China's first lady a media sensation

Peng Liyuan set Chinese media and social network sites abuzz with her elegant style in Moscow. Source: AAP

CHINA'S glamorous first lady has become a media and internet sensation as she accompanies husband President Xi Jinping on a state visit to Russia.

Already famous and immensely popular in her homeland due to her long career as a singer, Peng Liyuan set Chinese media and social network sites abuzz with her elegant style from the moment she stepped off the plane in Moscow Friday.

Photographs of Peng and Xi were plastered across the front pages of state media, which usually do not focus on the country's first ladies.

Major newspapers in Beijing on Saturday featured a shot of the Chinese leader and his wife smiling as they left their plane, rather than a photo of Xi's handshake with President Vladimir Putin on his first overseas trip as head of state.

Carrying a handbag and wearing a navy blue coat standing beside her husband, Peng was even shown briefly arm-in-arm with Xi in a public display of affection rare among the communist leadership.

This scene makes the Chinese happy because they have been waiting for it for a long time," said Hu Xijing, editor of the Global Times, while regretting that the media's comments did not give the event the importance it deserved.

Peng did not stop smiling before and during the official welcome from their Russian hosts.

That smile and her sense of style attracted widespread attention on China's Twitter-like microblogs.

"What elegance!" said one charmed commentator using the name "Lanpingzigaidexingfu".

"What a beauty," added "Renxiaoxuanxuan", while a more restrained "Yanhuozhiqiu" praised her as being "dignified" and "open minded".

Peng's coat was the particular object of attention. Just hours after the first images were broadcast of her descending from the aircraft, copies of the garment were being offered on the internet shopping site Taobao (China's version of eBay) for between 499 and 10,000 yuan ($A77 and $A1,540).

In just seconds, Peng effortlessly projected an image of youth and spontaneity in stark contrast to what the Chinese public have grown accustomed to over the past 30 years.

Her immediate predecessor Liu Yonqing, the austere and reserved wife of former president Hu Jintao, was rarely exposed to the limelight and usually seen standing behind her husband.

Peng, however, was already a household name in China thanks to her role over the past 25 years in the state television New Year gala, which is watched by millions of viewers.

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Cambodia French family deaths not suicide

Investigators in Cambodia have ruled out suicide in the deaths of French widower Laurent Vallier. Source: AAP

FRENCH and Cambodian investigators have ruled out suicide in the deaths of a Frenchman and his four young children whose skeletal remains were found in a submerged car last year.

Ten French investigators, including a judge and scientific and forensic police, arrived in Cambodia earlier this month to probe the deaths of widower Laurent Vallier, 42, and his young children.

"This (investigation) has led to very significant breakthroughs which are now ruling out the possibility of a suicide," the French embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement on Saturday.

The family's badly decomposed bodies were discovered inside Vallier's white 4x4 vehicle after it was retrieved from a large pond behind his house in southern Kampong Speu province in January last year.

Vallier and his two sons and two daughters, thought to have been aged from two to nine, had been missing since September 2011.

Chhim Rithy, a Cambodian investigating judge at Kampong Speu who was working with the team, said they had found some blood stain stains inside Vallier's house and on a rope.

"It is not the case of suicide. It could be a murder case," he told AFP, adding investigation in the case was still ongoing.

Vallier, who according to his relatives worked as a tour guide, is understood to have moved from France to Cambodia around 13 years ago, arriving in Kampong Speu in 2007. His Cambodian wife died in childbirth in 2009.

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Queen volunteered for Olympics Bond

Director Danny Boyle says the Queen offered to do the James Bond skit for the London Olympics. Source: AAP

QUEEN Elizabeth II needed no convincing to appear in a James Bond-themed skit during the opening ceremony of the London Olympics - in fact, she volunteered, according to the show's director.

Director Danny Boyle says he had initially thought a lookalike - possibly actress Helen Mirren - would play the role of Elizabeth alongside Bond actor Daniel Craig.

He tells ITV's Jonathan Ross in an interview to air Saturday night that when he sought permission from officials to film the skit he heard back that not only was the video a go, but the monarch herself wanted to be in it.

Boyle says that when filming began, the Queen asked him if he thought she should have a line, to which he replied "OK, what do you suggest?"

"She said 'I'll do something' and we started shooting and she turned round and she said her lines beautifully," he said, according to excerpts of the interview released in advance.

The Queen's star turn in the skit was considered one of the highlights of the opening ceremony last year.

In the skit, a tuxedo-clad 007 strides into Buckingham Palace to escort his VIP guest to the Olympic ceremony. In her acting debut, Elizabeth swivels around in her desk chair to face the legendary spy and declares: "Good evening, Mr. Bond."

Two of Queen's corgi dogs also appeared in the clip.

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Three Marines die in shooting at US base

A US Marine shot and killed at least one person at a military base in Virginia. Source: AAP

A US Marine shot and killed two colleagues before apparently turning the gun on himself at a military base in Virginia, US media reported.

The shooting happened Thursday night at the Quantico Marine base in the state bordering Washington DC, according to media reports.

The suspect was a Marine who attended officer candidate school at the base, CBS News and other media reported.

The gunman killed a male Marine, who had barricaded himself inside a barracks and was found dead later of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the reports.

A second body was found in the officer candidate school, Solivan told ABC News.

The gender of the second victim was not known.

The base went into lockdown immediately after the shooting, but this has since been lifted.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Revealed: The Big Bang's baby boom

The afterglow of the Big Bang, the cosmic microwave background, as detected by the European Space Agency's Planck space probe. The radiation was imprinted on the sky when the universe was 370,000 years old. It shows tiny temperature fluctuations that correspond to regions of slightly different densities, representing the seeds of all future structure: the stars and galaxies of today. (AP Photo/ESA, Planck Collaboration via NASA) Source: AP

THE Planck space telescope has captured an image of the residual glow from the Big Bang, the European Space Agency says.

This is an image with more detail than has ever been captured before of the cosmic microwave background radiation, which originated about 380,000 years after the Big Bang, the explosion amid which the universe began 13.8 billion years ago.

"For cosmologists, this map is a goldmine of information," George Efstathiou, director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge and one of Planck's lead researchers, said of the data.

This first light, which has been travelling through space for some 13.4 billion years and cooling the entire time, now has a temperature of just 2.7 degrees Kelvin (minus 273 C or minus 454 F), which is just above absolute zero.

Nevertheless, the light shows very tiny fluctuations in its density corresponding to the "seeds" from which stars and galaxies later formed.

An image from the Planck spacecraft shows a bridge of hot gas that connects galaxy clusters about a billion light-years from Earth. (AP Photo/ESA Planck Collaboration)

The unique photograph was obtained after processing data obtained over the past 2 1/2 years by the Planck telescope launched in May 2009 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana to map the cosmos and analyse its origins.

The telescope is positioned at a location in space known as the Earth/Sun L2 Lagrange point some 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.

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SA wine makers launch new campaign

ADELAIDE wants to become what Bordeaux is to France - the wine capital of the nation.

The state's winemakers have launched a campaign to promote Adelaide, seeking to identify the city more closely with the state's leading wine regions, including the Barossa Valley.

SA Wine Industry Association spokesman Marc Allgrove said the state's wine sector produced 75 per cent of the nation's premium wines and had the country's best known wine regions and the majority of its highest profile wineries.

"However, when our winemakers travel overseas they have to explain where 'South of Australia' is," he said.

"We want to change the international mindset with a simple proposition so that Adelaide will be seen in the same way as Bordeaux is the wine capital of France, Florence is the wine capital of Italy and San Francisco is the gateway to the US wine country.

"Great cities that launch visitors into international quality wine and food experiences."

Mr Allgrove said the industry would embark on a major promotion offering a special experience every day for the next year.

Delivered through iPhone and Android apps, the campaign would put the spotlight on hundreds of cellar doors and wine bars, restaurants and cafes.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill will launch the campaign on Friday.

At the launch, Mr Weatherill said food and wine were central to the state's identity.

"Adelaide truly is the wine capital of Australia," he said.

"We are home to some of the world's oldest vines and produce some of the world's most iconic wines."

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26 million migrants keen to call Aust home

TWENTY six million people across the globe want to move to Australia, making it the seventh most desirable country among potential migrants, a poll says.

The Gallup poll released on Thursday of over 500,000 adults, ranks the US as the most popular destination for potential migrants, with 138 million people keen to make it their home.

The projected numbers are based on percentages of who would like to move.

In second place is the UK, which is said to be the preferred destination for 42 million migrants.

Canada came in third (37 million), followed by France.

Australia ranks seventh on the Gallup Inc list, with 26 million potential migrants eager to move Down Under.

Potential migrants were most likely to come from very populous countries including China, Nigeria and India, Gallup found.

It found one in four adults in Sierra Leone, the Dominican Republic and Haiti want to migrant permanently to the US.

The results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with adults aged 15 and older in 154 countries from 2010 to 2012.

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Missing teenage Vic girl found

A 13-YEAR-OLD missing Melbourne girl has been found at a fast-food restaurant.

Police found Natalia Barbaccia safe at a Burwood fast-food restaurant in Melbourne's east on Thursday night.

The Forest Hill teen had been missing for three days after being seen leaving her home at around 11.30pm (AEDT) on Monday.

Police held fears for her safety with concerns her mobile phone was switched off and she did not have any money on her.

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Unmarried sex in Indon could be illegal

UNMARRIED people caught having sex in Indonesia will face up to five years in jail under proposed new laws.

Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Ministry director general for legislation Wahiduddin Adams reportedly confirmed penalties for pre-marital sex were being considered as part of a revision of the criminal code.

The revision to the criminal code would also make it illegal for couples living together to have sex, with a potential sentence of up to one year in jail.

But single people would be dealt with more harshly.

"It (would be) liable for up to five years in jail," Wahiduddin said on Thursday, according to the news website Tempo Interaktif.

The proposed changes reflected the prevailing norms in Indonesian society, he said.

"Our society is not like in the old penal code."

The proposal apparently has the support of other members of the Indonesian parliament.

"I think, it would be good if this is regulated," People's Conscience Party MP Syarifuddin Sudding said.

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New-look WA cabinet to be announced

WA Premier Colin Barnett is expected to appoint several new ministers in his new-look cabinet. Source: AAP

FIVE new ministers have been appointed to Western Australia's cabinet, with pro-nuclear Riverton MP Mike Nahan emerging as the big winner and tattooed MP Joe Francis taking the "hot potato" prisons job.

Mr Nahan replaced Simon O'Brien as finance minister and also took Peter Collier's energy portfolio.

Premier Colin Barnett said Mr O'Brien had been "very gracious" in accepting the decision and praised former minister Robyn McSweeney, whose child protection portfolio was given to mental health minister Helen Morton, saying she had done a terrific job.

But the premier offered lukewarm comments on former corrective services minister Murray Cowper.

He said an investigation into Mr Cowper's involvement in illegal land clearing at shack community Wedge Island - revealed in the final week of the election campaign - had been resolved and had "absolutely nothing" to do with his being axed.

A riot at the Banksia Hill juvenile detention facility, which an inquiry has heard followed staff shortages in which young offenders were "locked down" in their cells for as long as five weeks, also did not figure in the reshuffle.

"Murray was very unlucky," Mr Barnett told reporters.

Opposition spokesman Roger Cook said corrective services had been "handballed like a hot potato around the cabinet".

"The premier has palmed that portfolio off again now to a junior minister, one without experience in what is clearly a very difficult policy area," he said.

In the key energy portfolio, Mr Barnett said Mr Nahan would focus on energy security and reducing power prices - although he said during the election campaign they would rise at or around the inflation rate.

Ken Baston replaces Nationals MP Terry Redman for agriculture and food.

Mr Redman also lost housing but retains forestry and gains water, and training and workforce development.

Nationals WA leader Brendon Grylls, who retained his position as regional development minister, said losing the agriculture minister's role was a "historic change" for the junior coalition party.

"The Nationals for multiple governments have had that portfolio," Mr Grylls said.

But as a Carnarvon pastoralist Mr Baston was a good fit for the important training role, he said.

Mr Cook, however, said the Nationals had been "relegated to the back seat".

Former local government minister John Castrilli did not seek reappointment and will focus on his Bunbury electorate, and his role has gone to Darling Range MP Tony Simpson.

The freshest new face belongs to 33-year-old Albert Jacob, who takes on the challenging environment portfolio taken from Bill Marmion.

Mr Marmion, who has a civil engineering background, has taken on the important mines portfolio after the retirement of WA's longest serving parliamentarian, Norman Moore.

The government has passed up an offer by former police minister Rob Johnson to take on the coveted speaker's role, with the nomination going to Michael Sutherland.

The new cabinet will be sworn in by WA Governor Malcolm McCusker on Thursday.

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Greater privacy for abuse victims

THE federal government has changed the century-old Royal Commissions Act to facilitate the inquiry into institutional child abuse.

The bill passed in the lower house on Wednesday night allows those who want to give evidence to do so in a less formal setting.

They will now be able to go before a private hearing, not swear an oath or affirmation, but receive the same protections as those giving evidence at formal hearings.

The government has also strengthened the confidentiality measures surrounding the information given in a private session.

The amended bill excludes personal information given in private sessions from being released under the Freedom of Information Act and stops the records from being accessed for 99 years.

Although the procedural changes in this legislation are being introduced specifically for the royal commission into institutional abuse, they will now apply to all future Commonwealth royal commissions. The Royal Commissions Amendment Bill 2013 will now proceed for royal assent.

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Most indigenous kids completing Year 12

FEDERAL Schools Minister Peter Garrett says he's proud that more than half of indigenous students are now staying in school and finishing Year 12.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released on Wednesday show that last year, for the first time, 51.1 per cent of indigenous students were sticking with their schooling all the way through to Year 12.

This is well up from the 38 per cent retention rate a decade earlier in 2002.

"We are determined to close the gap between the education results of indigenous and non-indigenous students and are investing in programs that we know lift results," Mr Garrett said in a statement.

The data showed South Australia had the highest indigenous retention rates, with about seven in 10 students staying in school.

In the Northern Territory just one-third of indigenous students stuck it out.

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Dead pigs in China river exceed 13,000

The number of dead pigs found in a river running through Shanghai has reached more than 13,000. Source: AAP

THE number of dead pigs found in a river running through China's commercial hub Shanghai has reached more than 13,000, as mystery deepened over the hogs' precise origin.

Shanghai had pulled 9,460 pigs out of the Huangpu river, which supplies 22 per cent of the city's drinking water, since the infestation began earlier this month, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai has blamed farmers in Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for dumping pigs which died of disease into the river upstream, where the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday another 3,601 dead animals had been recovered.

The Jiaxing government has said the area is not the sole source of the carcasses, adding it had found only one producer that could be held responsible.

Shanghai said it had checked farms in its southwestern district of Songjiang, where the pigs were first detected, but found they were not to blame, the Shanghai Daily said.

The scandal has spotlighted China's troubles with food safety, adding the country's most popular meat to a growing list of food items rocked by controversy.

Samples of the dead pigs have tested positive for porcine circovirus, a common swine disease that does not affect humans.

"Due to some farming households having a weak recognition of the law, bad habits, and lack of increased supervision and capability for treatment have led to the situation," the national agriculture ministry's chief veterinarian Yu Kangzhen said.

Yu attributed a higher mortality rate among pigs to colder weather this spring, though he ruled out an epidemic, the ministry said in statement posted on its website over the weekend.

The thousands of dead pigs have drawn attention to China's poorly regulated farm production. Animals that die from disease can end up in the country's food supply chain or improperly disposed of, despite laws against the practice.

In Wenling, also in Zhejiang, authorities announced last week that 46 people had been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years for processing and selling pork from more than 1,000 diseased pigs.

China faced one its biggest food-safety scandals in 2008 when the industrial chemical melamine was found to have been illegally added to dairy products, killing at least six babies and making 300,000 people ill.

In another recent incident, the American fast-food giant KFC faced controversy after revealing that some Chinese suppliers provided chicken with high levels of antibiotics, in what appeared to be an industry-wide practice.

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Half a million new homes for Sydney

NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has unveiled a 20-year blueprint for Sydney's growth. Source: AAP

A 20-YEAR blueprint for Sydney's growth has identified a need for more than half a million new homes by 2031 but lobby groups want clarity about where they will be built.

Unveiling the strategy on Tuesday, Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said 545,000 new homes would be needed to cater for a population of 5.6 million Sydneysiders in 20 years - a 17 per cent increase on the number forecast in 2010.

Seventy per cent of the additional 1.3 million people who will set up homes in Sydney will be the children of current residents.

"We're trying to be less constrictive and restrictive and what we are saying is the market place should have far more of a say in what the mix of housing is and where it will be," Mr Hazzard said.

"We can make forecasts on where we believe it should be, but we are not going to do what Labor did ... they allowed the planners to be the sole determinant."

Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson said the obvious location for higher density housing was around transport nodes and town centres.

But a range of housing types was needed, including new houses on the city's fringe and apartments in existing suburban areas.

"We need more detail on the type of housing densities planned, particularly for existing urban areas," he said.

Patricia Forsythe, executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, said the strategy needed to address the density of housing along transport corridors.

"We need to increase housing density along existing transport corridors as a matter of common sense to continue to maintain a working city.

"Many existing transport corridors, especially along railway lines, have old three-storey walk-up apartment buildings that are reaching their use-by date.

"Reforming the planning and strata systems could see a flurry of building activity to redevelop these buildings into higher density, modern apartments."

Housing Industry Association executive director NSW, David Bare, said "urgent action is required".

As part of the plan, the government also wants to create 625,000 extra jobs over the next two decades, with 50 per cent of them in western Sydney.

The draft metropolitan strategy divides Sydney into nine key areas, known as "city shapers". These include growth corridors along Parramatta Road, Anzac Parade and the North West Rail Link, and an enhanced role for Parramatta as Sydney's second CBD.

A western Sydney employment area would be developed south of Mt Druitt.

"We need to make sure in whatever we plan, the jobs are near houses, the houses near jobs and infrastructure is there to connect them," Mr Hazzard told parliament.

He said western Sydney was at the heart of the government's economic strategy.

"Sydney is in effect the Aladdin's Cave, but the part of the Aladdin's Cave that is the critical part is the west," he said.

"The west is where the treasure lies for people to tap."

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Cost for water on the rise in southeast

RATEPAYERS in five southeast Queensland Council areas, including Brisbane, will pay an extra 3.9 per cent for water and sewerage this coming financial year.

Confirming the news this afternoon, Queensland Urban Utilities, which services the Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Scenic Rim council areas, said the increase should amount to about $28 to $37, or 53 to 71 cents per week for the average residential bill.

But consumers could be in for another hit yet, with the State Government yet to reveal any changes to the component of water bills that it controls - bulk water charges.

The increase comes after Queensland Urban Utilities froze its residential water and sewerage prices for the 2012-13 financial year.

QUU chief executive Louise Dudley said factors including increased operating costs and lower-than-expected growth had been taken into account when determining the increase.

Ms Dudley said she understood some found it hard to pay their bills and payment plans had ben developed to help those in need.

Charges for non-residential customers will also increase by 3.9 per cent in 2013/14, with final prices to be released in June.

Changes to the QUU water and sewerage access charges will be reflected on residential accounts issued from July 1 while consumption charges, including the state's bulk water charge, will be reflected on accounts issued from October 1.

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Sydney man waits months for urgent surgery

A SYDNEY man had to wait 105 days for urgent heart surgery because of the state government's $3 billion cut to health funding, NSW Labor says.

Leumeah man Sid Jackson, who had an aortic valve replacement at St George Hospital, was also asked to pay a $432 ambulance bill after he was prematurely discharged from hospital.

The health minister has waived the ambulance charge.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said Mr Jackson was told he needed the operation within 30 days.

"The health minister should stop congratulating herself and admit the reality is NSW hospitals are being left drastically underfunded by her government."

Opposition health spokesman Dr Andrew McDonald said Mr Jackson should not have been sent home when he was still suffering from post-surgery fluid overload.

"Two days later, on the advice of both his GP and cardiologist, Mr Jackson was taken back to St George Hospital by ambulance as he was not well enough to get there himself.

"After another four-day stay in hospital, Mr Jackson was discharged, weighing six kilos less than on admission. But he was then charged $432 for the ambulance service, which should not have been needed in the first place."

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Mugabe in Rome for Pope's inauguration

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is in Rome for Pope Francis's inauguration. Source: AAP

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe flew into Rome on Monday to attend Pope Francis's inauguration, sidestepping a travel ban that applies to the EU but not to the sovereign Vatican City state.

Mugabe arrived amid controversy in Zimbabwe where police on Sunday arrested four of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's aides and a prominent human rights lawyer following a referendum that would curtail Mugabe's powers.

A practising Catholic, the 89-year-old Mugabe visited the Vatican previously in 2011 for the beatification of late pope John Paul II.

In 2005, he attended John Paul II's funeral on a visit that drew controversy after Britain's Prince Charles shook hands with him.

Pope Francis's inauguration mass in St Peter's Square will take place on Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands of faithful and world leaders expected.

Mugabe has been widely condemned for human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

Preliminary results indicate the referendum has been approved, paving the way for fresh elections to decide whether Mugabe will stay on.

The new constitution would introduce presidential term limits and beef up parliament's powers but could allow Mugabe to stay on for another decade if he wins elections.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since independence from Britain in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

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Charges over $4m car pile up in Japan

A multi-car pile up involving eight luxury cars could see 10 drivers charged. Source: AAP

POLICE in Japan want to charge 10 drivers over a $US4 million, multi-car pile up involving eight Ferraris, one Lamborghini and a Mercedes-Benz.

The chain-reaction smash in December 2011 occurred when a convoy of expensive sports cars were on a freeway in Shimonoseki in western Japan, said Yamaguchi prefectural police official Shinji Tanaka.

The driver of the lead Ferrari lost control of his luxury ride and those behind the wheels of nine supercars and three other vehicles failed to apply their brakes in time.

One car driving on the opposite carriageway was also affected.

The Sports Nippon newspaper said around $US4 million ($A3.88 million) worth of damage was done.

Police sent the case against a 61-year-old man and nine others to prosecutors last Thursday on suspicion of violating traffic laws.

The final decision on whether to charge the drivers rests with prosecutors.

Police say 10 drivers, aged between 38 and 61, were exceeding the speed limit or not paying enough attention to the road, Tanaka said.

At the time of the accident, television showed footage of the badly crumpled cars - most of them red - some with airbags deployed after a smash that left six people hurt but killed no one.

"It's rare to see a chain-reaction accident like this involving expensive cars," said Tanaka.

"Some of the drivers told us they didn't really know the specifications of their cars or just how powerful their acceleration was."

The drivers were on their way to a supercar event in Hiroshima.

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Asian markets mixed

ASIAN markets have closed mixed following another strong lead from Wall Street, where traders took heart from more upbeat US jobs numbers.

The yen was flat after Japanese MPs gave final approval to the government's nominees to take the helm at the Bank of Japan (BoJ), with expectations high that it will usher in more aggressive monetary easing.

Tokyo rose 1.45 per cent, or 179.76 points, to 12,560.95 - its highest level since September 2008. Sydney bounced back from three days of losses to register its biggest rise since July, adding 1.75 per cent, or 88 points, to close at 5,120.2.

Hong Kong was 0.38 per cent lower, losing 86.07 points to end at 22,533.11 while Shanghai closed up 0.36 per cent, or 8.12 points, at 2,278.40.

Seoul fell 0.78 per cent, or 15.63 points, to 1,986.50.

On Wall Street, traders welcomed data showing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week for the third week in a row, signalling continuing improvement in the jobs market.

The S&P 500, which includes all major segments of the US economy, climbed 0.56 per cent to end just short of its all-time high close set in October 2007.

And the Dow was up 0.58 per cent, breaking its all-time record for the eighth straight day. It was the Dow's 10th consecutive rise.

However, while the unemployment numbers were welcomed, the US dollar fell to Y96.08 in New York from Y96.40 in Asia earlier on Thursday.

In Tokyo on Friday the dollar fetched Y96.07.

The upper house of Japan's parliament gave the green light to Haruhiko Kuroda as BoJ governor, as well as to Kikuo Iwata and Hiroshi Nakaso as his deputies.

The men are expected to usher in a new era for the BoJ as Tokyo demands more action to boost the world's third-biggest economy, with Kuroda saying he will do all he can to achieve the bank's new two per cent inflation target.

Focus will now be on the bank's policy meeting next month to see what tools the new leadership will use to jumpstart the Japanese economy and drag it out of deflation.

The euro bought $US1.3026 and Y125.11 against $US1.3000 and Y124.91.

In Seoul, electronics giant Samsung fell 2.63 per cent after it unveiled its new Galaxy S4 smartphone in New York late on Thursday with a bigger screen and a new eye-tracking device.

However, Bae Seung-Young of Hyundai Securities told AFP: "It's not because the Galaxy S4 failed to meet expectations. It's just that investors feel technical smartphone upgrades are flattening out."

Oil prices rose, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April up 13 cents to $US93.16 a barrel in the afternoon, while Brent North Sea crude for May gained 24 cents to $US109.20.

Gold was at $US1,592.44 an ounce at 0815 GMT (1915 AEDT) compared with $US1,584.80 late on Thursday.

In other markets:

- Taipei fell 0.31 per cent, or 24.27 points, to 7,927.49.

Leading smartphone maker HTC shed 2.7 per cent to Tw$234.5 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.96 per cent lower at Tw$103.0.

- Manila fell 0.60 per cent, or 40.11 points, to 6,654.60.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone dropped 0.55 per cent to 2,844 pesos while BDO Unibank fell 3.30 per cent to 88 pesos.

- Wellington rose 0.14 per cent, or 5.96 points, to 4,387.06.

Contact Energy was up 2.19 per cent, Ryman was up 1.3 per cent at NZ$4.78 while Trade Me added 0.9 per cent to NZ$4.74 and Kathmandu climbed 0.4 per cent to NZ$2.45.

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Cyprus postpones debate on EU bailout

THE Cyprus government has postponed a planned emergency session of parliament on Sunday to debate a controversial EU bailout as the scale of opposition to its terms became clear.

President Nicos Anastasiades also put off until Monday a planned briefing of MPs and a promised address to the nation to defend what he acknowledged were "painful" sacrifices in return for a desperately needed 10-billion-euro ($A12.58 billion) bailout for the island's banks.

MPs will now convene at 4pm on Monday (0100 AEDT Tuesday) to debate ratification of the deal after a briefing by the conservative president, the state broadcaster said.

Ministers will now meet on Monday to thrash out the draft legislation to put before parliament, including an unprecedented levy of up to 9.9 per cent on all savings in the island's banks that has prompted a storm of public protest.

State television said the parliamentary debate was postponed to "ensure MPs were fully aware of the situation and were better informed."

The privately run Sigma TV said that Anastasiades was struggling to secure even a simple majority for the necessary legislation in parliament, in which his right wing DISY party holds just 20 of the 56 seats.

The communist AKEL party, which has 19 seats, had refused to sign an agreement on the terms on offer while it was in power before Anastasiades was elected president last month.

Even Anastasiades's partners in the ruling coalition have voiced strong misgivings. DIKO leader Marios Garoyian said he had spoken to the president about seeking "alternative choices" amid opposition from some of his centrist party's nine MPs.

The government needs to ratify the controversial savings levy before banks reopen, which is currently scheduled for Tuesday after a holiday weekend on the island.

But state television said there was a possibility that Tuesday too may now be declared a bank holiday as the legislative process falters.

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Count under way after Zimbabwe referendum

ZIMBABWE is tallying the ballots from a constitutional referendum that looked set to curb President Robert Mugabe's powers and tee up crucial elections in the violence-plagued nation.

The first incomplete trickle of results pointed to landslide backing for the text, which would introduce presidential term limits, beef up parliament's powers and set polls to decide whether the 89-year-old Mugabe stays in power.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since the country's independence in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

The draft constitution is part of an internationally backed plan to get the country on track. Zimbabweans' verdict on the draft is expected to be known within five days of the voting.

According to the Movement of Democratic Change, the party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, of the nearly 90,000 votes initially counted in the second city of Bulawayo only 6250 were against the draft.

Mugabe has backed the proposed constitution, which enshrines his drive to put land in the hands of black Zimbabweans. Also, the clauses are not retroactive so he could if re-elected remain president for another 10 years.

His political rival Tsvangirai has also lent his support to the text, although turnout is expected to be low.

But that has not prevented the threat of violence from looming over the vote, as party militants keep one eye on the general election.

A vote is expected to take place in July, but doubts remain about whether it can take place as planned.

Shortly before polls opened on Saturday, gunmen later identified as plain clothes police detectives, seized a member of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from his home northeast of Harare.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP Samson Magumura had been arrested on charges of attempted murder in connection with a recent firebomb attack that injured a Mugabe ally.

While casting his vote on Saturday, Mugabe, whom many blame for past unrest, urged Zimbabweans to ensure the referendum proceeded peacefully.

"You can't go about beating people on the streets, that's not allowed, we want peace in the country, peace, peace," he said.

Mugabe, the target of 11 years of Western sanctions over political violence and rights abuses, also used the opportunity to vow the United States and European countries would not be allowed to monitor the upcoming general election.

"The Europeans and the Americans have imposed sanctions on us and we keep them out in the same way they keep us out," he said.

Tsvangirai on Saturday expressed hope that a positive outcome would help catapult the country out of a crisis marked by bloodshed and economic meltdown.

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