Cruise passengers make their way home

The passengers of cruise ship Triumph have finally disembarked after five numbing days stuck at sea. Source: AAP

PASSENGERS have finally escaped the disabled Carnival cruise ship Triumph after five numbing days stuck at sea due to an engine-room fire.

They were on the move on Friday - some checked into hotels while others hopped on buses or jumped on charter flights home.

The ship carrying some 4200 people docked late on Thursday in Mobile to raucous cheers from passengers weary of overflowing toilets, food shortages and foul odours.

"Sweet Home Alabama!" read one of the homemade signs passengers fixed alongside the 14-storey ship as many celebrated along deck rails lining several levels. The ship's horn blasted several times as four tugboats helped it to shore.

"It was horrible, just horrible" said Maria Hernandez, 28, of Angleton, Texas, tears welling in her eyes as she talked about waking up to smoke in her lower-level room on Sunday from the engine-room fire and the days of heat and stench that followed. She was on a "girls trip" with friends.

It took about four hours for all passengers to disembark.

Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said passengers had three options: take a bus straight to Galveston, Texas, to retrieve cars parked at the ship's departure port, take a bus to New Orleans to stay at a hotel before a charter flight home or have family or friends pick them up in Mobile.

As if the passengers hadn't endured enough, one of the buses broke down during the two-hour ride to New Orleans. Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the passengers got on another bus and made it safely to New Orleans. Passengers aboard another bus also said their luggage was somehow lost.

Gulliksen said up to 20 charter flights would leave New Orleans later on Friday to take guests who stayed in hotels there to their final destinations.

Nearly 2000 passengers arrived at a New Orleans Hilton in the wee hours, and by dawn many were headed out again to fly to Houston. They then had to get a connecting flight home or chartered bus back to their cars in Galveston.

"It just feels so good to be on land again and to feel like I have options," said Tracey Farmer. "I'm just ready to see my family. It's been harder on them than us I think because they've been so worried about us. It's been extremely stressful for them."

In Mobile, tugs pulled the ship away from the dock on Friday, moving it down a waterway in the direction of a shipyard where city officials said it will be repaired.

A line of taxis waited for people, and motorists on Interstate 10 stopped to watch the exodus of passengers. Some still aboard chanted, "Let me off, let me off!"

It took six gruelling hours navigating the 48km ship channel. At nearly 275 metres in length, it was the largest cruise ship ever to dock at Mobile.

Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill apologised at a news conference and later on the public address system as people disembarked.

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Carr says Xenophon detention surprising

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr says Malaysia's detention of independent senator Nick Xenophon is a surprising and disappointing act.

Senator Carr said Australian officials in Kuala Lumpur were seeking the immediate release of Senator Xenophon, who was detained and held pending deportation when he entered the country on Saturday morning.

As well, Australian officials have raised Senator Xenophon's plight at the highest level of the Malaysian government.

Senator Xenophon, who was participating in an unofficial delegation of Australian MPs, said he was told he was a security threat and would be deported.

Senator Carr said preliminary reports indicated Senator Xenophon had been held under Malaysia's national security laws.

"Our High Commissioner Miles Kupa has now made direct contact with Senator Xenophon at the airport and is seeking his release," he said in a statement.

He said Mr Kupa was also urgently pursuing an explanation from Malaysian authorities regarding the reasons for this detention.

"Australia's concerns have been raised with Malaysia's foreign minister and the minister for home affairs and the Malaysian high commissioner to Australia. Their support is requested in securing Senator Xenophon's swift release from custody," he said.

"Senator Xenophon's detention is a surprising and disappointing act from a country with which Australia routinely maintains strong diplomatic relations."

The delegation, including Senator Xenophon, Liberal Mal Washer, Nationals Senator John Williams and ALP MP Steve Georganas, have now called off their visit to Malaysia.

They were to have met opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, as well as Malaysia's minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammed Nazri, and members of the group Bersih, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections.

Senator Xenophon has raised concerns about the probity of the upcoming Malaysian election.

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Crippled ship pulls into US port

The crippled cruise ship making its way to the US has suffered a setback after a tow line snapped. Source: AAP

STRICKEN Carnival cruise ship Triumph has docked on the southern US coast, ending a nightmarish voyage for around 4000 desperate passengers and crew after it lost power over the weekend.

A little after 0300 GMT (1400 AEDT) on Friday, the crippled ship limped into port in Mobile, Alabama, after being towed by a flotilla of tugboats.

What was supposed to have been a pleasurable excursion in the Gulf of Mexico turned into a hellish ordeal after an engine room fire on Sunday left the ship without the power needed to prepare meals or flush toilets.

The tugs were needed to pull the massive liner into port, in an operation that took longer than anticipated because of a delay when the towline for one of the boats snapped and had to be replaced.

Some of the passengers on the Triumph, which is operated by Florida-based Carnival Cruise Lines, signalled news media helicopters with SOS messages scrawled on sheets, desperate to flee the stench and mess they'd endured for four days.

The Miami-based operator said cruises on the ship, which left the port of Galveston in Texas on February 7, have been halted until at least mid-April.

The Triumph had originally been scheduled to return to port early on Monday after a weekend stop in Cozumel, Mexico.

Carnival officials said earlier on Thursday that even after Triumph docks, it could be another several hours before all passengers disembark, and some would face long bus or car rides back to Texas or other far flung destinations.

Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill publicly apologised to the travellers for the poor conditions aboard the disabled ship.

Cahill said at a news conference as the liner was coming to rest that he appreciated the patience of the 3000 people on board.

He said Carnival prided itself on providing people with a great vacation "and clearly we failed in this particular case".

He said he planned to go aboard and personally apologise to everyone.

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CFS to mark 30 years since Ash Wednesday

SOUTH Australia's volunteer firefighters will remember all their colleagues killed in action at a memorial service on Saturday marking the 30th anniversary of the Ash Wednesday bushfires.

The service will be held at the Mt Lofty summit, an area devastated by the fires which swept through the Adelaide Hills and the state's south-east three decades ago.

Three Country Fire Service personnel died during the Ash Wednesday fires and are among 13 to have been killed on duty across SA.

CFS regional commander Chris Martin said it was important a focus remained on the loss of all those lives.

"As South Australians we all have a responsibility to reflect on their sacrifice and the anniversary of Ash Wednesday is an appropriate time to do that," CFS regional commander Chris Martin said.

Ash Wednesday remains South Australia's worst natural disaster with 28 people killed, almost 400 homes destroyed and about 200,000 hectares blackened.

With Saturday marking the 30th anniversary, the CFS service is expected to attract a bigger crowd than usual.

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3 dead as plane makes emergency landing

THREE people have died when an Antonov AN-24 plane of Ukraine's domestic airline with 36 passengers on board made an emergency landing at the eastern city of Donetsk, police say.

"Three deaths have been tallied," a local police source said, adding that the airliner had landed in a field 700 metres from the airport runway.

Earlier Interfax news agency had quoted the emergency situations ministry as saying at least one person had died in the mishap.

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More gay marriage strife for Katter

SUSPENDED Katter's Australian Party (KAP) candidate Bernard Gaynor says leader Bob Katter is compromising the party's values on gay marriage because he is too scared to lose another candidate.

Mr Gaynor says the issue is causing an internal crisis, and must come to a head at the national executive meeting on Friday.

Mr Gaynor was suspended soon after tweeting that he wouldn't want a homosexual teaching his children.

On the same day, Victorian Tess Corbett was forced to withdraw her nomination after comments linking homosexuality to pedophilia.

Despite the setbacks, Mr Katter last week seemingly rescued pro-gay marriage candidate for the ACT Steve Bailey.

National director Aidan McLindon had asked Mr Bailey to withdraw his candidacy, but Mr Katter overrode the decision.

"He is scared of losing another candidate so he is stuck with someone whose values he can't stand and who is driving away party faithful," Mr Gaynor said.

Mr Gaynor says Mr Katter's actions were in contradiction to the party's core principles which state that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Mr Gaynor said the party now must decide if it will drop the principle.

It also must chose whether to lift his suspension or dump Mr Bailey.

"It will be a key item on the agenda," he said.

"Does Bob Katter now support pro-gay marriage candidates?

"If so, every member should be informed that Katter's Australian Party has changed its values without consulting the rank and file."

KAP Queensland leader Ray Hopper rejected Mr Gaynor's claims that gay marriage was such a big issue in the party.

"Mr Gaynor is very outspoken," Mr Hopper said.

"He's got a right to be outspoken as an individual, but he hasn't got a right to be outspoken on behalf of the Katter party."

Mr Hopper said some members were likely to be expelled when the party meets on Friday.

He added that the party would also discuss federal Senate nominations.

The Condamine MP confirmed he would be putting his hand up, which would force a by-election in his state seat but would stand aside if someone better came along.

"(That's) if I was comfortable to know that person would be a good senator," he said.

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Boral says Aust housing volatile

BUILDING products maker Boral is banking on further recovery for US housing but says the Australian market is too volatile to predict.

The company reported a net loss for the six months to December 31 of $25.3 million compared with a net profit of $153 million in the previous corresponding period.

However, the latest result was dragged down by $77 million of significant items that included restructuring and redundancy costs as well as impairment charges relating to the suspension of clinker production at Waurn Ponds in Victoria.

When significant items were excluded, Boral reported a net profit of $52.2 million.

In January the company announced it was cutting 700 Australian jobs as part of a restructure to deal with a prolonged housing slump.

Managing director Mike Kane said a recovery in the Australian housing market was difficult to predict as its low volumes led to volatility.

"I've been studying it for a little while and frankly a market that moves between anything from between 135,000 and 170,000 (housing starts) doesn't require much adjustment to have rather wild swings in impact on our business," he said.

"The reality is it's come up from a low point of last year."

"I can't assume it's going to get much better and therefore most of my analytics around the second half I've got to assume it's a steady stayed from probably where we are right now."

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has said the number of people applying for home loans slumped for a third straight month in December.

Mr Kane said the recent floods in Queensland and northern NSW were not of a long enough duration to have a significant effect on the business and he expected any losses to be recouped in the next few months.

He said he was pleased, especially as Boral's former head of US business, to see an American housing recovery and expected the improvement would show in the company second half results.

Revenues from Boral US were nine per cent higher and earnings before interest and taxation improved by $12 million with first half losses reduced to $39 million.

"We are expecting improved performance in the second half (in the US) particularly in the fourth quarter."

IG Market analyst Evan Lucas said the result was not a surprise as Boral had forecast it last month.

Mr Lucas said the market would be closely watching how Boral performed in the second half as the US housing market improved and the outcome of the restructure became clearer.

Boral shares were 5.0 cents, higher at $4.92 at 1444 AEDT.

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Pope to make first appearance since resign

The Vatican has begun a momentous transition process following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Source: AAP

THOUSANDS of the faithful will flock into St Peter's Square to bid farewell to Pope Benedict XVI at his first public appearance since the shock announcement of his resignation.

The 85-year-old Benedict, who said on Monday that he will step down on February 28 because of his advancing age, will hold a general audience from his window on the square at 2030 AEDT on Wednesday.

He will go on to celebrate an Ash Wednesday mass in St Peter's Basilica on Thursday, his last public mass and one of his last engagements as pope.

The mass is traditionally held in the Santa Sabina Church on Rome's Aventine Hill.

On this occasion however it has been moved: out of respect for the outgoing pontiff, and to accommodate the crowd of faithful who will want to mark the end of his eight-year rule - one of the shortest in the Church's modern history.

"It will be an important concelebration, and the last led by the Holy Father in San Pietro," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

Key cardinals were expected to attend as the papal conclave begins gathering in Rome to elect the next pope.

No date has yet been set for the secret conclave, which will meet in the Sistine Chapel under Michelangelo's famous ceiling frescoes, but it could come within days of Benedict's resignation.

Lombardi has said he expects a new pope in place in time for Easter, which falls on March 31 this year. Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone will govern the Church during the transition.

Candidates for the Vatican's top job will join bishops, monks, friars and pilgrims for the Ash Wednesday celebrations, during which the pope anoints the foreheads of the faithful with ashes, launching a period of penitence before Easter in the Christian calendar.

Benedict's surprise decision to step down - making him the first pontiff in 700 years to resign simply because he cannot carry on - sparked a flurry of rumours over his health, fed by revelations that he had had an operation to replace the batteries in his pacemaker three months ago.

His decision was seen by some as a bid to avoid the fate of Benedict's predecessor John Paul II, whose drawn-out and debilitating illness was played out on the world's stage.

The Vatican has insisted the pontiff suffers from nothing worse than arthritis and old age.

After Ash Wednesday Benedict will hold another general audience and recite the Angelus twice from his apartment window on St Peter's Square before retiring to a secluded monastery, the Vatican added.

Soon a new pope will be installed in the papal apartments, with his predecessor just a stone's throw way in the monastery which sits within the Vatican grounds, leading many to ask what role will be carved out for Benedict. The Vatican has said he will spend his time in prayer rather than giving advice.

Vatican experts, who widely described the resignation as "revolutionary", said it could change the face of the modern papacy by setting a precedent for ageing pontiffs in the future.

As rumours fly over front-runners for St. Peter's chair, commentators have said age may be a key factor in selecting a new pope, but any of the 117 cardinals eligible to vote could be chosen.

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N. Korea carries out apparent nuclear test

North Korea has pulled manpower and equipment out of its nuclear test site, a report says. Source: AAP

NORTH Korea has staged an apparent nuclear test in a striking act of defiance that, if confirmed, is sure to trigger global condemnation from enemies and allies alike.

Regional seismic monitoring agencies detected a seismic event, of a magnitude between 4.9 and 5.1, at 11.57am (1357 AEDT) on Tuesday with the epicentre in the same location as the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

China's Earthquake Administration said it was a "suspected explosion", while South Korean and Japanese agencies concluded that the tremor was the result of a possible nuclear test.

"At this point, the seismic activity ... appears to indicate a nuclear test by North Korea," the South's Yonhap news agency cited an unidentified foreign ministry official as saying.

The US Geological Survey noted the tremor had a very shallow depth of just one kilometre.

The South Korean defence ministry and the presidential Blue House both said they were trying to verify whether a nuclear detonation had taken place.

Pyongyang has been threatening a nuclear test for weeks despite warnings of severe repercussions from the UN Security Council.

If confirmed, it would mark the third time the North has detonated a nuclear device, following previous tests in 2006 and 2009.

It would throw down a stark security and diplomatic challenge to US President Barack Obama at the start of his second term, and to regional neighbours China, Japan and South Korea, all of which have new or incoming leaders.

The first priority for the international community will be determining the precise nature and yield of any test and what it reveals about the technical level of the North's nuclear weapons program.

Pyongyang's promise of a "higher level" test had fuelled speculation it would be of a uranium device, compared to the plutonium ones detonated in 2006 and 2009.

A uranium test would confirm suspicions that the North has been secretly enriching weapons-grade uranium for years and would open a path for Pyongyang to significantly expand its small nuclear arsenal.

Some experts had suggested a simultaneous test of both a plutonium and a uranium device.

Even with sophisticated seismic monitoring and "sniffer" planes capable of detecting radioactive fallout, external analysis will provide only limited information on the test, especially if it was well-contained.

There will be particular concern at any sign that the North has made progress in the technically complex process of "miniaturising" a bomb to fit on the head of a long-range missile.

Proven miniaturisation ability would take on added significance in the wake of December's rocket launch which marked a major step forward in ballistic prowess.

Pyongyang had announced its nuclear test plan as a defiant response to a UN Security Council resolution that condemned the launch as a disguised ballistic missile experiment and tightened sanctions.

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Feds must admit hospital cuts: Vic

THE commonwealth must admit it has cut funding to Victorian hospitals as both sides prepare to meet over the dispute, Premier Ted Baillieu says.

Mr Baillieu said a claim Victoria's emergency departments were deprived of $12 million of federal government funding this month because his government had failed to submit the required paperwork was "ridiculous".

"We have complied with all the requirements of the agreement and there is no reason for the government to withhold any money from Victoria and there is no reason for (Prime Minister) Julia Gillard to withdraw $107 million in this financial year alone from Victorian hospitals," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"It is a ridiculous claim. All they're doing is hurting patients and hurting families."

The state government has accused the federal government of using an incorrect estimate of Victorian population figures to slash $475 million from the state's health budget over four years.

But the federal government says the performance of the state's hospitals is getting worse despite increasing Commonwealth funding to Victoria by $900 million over the next four years.

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and Victorian Health Minister David Davis will hold further talks in Canberra on Wednesday, after a brief meeting in Melbourne earlier this month failed to find a solution to the issue, which has resulted in hundreds of beds being closed and thousands of elective surgeries being delayed.

Mr Baillieu said the federal government should reverse its decision.

"The health minister in Canberra ought to admit in the first instance that they announced these funding cuts in November and to seek to deny them now is just a ridiculous claim," he said.

"The Victorian government has honoured all its budget commitments in regard to hospitals, the commonwealth have walked away from their budget commitments.

"They should reverse the decision.

"That's the only outcome which is going to serve the people of Victoria."

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UN pushes talks as battles rage in Syria

SYRIAN rebels have launched fierce assaults on government troops in several parts of the country, as a UN envoy urged the leader of the opposition to seek dialogue with the Damascus regime.

There were reports of tension between rival rebel groups in the rebel-held northwest of the country, where witnesses say local fighters faced off with a hardline Islamist group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collects reports from a network of activists and medics in civilian and military hospitals on the ground, said at least 50 people were killed in violence across Syria on Sunday.

UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met Syrian opposition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday and urged him to keep seeking dialogue with the Damascus government, the UN said.

Brahimi repeated his backing for Khatib's push for talks and "encouraged the Coalition to continue in this direction", said a UN statement.

Riad Seif, vice president of the National Coalition, was also present at the meeting.

Khatib said in late January he was prepared to hold direct talks with regime representatives who did not have "blood on their hands", provided replacing President Bashar al-Assad was on the agenda.

Damascus has said it is open to talks but with no pre-conditions.

On the ground, rebels used tanks to shell Brigade 113, just north of the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, the Observatory said.

Surrounded for weeks now, Brigade 113 and the besieged military airport of Deir Ezzor are some of the last regime holdouts in the city, part of a province largely held by the rebels.

The opposition Deir Ezzor press network, a grassroots group of activists, reported increasingly desperate conditions there.

"The western countryside is out of water and electricity supplies for the 11th day in a row due to the indiscriminate shelling by the regime forces," it said.

In the northeast province of Raqa, fighters from the jihadist Al-Nusra Front and other rebel battalions took over an army company in Tabqa along the Euphrates river.

They secured a major cache of artillery and ammunition, and captured a key checkpoint in the town, the Observatory said.

Rebels kept up their assault on Wadi Deif military base, a major regime holdout in the largely rebel-held northwest province of Idlib. The army retaliated by shelling the nearby town of Maaret al-Numan.

Elsewhere in Idlib province however, witnesses reported growing tension between the hardline Al-Nusra Front fighters and other rebels.

Near Atme, local fighters and Al-Nusra almost started fighting when the Islamists attempted to try a man in an Islamic court for swearing, witnesses told AFP.

Locals kidnapped an Al-Nusra leader, put a grenade in his mouth and cut off his beard, before releasing him a few days later, they added.

The hardline Al-Nusra Front group has claimed the bulk of the deadly suicide bombings that have rocked Syria since its March 2011 uprising against Assad.

It has a number of foreign fighters and is believed to be closely linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, and has been blacklisted as a terrorist organisation in the US.

In the northern province of Aleppo four soldiers were killed and more than 20 wounded in a bombing by the Al-Nusra Front targeting a military building, the Observatory said.

Rebels also attacked an army convoy south of Aleppo city, and a cement plant in the central Hama province killing five guards.

In the capital Damascus, a blast near a police station injured two civilians, while a mortar hit the nearby Shahbandar Square causing no injuries, the Observatory said.

The United Nations estimates that more than 60,000 people have been killed since the revolt against Assad's regime began in March 2011.

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SA won't budge on business taxes

THE South Australian government won't entertain cutting business taxes if it means ordinary working families pay more, Premier Jay Weatherill says.

Key business groups in SA have called for tax reform including cuts to stamp duties and payroll tax.

They have also suggested a review of the GST to increase revenue flowing to the states.

In its submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the state's tax system, the Motor Trade Association (MTA) said changes were needed to encourage growth.

"We are the highest taxing state on business, rather than being a state which is attracting more businesses to add more revenue," MTA chief executive John Chapman said.

"And the best way to attract more businesses to South Australia, is by making our tax system more competitive with the other states."

But Mr Weatherill said big business wanted to shift the burden of taxation to ordinary working families.

"We won't co-operate with them. It's as simple as that," he said.

The premier said all of the services that people wanted, including health care or police, had to be funded through government revenue.

"The revenue comes from the taxation that big business is complaining about," he said.

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NSW must act on Gonski reforms: unions

AROUND 60 parents, teachers and principals have gathered in Sydney to pressure the NSW government to act on the recommendations of the Gonski review.

The action is part of the Australian Education Union's (AEU) national campaign, involving television and newspaper advertising and sponsored green-coloured Gonski buses which are running in western Sydney, the Central Coast and Brisbane.

The AEU wants the states and the commonwealth to agree on a funding model for the Gonski reforms before the next Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in April.

"We're calling on the state government and Premier Barry O'Farrell to put politics aside and start negotiating for funding reform," AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

"Let the negotiations commence against a backdrop of commitment to invest, which thus far has been lacking from Barry O'Farrell.

Federal Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, joined the rally in Sydney, to back calls for an urgent deal.

"We have had slow negotiations with the states around identifying those details of a national plan for school improvement," Mr Garrett told reporters.

"We need to see states coming to the table to deliver and commit," he said.

Mr Garrett said the federal government is also prepared to allocate additional funding for education to the states, as long as they commit to the funding model for the Gonski reforms.

"If we don't successfully negotiate, Australian students around the country will be worse off."

The Gonski review outlined a new model for funding schools and set an ambitious goal of increasing spending on education by about $6.5 billion.

Victoria and Western Australia say the plan lacks details, which is a threat to achieving education reforms.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli says his state remains strongly in favour of Gonski but he is furious the Commonwealth and unions have politicised the issue.

"The Commonwealth is obviously intent on turning school funding into a political football during an election year," Mr Piccoli said in a statement on Sunday.

He said Mr Garrett had no additional details to share when he called education ministers to Sydney on February 1, to discuss Gonski.

Mr Piccoli said the federal government had been stalling on the issue for over a year and it was time the states were given more details on the funding arrangements.

"Minister Garrett should spend more time working on an offer and less time staging bogus political stunts," he said.

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Two die after car flips into Qld creek

A WOMAN and a young boy have died and two people are in hospital after a car flipped and crashed into a creek in north Queensland.

Police say four people were travelling in the car on the Bruce Highway, north of Proserpine, about 7.20am (AEST) on Sunday.

The car skidded off the road before flipping over and landing on its roof in Greta Creek.

A woman, aged 50, died at the scene and three other passengers were taken to hospital.

A four-year-old boy died later in hospital.

Two other passengers, a man aged 40 and an 18-year-old woman, are receiving treatment.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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