AUSTRALIA

PM battle looms after foreign minister quits

AUSTRALIAN Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd resigned yesterday, saying he could no longer work with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, igniting a new and bitter leadership crisis for the struggling minority government.

Gillard's government has lost popularity as Gillard and Rudd, whom she ousted in 2010, have waged a feud that has split their Labour Party and alienated voters.

Labour insiders said though Rudd was more popular with voters, Gillard had stronger support within the party and would easily win a leadership vote, which could come next week. - Reuters

Cuba

No conditions for pope on trip - envoy

CUBA has not made any demands on Pope Benedict for him to condemn the 50-year-old US embargo on the island when he visits next month, but would welcome a new pronouncement if he decides to make it, Cuba's ambassador to the Vatican said yesterday.

In an interview, Eduardo Delgado Bermudez also said a meeting between Benedict and Fidel Castro was not on the programme "for now" but could not exclude it. Delgado said Cuba saw the visit as an opportunity to deepen Church-state relations on the communist island. - Reuters

Russia

Moscow warns Israel not to attack Iran

RUSSIA warned Israel yesterday that attacking Iran would be disastrous and played down the failure of a UN nuclear agency mission to Teheran, saying there is still a chance for new talks over the Iranian atomic programme.

It was one of Russia's starkest warnings against resorting to force, an option Israel and the US have not ruled out if they conclude that diplomacy and increasing sanctions will not stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.

Russia, China and allies of the US are concerned that any military action against Iran could engulf the Middle East in war. - Reuters

CHINA

Hundreds of pensioners take a stand

HUNDREDS of Chinese retirees who worked for a company which built the massive Three Gorges Dam have blocked streets in protest about pensions over the past three days, China's official Xinhua news agency said yesterday.

The pensioners, who worked for Gezhouba Group, are complaining that their pension payments have been calculated unfairly.

The protest has now entered its third day, and hundreds of people have blocked traffic on the streets in Yichang in central Hubei province where the company is based. - Reuters

YEMEN

Reality bites as life begins after Saleh

YEMEN began a new era without Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday after an uncontested election that gave his deputy a mandate to launch reforms in a country facing an economy in meltdown, a tenacious al-Qaeda wing and rebellions.

Tuesday's election propelled Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to the presidency in line with a deal signed in November to end protests against Saleh's 33-year rule.

After a day of jubilation in the capital Sanaa at the ousting of a fourth veteran leader by the "Arab Spring" uprisings, Yemenis returned to work as reality began to set in. - Reuters

NIGERIA

Dawn explosions, gunfire rock Kano City

EXPLOSIONS and gunfire rocked a suburb in northern Nigeria's largest city of Kano early yesterday where Islamists staged deadly attacks in January, an AFP reporter and residents said.

Six huge explosions followed by gunshots were heard just before Muslim dawn prayers.

The causes were still unclear but residents suggested security forces had raided a suspected hideout of members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram in Tinshama area of the city. Tinshama also neighbours the low-income suburb of Badawa, which houses both Christians and Muslims. - Sapa-AFP

UK

Protesters lose fight over St Paul's eviction

ANTI-CAPITALISM activists lost a legal fight yesterday to stay camped outside St Paul's Cathedral in London after three judges rejected their appeal application, heralding the end of their four-month protest.

Their defeat in the Court of Appeal is likely to see the City of London Corp, on whose land the activists have been camping, call in the bailiffs to evict protesters inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protest. London Occupy, part of an international movement, has been protesting against bankers' bonuses and what they say is corporate greed. - Reuters

VIETNAM

Cook held over killing of endangered cat

A CHEF in Hanoi was caught red-handed drowning an endangered leopard cat to serve at his restaurant, police said yesterday.

The chef said he killed the cat on Tuesday following a request from his manager.

The manager told police an acquaintance in Phu Tho province gave him the cat to look after.

He said he only decided to have it killed when a customer asked him for cat meat.

But police said that an investigation revealed he had bought the animal with the intention of killing it for meat. - Sapa-dpa

JAPAN

Going up: builder eyes tourist space elevator

A JAPANESE construction firm claimed yesterday it could execute an out-of-this-world plan to put tourists in space within 40 years by building an elevator that stretches a quarter of the way to the moon.

Obayashi Corp claims it could use carbon nanotube technology, which is more than 20 times stronger than steel, to build a lift shaft 96000km above the Earth.

The firm said it would carry 30 passengers and travel at 200km/h for a week, stopping off at a station at 36000km. Tourists would stay there, but researchers and specialists would be able to travel all the way to the end. - Sapa-AFP

BELARUS

Man sentenced over teddy bear demo

A BELARUSSIAN court has sentenced a man to 10 days in detention for staging a "toy protest" mimicking recent rallies using teddy bears to challenge Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in neighbouring Russia, local human rights group Vesna-96 said yesterday.

Opposition activist Pavel Vinogradov was found guilty of breaking regulations on public gatherings, the rights group said.

Toy bears and rabbits he had put on a bench in front of the Minsk mayor's office carried banners such as "Police have ripped my eye out". - Reuters