Militants kill two police, 21 missing

GOVERNMENT officials say dozens of militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two tribal police posts in northwest Pakistan, killing two policemen.

Twenty-one other policemen are missing and presumed kidnapped.

The officials say the attacks occurred before dawn in the town of Darra Adam Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The town is located near Pakistan's tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban militants in the country.

The officials say security forces have launched an operation to try to recover the 21 missing policemen. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who have been waging a bloody insurgency against the government.

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Missing man found safe in Brisbane

A 71-YEAR-OLD man has been found safe and well after going missing in southeast Brisbane, police say.

The man, who suffers from a medical condition, was last seen leaving a store in Stones Corner on Thursday afternoon.

He was located safe and well at Milton during the evening, police said.

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Pony back with circus after Xmas kidnap

A TINY pony is back at its Austrian circus home more than a week after apparently being kidnapped by a woman who wanted to give her sick daughter a Christmas surprise.

Fridolin the pony, who is only about 60 centimetres tall, went missing from the Vienna Christmas Circus early last week. He was found near a Vienna bus stop on Wednesday.

Circus director Adolf Lauenburger told the Austria Press Agency overnight that a woman called the circus and told officials where to find the pony.

The woman said her daughter wanted a circus pony and she'd taken him to fulfill the girl's wishes for Christmas - but decided she couldn't keep the animal.

Mr Lauenburger wasn't able to identify the woman. Police were looking into the matter.

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Man charged over Qld bomb hoax

A 55-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with making a bomb hoax to a Burleigh Heads shopping centre.

The Burleigh Heads man was charged following investigations into a telephone call received at a West Burleigh Road shopping centre on Thursday morning, police said.

He is expected to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on January 30.

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More readers turning to e-books

US readers are increasingly opting for digital books instead of ink-and-paper editions, according to a Pew Research Centre study.

The share of US adults reading electronic books rose to 23 per cent in November from 16 per cent the same time last year, according to the Pew study.

Meanwhile, ranks of people age 16 or older turning to pages of printed books fell to 67 per cent from 72 per cent, the findings indicated.

Overall, 75 per cent of US adults read books in one form or another in a slight slip from the 78 per cent figure seen late in 2011, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

The growing popularity of e-books was in step with the hot trend in tablet computers, whether they are dedicated reading devices such as Kindles or Nooks or multi-purpose Internet portals such as Apple iPads or Google Nexus devices.

The portion of US adults with some kind of tablet jumped to 33 per cent late this year, as compared with 18 per cent as 2011 came to an end, according to the Pew study.

Understandably, the number of people borrowing e-books from US libraries also rose, findings indicated.

People in higher education and income brackets were more likely to be e-book readers, as were those between the ages of 30 and 49, according to Pew.

The findings were based on a survey taken between October 15 and November 10.

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WA bushfire destroys sheds, fences

A NUMBER of sheds and fences have been destroyed in a bushfire east of Perth.

The fire in Chidlow was reported shortly before 8pm (WST) on Thursday and took several hours to bring under control.

Fire and Rescue Service and Bush Fire Service firefighters remained on the scene overnight strengthening containment lines.

Firefighters say they are being helped by an easing of the wind.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

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'Rescue Me' singer Fontella Bass dies

FONTELLA Bass, a St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with "Rescue Me" in 1965, has died

The singer's daughter, Neuka Mitchell, says Bass died at a St. Louis hospice Wednesday night of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago. She was 72. Bass had also suffered several strokes since 2005.

Bass was born into a family with deep musical roots. Her mother was gospel singer Martha Bass, one of the Clara Ward Singers. Her younger brother, David Peaston, had a string of R&B hits in the 1980s and 1990s. Peaston died in February at age 54.

Her surviving family includes four children. Her husband, jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie, died in 1999.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

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