Two survive Coast ultralight accident

TWO people are lucky to be alive after their ultra light plane crashed into a paddock north of the Gold Coast, narrowly avoiding a power pole.

Emergency services rushed to the property on Stapylton Jacobs Well Rd at Jacobs Well after neighbours raised the alarm shortly before 4pm.

The pair, believed to be a married couple, survived the crash. The man received facial injuries and the woman suffered neck pain and bruising.

A Department of Community Safety spokeswoman said they have both been taken to the Princess Alexandra hospital in a stable condition.

Nearby residents described hearing a "big bang" when the plane went down. They said the plane "flipped", coming to rest upside down.

A next-door-neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said the caretaker on her property rushed to the paddock and called triple-0.

"The pilot flew over our property and just missed the power pole and must have been trying to avoid the trees," she said.

"The plane only landed about 10 metres away from our property's boundary in the neighbouring paddock."

"We heard a big bang and that's when we looked out. The plane had flipped and was turned upside down."

"The couple were pretty out of it in shock, really. The husband was walking around the plane."

"They were very lucky."

Police said they would work with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to investigate the cause of the crash.

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Two men stabbed during fight

TWO men are in hospital with stab wounds after allegedly slashing each other during a fight in Cooroy this afternoon.

The pair was at a home on Wimmers Lane about 5.45pm when a man allegedly pulled a knife and "slashed" the other man in the neck.

But the first man did not escape without injury. He was found by paramedics with a stab wound to his arm.

The men were taken to Nambour Hospital and Noosa Hospital and police believe they knew each other.

Their injuries are not considered life threatening, a Department of Community Safety spokeswoman said.

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Heavy snow brings travel chaos to UK

BRITAIN faces another day of travel disruption as heavy snow that blankets much of the country turns to ice.

Hundreds of passengers were left stranded on Friday as airports across the UK suspended flights and motorists struggled through blizzards along treacherous roads.

British Airways apologised to people trapped on planes in appalling weather at Heathrow airport as they waited for a slot to take off, and hundreds of others had flights cancelled.

More than 400 flights were cancelled at the airport, and hundreds of people spent the night on the floor as they waited for flights to be rescheduled.

The arctic blasts forced nearly 2000 schools to shut their doors, meaning some sixth-form and college students had their A-level exams postponed.

But the weather heaped misery on more than 10,000 households in south Wales, where residents found themselves with no power on Friday morning.

There are warnings of further misery on Saturday.

The UK's weather bureau, the Met Office, is forecasting less snow, but has issued yellow warnings for ice over much of the country. A fleet of snow ploughs and gritters will continue to be out in force across the weekend.

Rail travellers also experienced upheaval on Friday as operators scrapped services.

Snow fell across much of the UK, with south Wales experiencing the worst of the weather, forcing the Met Office to issue a "red" severe weather warning.

Sennybridge in Powys had 25cm of snow, while many other places across the UK saw between 5cm and 10cm.

Further snow fell overnight in the Midlands and London, while Suffolk and Essex had up to 4cm.

Heavy snow showers are expected to develop across parts of northern England and eastern parts of Scotland.

Temperatures are likely to remain low - down to about -3C, and ice is expected to form on any untreated roads.

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Child molester jailed for 10 years

ONE of 12 boys molested by former YMCA childcare worker Johnathan Lord was so ashamed when questioned by his parents that he detailed his horror in a sealed letter to police.

Lord, 26, wept when he was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years' jail on Friday in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.

With time already served, he will serve a non-parole period of six years.

The court took four hours on Friday to detail all the offences and hear how Lord had groomed his victims.

Judge Michael King noted the serious nature of the 29 offences of child sexual and indecent assault and said Lord's victims, in offences committed between 2009 and 2011, were as young as six.

"The offender is also in breach of the trust placed in him either as a result of the position of trust because of his employment or because he had been commissioned by the parents of the individual victims to babysit them," Judge King said.

Lord worked at a creche at a YMCA in southern Sydney, participated in the organisation's before-and-after-school program and worked privately as a babysitter.

Some of his babysitting jobs were for YMCA parents, a practice that was against YMCA policy, the court was told.

Lord convinced boys to sit on his lap during YMCA bus trips and activities and would then put his hands down their pants.

Following Lord's initial arrest in October 2011, YMCA parents were notified and encouraged to speak to their children.

An eight-year-old victim repeatedly denied that Lord molested him.

Police told the boy's parents that Lord later confessed to sexually molesting the boy, who then detailed it in a letter addressed only to police and left it on his family's kitchen table.

Eight of Lord's victims were molested in YMCA transport vehicles and during YMCA excursions, including movie nights and rock climbing activities.

The other boys were molested while Lord babysat them.

During one incident, Lord had rubbed a victim's penis and then sent a text to update the boy's mother, saying everything was fine.

Lord met another boy's family via his own mother and babysat the victim every Saturday for nearly a year.

When asked, the boy did divulge he was molested.

"He then said he was embarrassed and didn't want to talk about it, putting a rug over his head," Judge King told the court.

During the incidents, the victims asked Lord to stop touching him but he continued to do so.

The court also heard one boy buried his head into a pillow and cried when his parents asked if Lord had abused him.

Another boy had gasped uncontrollably when questioned by his parents.

When Lord met another victim at the YMCA the boy said he only had his brother to play with.

"Do you want to be my friend," the court heard Lord asked the boy.

During one excursion Lord gave him a special coin.

"Because he was my best pal," the boy said.

Judge King said the incidents would have affected the boys to such a degree that their ability to form normal social relationships would be affected for the rest of their lives.

With time already served, Lord will be eligible for parole in October 2017.

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Netanyahu vows no razing of settlements

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that there will be no dismantlement of any Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank if he wins a general election next week.

Asked in an interview with the Maariv newspaper on Friday: "Can you promise that during the next four years, no settlement will be dismantled?" Netanyahu answered: "Yes."

"The days when bulldozers uprooted Jews are behind us, not in front of us. Our record proves it," he said.

"We haven't uprooted any settlements, we have expanded them," he said, recalling that his government had established the first university in a settlement, in Ariel deep in the West Bank.

"Nobody has any lessons to give me about love for the Land of Israel or commitment to Zionism and the settlements," he added.

Netanyahu was alluding to the strong opinion poll showing of the pro-settler Jewish Home party which has been championing accelerated settlement expansion and looks set to take seats from the prime minister's right-wing list in Tuesday's election.

Public radio commentator Hanan Cristal said Netanyahu had, "in the final stretch of the election campaign, steered to the right on the question of settlements to try to woo Likud supporters tempted to vote for Jewish Home."

Likud is the premier's party.

Opinion polls on Friday, the last day they may be published before the election, showed the Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu list winning 32-35 seats in the 120-member Knesset, down from 42 in the outgoing parliament.

Jewish Home was credited with 13-14, and the ultra-Orthodox Shas party 11-12.

The centre-left Labour party would win 16-17 seats and the centrist Yesh Atid and Hatnuah, 10-13 and 7-8, respectively.

A poll published on January 11 showed that one in four voters had still not decided whom to back.

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Victoria's Seaton counts cost of bushfire

The town of Seaton is counting the cost of a bushfire burning in Victoria's east. Source: AAP

THE town of Seaton is counting the cost of a bushfire burning in Victoria's east that is "as bad as it gets".

A man's body was found in a burnt-out car in the area, where at least one home and as many as five have been destroyed on Friday.

The fire has burnt through an area of about 48,000 hectares, ravaging mainly forest country about 200km east of Melbourne.

Seaton local Peter, who did not want his surname used, said the man might have been someone who lived next door.

"(It's) very sad. It could be a neighbour of mine," he told AAP.

"(He might have) left it too late and tried to drive through the fire. That's the worst thing to do in a car ... but we don't know if his house was destroyed.

"It's not a nice feeling."

Peter has been stranded in neighbouring Heyfield since Thursday night awaiting the go-ahead to return.

He said the death may have led to delays in authorities allowing desperate locals back in the area.

"You can put up with a loss of property but not with a loss of life."

Heyfield incident controller Bill Johnstone said four to five houses are believed to have been lost in Seaton, with residents not allowed to return until given the all-clear.

"We've got burning trees ... there's a lot of timber we need to clear," Mr Johnstone said.

"We're certainly here for a very protracted firefight. We could be here for days, possibly weeks."

Peetika Hobson, who has lived in Seaton for 30 years, was told her home was lost.

"As we were driving back to Heyfield hoping to see if the house was still there, we got a text message from our son that he heard our house had burned down," she told Network Ten.

"It becomes quite sad thinking about what you've missed.

"You'll never go home again to the house where your family grew up."

Along with Seaton, towns such as Glenmaggie and Heyfield and the hamlet of Dawson came under threat on Friday.

Mr Johnstone said the fire could affect Licola and the Macalister River Valley.

"We're still experiencing some dynamic fire behaviour," Mr Johnstone told journalists at Heyfield on Friday.

"It's a very dangerous environment we're experiencing today.

"Given the conditions it's probably as bad as it can get."

Mr Johnstone said CFA strike teams would be protecting Licola with holidaymakers already evacuated from Macalister valley.

Premier Ted Baillieu urged residents to keep informed.

"This is obviously a very big fire. In barely 24 hours this fire has grown from nothing to over 40,000 hectares," he said at Heyfield.

"It's a big fire. It's travelled very quickly and represents still a very significant threat."

Mr Johnstone said authorities' focus would be on stopping the fire entering national parkland.

"If that does occur, it's very difficult terrain, very limited access and essentially very few limited fallback options," he said.

"So we'll be working very, very hard to make sure that doesn't happen."

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European stocks open lower

EUROPE'S main stock markets drifted lower at the start of trading on Thursday, with London's FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.09 per cent at 6098.34 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index fell 0.18 per cent to 7677.28 points and in Paris the CAC 40 also declined 0.09 per cent to 3705.04.

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PNG's first speaker of parliament dies

THE first speaker of Papua New Guinea's parliament, Sir Barry Holloway, has died in Brisbane.

Sir Barry, 78, died in Brisbane's Mater Hospital at about 1930 (AEDT) on Wednesday with his family members and former partner, Fua, present.

A formidable politician, he first came to PNG as a Kiap, or provincial administrator, in 1953 at age 18.

"He fell in love with the place and its women," said Institute of National Affairs director Paul Barker, who was a friend of Sir Barry.

"He was dedicated and committed.

"He was a strong person for getting services out on the local level. He was a very caring man. As a Kiap, he never let it go to his head."

Sir Barry, along with Sir Michael and Tony Voutas went on to form the Pangu Pati in 1968 and he became speaker of the house of assembly in 1972.

When PNG gained full independence from Australia in 1975, he served as the nascent nation's first Speaker until 1977, before taking on the role of finance minister until 1982.

He ran for the governorship of the Eastern Highlands at the 2012 national election, narrowly losing to Julie Soso, one of the three women members of PNG's 111-member parliament.

Seven months before the election, he told AAP he was considering running again because he wanted to see more services delivered to the people.

Sir Michael Somare's spokeswoman, Betha Somare, said the former prime minister cherished Sir Barry's contribution to PNG and noted his contributions to legislative and constitutional amendments.

"He cherishes the memories of working with Sir Barry for an independent PNG," Ms Somare told AAP.

"Their relationship goes back 48 years and Sir Michael is grateful for Sir Barry's contributions in and out of political life."

Ms Somare said her father would issue a formal statement after he had spoken to Sir Barry's children.

Health Minister Michael Malabag took to Facebook to express his fondness for Sir Barry.

"I have many fond memories of Sir Barry over many years in the course of my career as a public servant and unionist," he said.

"Simply a great man with a colourful background. RIP sir."

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Howard enters US gun debate

FORMER prime minister John Howard has shared his experience in overhauling Australia's gun laws in one of the United States' most influential newspapers.

Following the massacre of 20 children at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School in December, US President Barack Obama has demanded an assault weapons ban and universal background checks for gun buyers, pitting himself against the nation's powerful gun lobby.

Mr Howard wrote in the New York Times that he did not want to lecture Americans on the subject, but hoped to contribute constructively to the US debate on gun laws.

He said he knew he had to act to curb gun possession and the type of weapons used by Martin Bryant in April 1996 when 35 people were killed in the Tasmanian's murderous rampage through Port Arthur.

"I also knew it wouldn't be easy," Mr Howard wrote.

Bryant used a semi-automatic ArmaLite rifle and a semiautomatic SKS assault weapon to gun down his victims.

Mr Howard said Australia's gun lobby was not as powerful or as well financed as the National Rifle Association in the US, but that he'd faced resistance from some states and from the coalition's rural constituents.

He wore a bulletproof vest while addressing farmers in rural Victoria and faced angry gun owners as he garnered support for the reforms.

A federally financed gun buyback scheme was needed to make the plan work, he said.

"This required new legislation and was widely accepted across the political spectrum," Mr Howard wrote.

"Almost 700,000 guns were bought back and destroyed - the equivalent of 40 million guns in the United States."

The ready availability of high-powered weapons, which enabled people to convert "murderous impulses into mass killing", was the fundamental problem, Mr Howard said.

"Certainly, shortcomings in treating mental illness and the harmful influence of violent video games and movies may have played a role," he wrote.

"But nothing trumps easy access to a gun.

"It is easier to kill 10 people with a gun than with a knife."

Mr Howard said the coalition government had been willing to hold a nationwide referendum to change the constitution and give the federal government constitutional power over guns.

"Such a referendum would have been expensive and divisive, but it would have passed," he said.

"And all state governments knew this."

The battle to reform gun laws was won because there was majority support across the nation for a ban on certain weapons.

"And today, there is a wide consensus that our 1996 reforms not only reduced the gun-related homicide rate, but also the suicide rate," he said.

"The Australian Institute of Criminology found that gun-related murders and suicides fell sharply after 1996."

The gun buyback scheme was credited with reducing the number of firearm suicides by 74 per cent.

Before the 1996 reforms Australia had experienced 13 gun massacres resulting in a total 102 deaths.

"There has not been a single massacre in that category since 1996," Mr Howard said.

"Few Australians would deny that their country is safer today as a consequence of gun control."

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Wal-Mart to buy more US-made goods

US retailer Wal-Mart says it will buy more US-made goods in a bid to support the nation's economy. Source: AAP

WAL-MART, the world's biggest retailer, says it will spend $US50 billion ($A47.53 billion) more on US-made goods and boost hiring of military service veterans to support the nation's economy.

Wal-Mart Store's retail chains in the United States, Walmart and members-only Sam's Club, will buy an additional $US50 billion worth of domestic products over the next 10 years, the company said.

Wal-Mart noted that two thirds of its spending on products for Walmart US already goes to US products.

The US goods included in the latest move include sporting goods, apparel basics, storage products, games, and paper products.

It pledged to help promote US production in "high potential" areas like textiles, furniture and higher-end appliances.

The nation's largest employer also announced plans to hire more than 100,000 military veterans over the next five years.

Beginning on May 27, this year's Memorial Day holiday, it will offer a job to any honorably discharged veteran within the first 12 months of his or her leaving active duty.

"Taking action on the economy is our responsibility as Americans, but it's also our opportunity as retailers," Walmart US president and chief executive Bill Simon said at an annual retail industry convention, according to the text of his speech.

"We in this room can invest. We can grow, and we can hire -- and we can use the power of what we buy and sell to make a difference."

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company employs about 1.4 million people in its Walmart chain.

Wal-Mart shares were up 0.6 per cent to $US68.71 in afternoon trade in New York.

The move follows a rise in domestic production by several US companies in the past several years, due in part to rising wages for production abroad and a desire to bring output closer to clients.

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European stocks open weaker

EUROPE'S main stock markets slid at the start of trading on Wednesday, with London's FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.30 per cent at 6099.26 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index fell 0.19 per cent to 7661.61 points and in Paris the CAC 40 declined 0.10 per cent to 3693.75.

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Wave of attacks kills at least 17 in Iraq

A WAVE of attacks in Baghdad and north of the Iraqi capital has killed at least 17 people and wounded 168 others, officials say.

The deadliest attack on Wednesday struck in the ethnically-mixed northern city of Kirkuk where a car bomb detonated by a suicide attacker killed at least 10 people and wounded 140 others, according to provincial health chief Sadiq Omar Rasul.

Another suicide car bombing in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, meanwhile, killed two people and wounded 26 others while three separate attacks in Baghdad left five people dead.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks but Sunni militants including al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq regularly carry out waves of violence in a bid to destabilise the government and push the country back towards the sectarian violence that blighted it from 2005 to 2008.

The latest attacks come a day after the killing of a Sunni Iraqi MP in a suicide attack west of Baghdad, with Ayfan al-Essawi's funeral expected to be held in Fallujah later on Wednesday.

The violence comes amid a political crisis that has pitted Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki against his erstwhile government partners just months ahead of key provincial elections.

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Decree bans Iran nuclear weapons

IRAN says a religious decree issued by the country's supreme leader banning nuclear weapons is binding for the Iranian government.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says the West must understand the significance of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's fatwa for the Islamic Republic, and that the edict should end the debate over whether Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons.

Khamenei said last year that Iran is not seeking atomic arms. He called possessing such weapons a "sin" as well as "useless, harmful and dangerous."

Mehmanparast's comments on Tuesday come a day ahead of a new round of talks between Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

The US and its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

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West Bank teen killed by Israeli fire

A PALESTINIAN teenager has been shot dead by Israeli troops in the northern West Bank, not far from the separation barrier, Palestinian medical and security sources say.

Samir Ahmed Awad, 17, died on Tuesday after being hit by a bullet to the chest and another to the leg in an area not far from the village of Ras Karkar, some 10 kilometres northwest of Ramallah.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the incident, which took place a day after medics said a 21-year-old Palestinian farmer was killed by Israeli fire in northern Gaza.

On Tuesday, the military denied any involvement in the Gaza incident.

On Saturday, a 21-year-old Palestinian labourer was shot dead by troops as he tried to cross the vast separation barrier in the southern West Bank in search of work in Israel, medics said.

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Russia ex-bank boss charged for 'bribe'

THE Russian interior ministry has charged Moscow's former representative to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with seeking to procure a $US1.4 million ($A1.33 million) bribe.

The ministry on Tuesday said former EBRD official Yelena Kotova and a group of others promised to award a Canadian energy firm operating in Russia a $US95-million loan in exchange for the payment.

A Russian banker named as Igor Lebedev was named as an intermediary in the alleged scheme.

The accused "deliberately took steps to obtain illegal monetary compensation from a Canadian oil and gas company," the interior ministry statement said.

It added that Kotova "made the final decisions on credits and indirectly guaranteed the businessmen (that she would give them) a positive answer in exchange for receiving from the latter the sum of $US1.425 million."

Kotova had served as the London-based bank's Russia department director from 2005 until her resignation in December 2010.

London police opened a money laundering and bribery case against her in early 2011 after the EBRD lifted the immunity of both Kotova and three other former and acting Russian officials at the bank.

The interior ministry statement described Lebedev as a "leading" Russian banker but gave no further details on his position.

Kotova's lawyer Sergei Mirzoyev said his client has been prohibited from leaving Moscow in the course of the investigation but was not being put under arrest.

"The defence considers these charges as unfounded," Mirzoyev told the RAPSI legal news agency.

The lawyer added that the interior ministry was basing its case on the evidence of foreign nationals who do not live in Russia and whose testimony is therefore difficult to check.

London police were initially rebuffed by the Russian authorities when they requested Kotova's detention in 2011.

Police cooperation between Russia and Britain ended with the 2006 death by poisoning in London of fierce Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko.

British authorities suspect two Russian nationals on close terms with the ruling authorities of killing Litvinenko by pouring highly radioactive polonium in his tea.

The EBRD - comprised of 64 shareholder countries alongside the European Union and the European Investment Bank - was founded in 1991 to help ex-Communist countries switch to market economies.

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Man dies after suspcted drug lab explosion

A MAN has died in hospital 10 days after suffering severe burns in a suspected drug lab fire at a house in Sydney's northwest.

Neighbours noticed smoke coming from the home on Quarry Road at Ryde in the early hours of January 4, police said.

Emergency services found a 50-year-old man inside suffering "full thickness" burns to his arms and legs.

He was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital and placed in an induced coma, while a woman who managed to escape the fire was admitted with minor injuries.

The man died in hospital on Monday.

Police believe the fire was caused by an explosion in a clandestine drug lab.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner and investigations into the incident are continuing.

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Swatch to buy US jeweller Harry Winston

SWATCH, the world's leading watchmaker, says it will acquire US jeweller and watchmaker Harry Winston for up to $US1billion ($A952.70 million).

The Swiss group will pay $US750 million to acquire the company and add a maximum of $US250 million to take over its net debt, a statement on Monday said.

The transaction, which still needs the go-ahead from regulatory authorities, does not include the mining activities of the Harry Winston Diamond Corporation, it said.

Swatch said it would take over the Harry Winston brand and all the activities related to its jewellery and watches business, as well as 535 of its employees worldwide.

Swatch chairwoman Nayla Hayek said the deal made sense since "Harry Winston does brilliantly complement the prestige segment of the (Swatch) Group".

"Diamonds are still a girl's best friend," she added in the statement.

Harry Winston's chief executive Robert Gannicott also hailed the deal.

"The Harry Winston brand now has a new home that can provide the skills and support that it deserves to realise its true potential," he said in the statement.

Analysts were also enthusiastic about the purchase, although they said the price was steep.

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North Korea vows to bolster war deterrence

NORTH Korea has vowed to strengthen its defences, amid concerns the country may conduct a nuclear test as a follow-up to last month's long-range rocket launch.

Citing US hostility, Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said in a memorandum on Monday North Korea will "continue to strengthen its deterrence against all forms of war".

The memorandum carried by state media did not say what action North Korea would take to defend itself.

However, North Korea has claimed the right to build atomic weapons to protect itself from the United States, which stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea.

North Korea sent a satellite into space on December 12 aboard a long-range rocket, a launch the US and its allies have criticised as a test of banned ballistic missile technology.

In 2006 and 2009, Pyongyang conducted atomic tests after being slapped with UN security council condemnation and sanctions for similar launches of long-range rockets.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry urged the Washington to dismantle the US-led UN Command, which oversees an armistice signed at the close of the Korean War in 1953. It accused the US of trying to turn the UN Command into a NATO-like regional military bloc.

"Whether the US immediately dismantles the UN Command or not will serve as the acid stone in deciding whether the US will maintain or not its anti-(North Korea) hostile policy," said the memorandum, which was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The Korean War armistice was never replaced with a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula in a technical state of war 60 years later.

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Man caught with wig, semi-automatic gun

A MAN wearing a long black wig and a surgical mask was armed with a handgun when he was caught and charged in Sunnybank.

A security guard spotted the 52-year-old Victorian man entering the loading bay of the shopping centre on Mains Road at Sunnybank just before 9.30am, the possible thief dressed in his elaborate disguise and carrying a duffel bag.

The uniformed guard then started to follow the masked man, who fled through the carpark and along Carnaby Street before running into a house's yard at the intersection of Carnaby and Leadenhall Street.

A police media spokesman said the man had possibly become "spooked" as he ran from the scene.

The 52-year-old man allegedly tried to remove his disguise behind a rainwater tank but was caught by two off-duty police officers.

They identified themselves before restraining him and calling for backup.

The man was then searched, police finding a semi-automatic handgun, ammunition and other items yet to be identified.

The 52-year-old Victorian man has been charged with attempted armed robbery, possess weapon, contravene direction and unlawful possession of weapons.

He is scheduled to appear in the Holland Park Magistrates Court tomorrow.

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Tens of thousands protest Taiwan president

Taiwan has seen the largest anti-government action since President Ma Ying-jeou was re-elected. Source: AAP

TENS of thousands of opposition demonstrators have taken to the streets of Taipei to protest the policies of Taiwan's China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou.

Sunday's demonstration is the largest anti-government action since Ma was elected to a second four-year term a year ago.

Protesters called on the president to fire Prime Minister Sean Chen over the island's lacklustre economic performance - growth was less than two per cent in 2012 - and demanded regulatory bodies stop a consortium widely seen as pro-China from purchasing a mass-circulation newspaper.

The consortium includes businessman Tsai Eng-meng, who already owns a popular cable TV news station and another mass-circulation newspaper.

Opponents of the latest media deal say it would concentrate too much power in the hands of an individual.

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Tas road reopens to bushfire-hit Dunalley

Police are planning to reopen the Arthur Highway on the bushfire-ravaged Tasman Peninsular. Source: AAP

POLICE have reopened the Arthur Highway in Tasmania that runs from Sorell to Port Arthur on the bushfire-ravaged Tasman Peninsula.

Motorists are being asked to drive with caution, particularly between Sugarloaf Road and the Dunalley Bridge, with work crews still restoring essential services to the area.

Drivers of light vehicles who want to go south of Dunalley are being advised to detour via Sugarloaf and Fulham Roads to avoid lengthy delays.

Police say large vehicles, those towing trailers, service vehicles and tourist buses should stay on the Arthur Highway which has a speed limit of 60km/h.

They say motorists also need to be mindful of stock on the road due to the destruction of fences, particularly in the Sugarloaf Road and Fulham Road areas.

Peninsula residents were allowed to return last Friday.

Meanwhile, fire crews have made solid progress on consolidating containment lines around bushfires still burning ahead of higher fire danger conditions forecast for Thursday.

Tasmania Fire Service has issued a watch and act message for the uncontained 24,040-hectare Forcett blaze where 150 firefighters using 39 tankers and four aircraft continue working on the fire which has a 200km perimeter.

Firefighters had been strengthening containment lines around Bream Creek and Marion Bay and also at Lagoon Bay, but had to eventually pull out due to increased winds, TFS spokeswoman Shannon Fox said on Sunday.

"In Taranna, we've got a good, strong containment line in but we're working on looking after some hot spots that are within the already burnt out areas," she told AAP.

"What we are really trying to do is be prepared for Thursday when we expect fire danger ratings to increase again."

At Lake Repulse, fire crews consolidated containment lines to the south of Brown Mountain and New Zealand firefighters worked on containment lines at the Broad River Valley, Ms Fox said.

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