Two tigers seized at Mexican drug lab

TWO tigers and several deer have been seized at a western Mexico ranch where police also found what appears to be a drug lab.

Jalisco state police say officers found precursor chemicals in barrels and buckets and boilers that were probably used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Authorities say police found the ranch on Thursday in the town of Yahualica, after people reported that suspicious men were guarding the ranch and that there was a strong smell of chemicals.

Police say the men guarding the ranch escaped.

Jalisco has long been considered the hub of the Sinaloa cartel's meth production and trafficking.

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Lloyds bank logs losses of STG1.43bn

LLOYDS Banking Group has posted annual losses of STG1.43 billion ($A2.14 billion), hit by huge insurance mis-selling compensation, while it awarded its boss a bonus linked to an eventual sale of the government's stake.

The loss after tax, equivalent to $US2.16 billion or 1.66 billion euros, was almost half the STG2.79-billion shortfall it suffered in 2011, Britain's LBG said in a results statement.

The bank is 39 per cent owned by the British government after a state bailout following the 2008 global financial crisis.

LBG said annual pretax losses narrowed sharply to STG570 million from STG3.5 billion last time around, but the group opted against issuing a shareholder dividend, sending shares sharply lower.

Lloyds set aside another STG1.5 billion in the fourth quarter to cover compensation for mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI), taking its annual provision to a vast STG3.575 billion.

The bill now stands at STG6.775 billion, which makes Lloyds the worst affected bank by the mis-selling scandal. It also put aside STG400 million to compensate clients who were sold interest rate hedging products.

Underlying annual profit, stripping out exceptional items, surged to STG2.6 billion from STG638 million in 2011, as the bank cut bad debts, costs and non-core assets. It shed 7000 jobs last year.

Lloyds chief Antonio Horta-Osorio will receive a 2012 performance bonus of STG1.485 million, deferred in shares until 2018.

However, at his request, the bonus will be paid only if the British government sells at least a third of its stake above 61 pence - the average price it paid during the bank's bailout - within the next five years.

In Friday afternoon deals, LBG shares tumbled 8.21 per cent to 50 pence on London's FTSE 100 index, which was 0.74 per cent lower at 6313.69 points.

Lloyds staff will share a bonus pot of STG365 million - three per cent lower than in 2011 - giving each employee about STG3900 on average. Cash bonuses were capped at 2000.

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SKorea leader offers North engagement

SOUTH Korea's new president Park Geun-Hye has offered a "more flexible" engagement with North Korea if Pyongyang chooses a path of trust-building rather than provocation.

In an annual speech marking Korea's 1919 uprising against Japan's colonial rule on Friday, Park urged Pyongyang to understand that "nothing will be gained from nuclear development or provocations save for greater isolation and hardship".

Park was inaugurated as South Korea's first woman president on Monday, less than two weeks after North Korea triggered global outrage by conducting its third nuclear test.

"While provocations by the North will be met by stronger counter-responses, the North's willingness to make the right choice and walk the path of change will be answered with more flexible engagement," the president said.

During her election campaign, Park had promised to pursue a trust-building policy with Pyongyang, in contrast to the hardline stance of her predecessor Lee Myung-Bak.

But observers say her immediate options will be limited by the international outcry over the North's nuclear test, which has emboldened the hawks in her ruling conservative party who oppose closer engagement.

Pyongyang has ramped up its bellicose rhetoric in recent weeks, directing dire warnings and threats at both Washington and Seoul as the UN Security Council considers tougher sanctions in response to the test.

Earlier this week, it said South Korea would face "final destruction" if it pushed for a harsh UN resolution, and warned Washington that the US mainland was "well within" the range of its nuclear weapons.

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Workers won't be worse off, Abbott says

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has given a "guarantee" that workers' pay and conditions will be safe under a coalition government, as Labor accused the coalition of hiding its workplace policy.

The coalition is reportedly planning to delay any changes to the Fair Work Act until a second term in government.

In its first term, the Productivity Commission would be asked to review the Fair Work Act and the coalition would then seek a mandate for changes at the 2016 election, The Australian newspaper said on Friday.

The Howard government's defeat in 2007 was in large part due to the unpopular Work Choices laws, which had not been announced as policy before an election.

Mr Abbott declined to comment on the policy on Friday but said the coalition was committed to cracking down on union corruption through the Australian Building and Construction Commission and a new "registered organisations" commission.

"I can also guarantee that the pay and conditions of Australian workers will be safe under the coalition," he told reporters in Brisbane.

Mr Abbott previously has said that workplace law reform was needed to address "productivity, militancy and flexibility" and that the Productivity Commission was the right body to review existing laws.

But in the meantime the coalition would "work within the existing framework", he says in the Real Solutions document released in January.

Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten said if Mr Abbott believed there was a problem he would detail his IR policy now.

"If you think there is a workplace relations fire going on, to say, 'We are not going to call the fire brigade for another three and a half years' is a remarkable backflip," he told reporters in Hobart on Friday.

"I think, though, people don't trust the opposition on this."

Mr Shorten described it as "Mr Abbott's Tootsie strategy"", referring to the 1982 movie in which an unemployed actor disguises himself as a woman to get a soap opera role.

He said Mr Abbott was promising business there would be tough action while telling workers there was nothing to worry about.

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Yancoal to reduce costs, boost production

Yancoal said the short-term focus for the company was to reduce costs across all of its mines.

"Lower costs will underpin the future of each of the mines ensuring their longer term lives," the company said in a statement.

"Gains in this area are expected in 2013."

Coal production would increase in 2013 as Yancoal pressed on with expansion plans at some of its mines.

The company said it anticipates significant production growth when stage two of the Moolarben project and Ashtons South East Open Cut are commissioned.

Shares in Yancoal gained one cent to 84 cents at 1420 AEDT, Thursday.

Yancoal, which joined the local share market in June 2012 after merging with Gloucester Coal, recorded a full year net profit after non-recurring items of $404.6 million to December 31, 2012, up from $301.5 million in 2011.

Revenue was $1.41 billion, down 3.4 per cent from $1.46 billion.

The profit result included accounting items related to the adoption of the mineral resources rent tax (MRRT), transaction costs and foreign exchange movement on the outstanding loans.

Yancoal reported a $5.2 million fall in earnings to $197.9 million in 2012, down from $493.9 million in the prior year.

The fall was attributed to lower coal prices, a strong Australian dollar, increased operating costs and unused take or pay obligations for port and rail infrastructure.

Still, the company said it would continue to develop new coal markets and focus on increasing the amount of coal sold under longer-term contracts.

Yancoal is cautiously optimistic about the coal price outlook for both thermal and metallurgical coal after coal prices experienced lows in the cycle during the second half of 2012.

The company did not declare a full year dividend.

Earnings per share increased 7.1 per cent to 0.45 cents per share.

The result comes weeks after the company announced chief executive Murray Bailey would not have his contract renewed when it expires on July 6.

Yancoal has already begun a search for Mr Bailey's replacement.

The company owns several operating thermal and coking coal mines, both underground and open cut, in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.

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Flood funding disappoints Qld premier

The federal government has allocated $85 million in new flood relief funding for Queensland. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman has accused the federal government of pork barrelling in western Sydney by unfairly favouring the region for flood-mitigation funding.

Queensland's recent floods are expected to cost in excess of $2.5 billion, on top of the damage wreaked in the wide-scale natural disasters two years ago.

The federal government on Thursday announced a National Insurance Affordability Council which will have $100 million to spend over two years on mitigation works, targeting communities suffering under higher insurance premiums.

So far, only $17 million will go to Queensland towns.

Ipswich will get $10 million and Roma $7 million to raise the level of a flood levee.

Mr Newman welcomed the funding but says it is nowhere near enough.

He wants $140 million.

The premier is upset that western Sydney, a must-win region for Labor in this year's federal election, receives $50 million to raise the Warragamba Dam even though the area hasn't flooded in more than two years.

Mr Newman said the flood impacts on Queensland have been far greater, especially in towns like Gympie, which has flooded four times in a year.

"This decision will break the hearts of communities across Queensland," he said.

"The people of Gympie must be wondering how much suffering they need to endure before the Gillard government puts their livelihoods before votes in western Sydney."

Mr Newman said Gympie, Emerald, Rockhampton, Maryborough and Bundaberg deserve a bigger slice of the funding pie.

The commonwealth also announced an extra $85 million to assist flood-affected regions of Queensland and to help protect against future damage.

Of that, $45 million will go to primary producers, small businesses, counselling, environmental recovery projects and hiring locals in rebuilding projects.

The remaining $40 million will be used for a "betterment fund" for local councils to flood-proof roads and infrastructure.

Mr Newman criticised the federal government's $40 million for the betterment fund.

"We have put on the table $100 million," he said.

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Plane crash-lands near Vic school oval

A LIGHT plane has crash-landed near an oval at a Victorian primary school during lunchtime.

The plane came down near an oval belonging to the Cape Clear Primary School in Ballarat.

It crash-landed after clipping power lines about 1.30pm on Wednesday, according to police, but nobody appears to have been seriously injured.

Robert Butler, who owns the Cape Clear hotel, said he saw the plane hovering around, looking for somewhere to land.

"The plane they said is pretty well messed up," Mr Butler told AAP.

"The two blokes got out with a scratch and a bruise."

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Madagascar cyclone death toll climbs to 23

The death toll from tropical cyclone Haruna in Madagascar has risen to at least 23, officials say. Source: AAP

THE death toll from tropical cyclone Haruna and heavy rains that have battered Madagascar has risen to 23 with 16 people missing, the national disaster management agency says.

The cyclone struck on Friday morning in the southwest region of the Indian Ocean island.

Latest figures showed that at least 84 people had been injured and nearly 23,000 others affected.

The cyclone brought heavy rains and strong gusts of wind reaching speeds of 200 kmh.

The category 2 cyclone destroyed nearly 1,500 houses, leaving almost 10,000 people homeless, and flooded more than 6,000 hectares of crops.

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Compo for clean energy firms: Hockey

SHADOW treasurer Joe Hockey says a coalition government would compensate businesses affected by the abolition of the carbon tax on a case-by-case basis.

Many Australian businesses involved in clean energy and other sectors are benefiting from the price on carbon dioxide emissions, which will move to an emissions trading scheme in 2015.

However, Mr Hockey told reporters in Launceston on Monday the cost of the carbon tax on households and business was "far greater than any money that is coming out of Canberra to compensate individual businesses".

He said the best way to improve the bottom line of all businesses was to get rid of the carbon tax.

Asked what a coalition government would do to compensate businesses that are benefiting from the tax, Mr Hockey said: "We will consider it on a case-by-case basis and we have allocated funds under our Direct Action plan to deal with initiatives that are under way."

The coalition has pledged to abolish the carbon tax as its first priority in government and permanently shut down the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation fund.

Instead, its Emissions Reduction Fund would be given $3 billion for clean energy projects.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said Mr Hockey's comment was another reason why the coalition would not go ahead with a repeal of the carbon price.

"Mr Hockey has admitted that repeal would trigger compensation claims from companies which have made investment and business decisions based on a price on carbon," Mr Combet told AAP on Monday.

The coalition was struggling to show how its policy would cut emissions by five per cent by 2020.

"Now Mr Hockey has revealed that he would raid Direct Action to compensate businesses, it is clear that a coalition government would do nothing to invest in clean and renewable energy or to cut carbon pollution," Mr Combet said.

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Afghan leader orders US special forces out

AFGHANISTAN'S president has ordered US special forces out of a strategic province over allegations of torture and murder by Afghans working with them, in another sign of deteriorating ties between Kabul and Washington.

Hamid Karzai demanded the elite forces withdraw within two weeks from Wardak province, a hotbed of Taliban activity southwest of the capital Kabul, saying the actions of armed groups had incited "hatred" among local people.

The move was the latest decision to sour relations as US-led foreign forces prepare to end their combat mission against the Taliban in 2014.

The Afghan president earlier this month ordered an end to local security forces calling in NATO air strikes - an important weapon in the fight against insurgents - amid concern over civilian casualties.

A US forces spokesman declined to comment on the Wardak order, saying the issue would first have to be discussed with Afghan officials, but that all allegations of misconduct were treated seriously.

Karzai took the decision on the central province, which is close to the capital and criss-crossed by important roads, in a meeting of the national security council, said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi.

A statement on Sunday from the presidential office said that armed individuals working with US special forces "engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people".

"The Ministry of Defence was assigned to make sure all US special forces are out of the province within two weeks," it said.

The statement cited a recent example in which nine people disappeared in an operation conducted by what it called the "suspicious force".

In another incident, a student was taken away at night from his home, and his body was found with torture wounds and its throat cut two days later under a bridge, it said.

"However, Americans reject having conducted any such operation and any involvement of their special force," the statement said, adding the actions had "caused local public resentment and hatred".

Karzai did not specify which groups were responsible, but US special forces team up with Afghan security forces at the grassroots level, including the Afghan Local Police which has been accused of thuggery and lawlessness.

A spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan said: "We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them.

"Until we have had a chance to speak with senior (Afghan) officials about this issue we are not in a position to comment further. This is an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts."

Tensions have been escalating between Afghanistan and the United States, which provides most of the foreign troops in the war-torn country, as the bulk of NATO's 100,000 soldiers prepare to leave by the end of 2014.

More than 3200 NATO troops, mostly Americans, have died in support of Karzai's government in the war since the Taliban were ousted by a US invasion in 2001.

Karzai's jabs at the role of the foreign military have taken place amid sensitive discussions over the issue of NATO's mission in Afghanistan after 2014, including the size and role of a residual force.

US officials said last week that NATO may station up to 12,000 troops in Afghanistan - including any US contribution - to train and assist Kabul's forces after the combat mission ends.

The NATO allies are anxious to ensure that the efforts in blood and money of more than 12 difficult years of conflict are maintained by a strong Afghan army.

However, the war has grown increasingly unpopular and some countries are reluctant to make a large commitment given the risks still posed by the Taliban.

Additionally, there has been uncertainty over the US role as Washington and Kabul negotiate an accord on the legal status of US troops after 2014.

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Macleay River peaks below expectations

The Macleay River at Kempsey in NSW has peaked lower than expected, officials say. Source: AAP

THE Macleay River at Kempsey on the NSW mid-north coast has peaked lower than expected, but the local mayor says anxious residents still face a critical few hours.

Kempsey Shire Mayor Liz Campbell said the river, which was expected to swell to 7.3 metres, peaked at seven metres on Sunday morning.

A 6.8m levee protects the town.

While its two main streets have so far escaped major flooding, Ms Campbell said water was up to 1.2m deep in parts of the CBD.

"The next two hours are probably critical ... but we're still hopeful that the main part of the CBD will be okay," Ms Campbell told AAP.

Traffic and pedestrians were slowly moving through the rain-sodden town while about 70 people - locals and tourists stranded by the floods - were sheltering in an evacuation centre, she said.

Ms Campbell praised locals for their preparedness.

"That goes right down to knowing where to go, when to put their dog out, when to put their things up in their shops, who they're going to contact," she said.

"We have been working really hard on getting that preparation done."

Ms Campbell said the extent of the clean-up would be revealed over the next few days as the floodwaters subsided.

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Violence could mar Kenya vote: Annan

THE former head of the United Nations, who helped save Kenya from spiralling deeper into election violence five years ago, is warning intimidation, ethnic rivalry and violence could undermine Kenya's March presidential vote.

Kofi Annan said on Saturday Kenya is on a positive trajectory five years after post-election violence killed more than 1000 people and forced some 600,000 from their homes.

Annan helped broker a political deal between the top two contenders for president.

That deal saw Mwai Kibaki remain president and challenger Raila Odinga become prime minister.

Annan said he fears ethnic rivalry could see violence return when the nation votes March 4.

It's likely the nation will see a run-off vote for president sometime in April that could have even more potential for violence.

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