the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on a date to be fixed to face two charges of assault and one of disorderly behaviour.

Sullivan's lawyer issued a statement saying that although an accident did occur there was no evidence that the swimmer was responsible for it.

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Bangladesh workers protest 'deathtraps'

A fire in a nine-storey garment factory in Bangladesh has left at least 110 people dead. Source: AAP

GARMENT workers staged mass protests on Monday to demand an end to "deathtrap" labour conditions after Bangladesh's worst-ever textile factory fire, as a new blaze sparked fresh panic and terror.

Ahead of the first of a series of mass funerals for the 110 victims, survivors of Saturday night's blaze joined several thousand colleagues to block a highway and march in the manufacturing hub of Ashulia.

"Workers from several factories have left work and joined the protest. They want exemplary punishment for Tazreen's owners," said Dhaka police chief Habibur Rahman, referring to a plant near the capital where the blaze broke out late Saturday.

Police said Ashulia's more than 500 factories who make apparel for top global retailers such as Walmart, H&M and Tesco declared a wild-cat "holiday", fearing that the protests could worsen and turn into large-scale unrest.

"Most workers are in shock. They want to see safety improvements to these deathtrap factories," Babul Akter, head of a garment union, told AFP.

The protesters chanted a series of slogans, including a demand for Tazreen's bosses to be brought to justice.

Local police chief Badrul Alam said officers had opened a murder investigation as a result of criminal negligence. Two government inquiries and the police investigation are trying to establish if the owners were to blame for the fire.

"We won't spare anyone," Alam promised as the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced a day of mourning for the dead, many of whom stitched clothes for international brands. All factories will also be closed on Tuesday.

Dozens of workplace fires have killed more than 600 employees in Bangladesh's booming garment industry since 2006, but none of the owners have so far faced prosecution for poor safety conditions.

Firefighters battled for several hours to contain the weekend blaze, which broke out on the ground floor of the nine-storey Tazreen Fashion plant 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Dhaka, trapping over 1,000 workers.

Witnesses told how panicked staff, most of them women, cried for help and several leaped to their deaths from upper floors as they tried to escape.

Preparations have been made for the mass burial of the bodies of 59 workers who cannot be identified.

Their remains, most of which were burnt beyond recognition, will be laid to rest at a state graveyard in a southern suburb of Dhaka.

"We are keeping the DNA samples of the dead workers so that we can identify their relatives for compensation," said Dhaka district police commissioner Yusuf Harun who said the death toll was now 110.

Even before the first burials, a new blaze at a 12-storey building housing four factories sparked new scenes of panic as workers rushed to safety.

The latest fire caused widespread damage at the plant on the outskirts of Dhaka, but no casualties were reported after rescue teams searched the building for workers feared to have suffocated in toxic black fumes.

"Most workers broke grilles in the upper floor and escaped to a safe location at an adjacent building," Dhaka district deputy commissioner of police Nisharul Arif told AFP.

Bangladesh has emerged as the world's second-largest clothes exporter with overseas garment sales topping $19 billion last year, or 80 percent of national exports.

The sector is the mainstay of the poverty-stricken country's economy, employing 40 percent of its industrial workforce, but work conditions are often basic and safety standards low.

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Zuma slaughters cows for re-election

SOUTH Africa's President Jacob Zuma's family slaughtered 12 cows at his rural village at the weekend in a traditional ritual to help him keep his job, local media said on Monday.

The Times quoted one clan elder calling on the ancestors to protect Zuma against his rivals ahead of an African National Congress (ANC) leadership vote next month.

"We appeal to you all ... ancestors, to be with him, to guide him and protect him against those ganging up against him," Maqhinga Zuma said at the ceremony in Nkandla where an upgrade to the leader's private home has sparked controversy.

Guests feasted on the beef cooked on open fire and drank traditional brew, according to the newspaper The Star.

Pictures of Zuma clad in a traditional Zulu warrior leopard skin jacket and brandishing a spear and shield were plastered on the front pages of two leading newspapers.

He faces a tough re-election bid at the ruling party congress after some former supporters have in recent months openly campaigned for his removal, calling for him to be replaced by his deputy Kgalema Motlanthe.

No party officials attended the ceremony.

Zuma has come under fire for his leadership in the face of a myriad pressing challenges, including a slowing economy, joblessness and spiralling corruption.

His home in Nkandla, a village in rural KwaZulu-Natal, is also at the centre of a storm over a security upgrade costing around $28 million.

Opposition parties are trying to introduce a vote of no-confidence motion in parliament.

Despite Zuma's waning popularity, analysts believe he will be re-elected as party leader, which would virtually hand him another term as the country's president from 2014 due to the ANC's overwhelming political dominance.

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Burke thanks warring Tassie forest groups

ENVIRONMENT Minister Tony Burke has personally thanked the environmental and industry groups who buried the hatchet to reach an historic agreement over Tasmania's forests.

A bitter 30-year feud between loggers and green groups in Tasmania ended last Thursday with a deal between the warring parties.

Under the agreement, more than 500,000 hectares of native Tasmanian forest will be protected from logging, while about 140,000 cubic metres of sawlogs will be made available for loggers.

The agreement was heralded a victory by conservation groups, but widely criticised by Tasmania's opposition party and the state's Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Just weeks ago, a resolution seemed impossible after conservationists and the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT) walked away from peace talks.

Mr Burke said at the time he was "quite pessimistic" the demands of both the parties could be met, but then last week announced the surprise deal had been struck.

He met with the signatories on Monday to acknowledge the "difficult" process and to thank all parties for their "goodwill".

"The Australian government will now work through the implications of what is proposed and see how much we might be able to do to support it," Mr Burke said in a statement.

"I made a guarantee that we would not cherry pick elements of the proposal as I have no doubt if the Australian government did that, everything would have the capacity to unravel pretty quickly."

He said some of the groups around the table were still going through a process with their own members before they could return with a final position.

Around 400,000 hectares of forest will be placed into reserves immediately, including large tracts of the Styx and Upper Florentine, followed by about 108,000 hectares a year later.

Conservation group The Wilderness Society also claims there will be "substantive restructure" of Forestry Tasmania, including a shake up of its board and senior staff.

The group also said that native forest logging will continue until at least 2027.

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Cairo shares plunge 9% as crisis deepens

SHARE prices on the Egypt Exchange have declined almost 9.5 per cent, with President Mohamed Morsi assuming sweeping powers that have sparked clashes and polarised the country's politics.

The main EGX-30 index shed 9.49 per cent to reach 4,923.19 points by midday on Sunday.

The bourse suspended trading for half an hour after intense selling by investors, a source at the exchange told AFP.

The drop comes as Egyptians have been deeply split by Morsi's move to place his decisions beyond judicial scrutiny with rival rallies sparking violence in several major cities.

The powerful Muslim Brotherhood has called nationwide demonstrations in support of Morsi's decree, which has put him on a collision course with the judiciary and with many of the political forces that brought down Hosni Mubarak in a 2011 popular uprising.

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SAfrican police kill 7 robbery suspects

POLICE in South Africa have shot dead seven suspected robbers and wounded nine others in a botched theft at an armoured car company.

South African Police Service spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko said on Sunday officers got a tip the thieves wanted to rob a Protea Coin depot in Robertville, a suburb west of Johannesburg.

A gunfight began on Saturday night as officers tried to arrest the suspects.

Ramaloko said no officers were injured in the shooting. He said they recovered firearms from the suspected robbers at the depot.

Violent crime remains common in South Africa, as unemployment remains high and options few for the nation's poor. Mass police shootings often occur as officers confront heavily armed criminal gangs.

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Rebels seize 'large part' of army airport

Syrian rebels have attacked army positions in the northern province of Aleppo, residents say. Source: AAP

SYRIAN rebels have seized a "large part" of a military airport near the capital as troops shell the outskirts of Damascus province, a watchdog and activists say.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday 31 rebels and 16 soldiers in and around Damascus were among 94 people killed in violence across the country on Saturday.

Rebels took a "large part" of the military airport of Marj al-Sultan, 15 kilometres east of Damascus, and destroyed two helicopters, according to the Britain-based Observatory.

A video posted on the internet by activists appeared to show one wrecked helicopter, while a rebel shoots rockets at the airport, gripped by several fires.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission and Local Coordination Committees, two major networks of activists on the ground, meanwhile, reported shelling of several areas near Damascus.

Helicopter gunships pounded Zamalka town, northeast of Damascus, as rebels clashed with troops in nearby Harasta, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals.

The opposition fighters have set up rear bases in orchards surrounding the capital, where they had made advances during the summer but have since been driven out.

In the southern province of Daraa, insurgents temporarily took control of a military outpost on the border with Jordan overnight, the Observatory said.

In the north, rebels pressed on with an offensive against troops stationed at the strategic Tishrin dam, which straddles the Euphrates river and connects the provinces of Aleppo and al-Raqqa.

The rebels, according to a local resident, have been closing in on the area for the past week.

Opposition fighters already control one of the main routes to al-Raqqa and the dam would give them a second passage, connecting a wide expanse of territory between the two provinces, both of which border Turkey.

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