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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US weekly unemployment claims rise

THE number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week by 17,000, reversing four weeks of declines.

The Labor Department reports that a seasonally adjusted 361,000 people sought unemployment aid during the week ended December 15, from a revised 344,000 the week before.

But the less volatile four-week moving average fell 13,750 to 367,750, the lowest since late October, suggesting the job market continues to grow modestly. Applications had surged after superstorm Sandy, then fallen back.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The drop of the four-week average suggests companies are cutting fewer jobs, even if they aren't hiring enough to lower the unemployment rate significantly.

The economy has generated an average of 151,000 jobs a month in 2012, not enough to pull the high unemployment down sharply.

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Huge blizzard threatens holiday travel

THE US Midwest's first major snowstorm of the winter caused "life-threatening conditions" and flight delays that could ripple into problems across the country as travelers gear up for the Christmas holiday.

A regional energy company said the storm had cut power to more than 40,000 households and businesses in Iowa, where nearly 30 centimetres of snow had fallen in the capital, Des Moines.

The Weather Channel said around 27 centimetres of snow covered parts of Wisconsin, with around 20 centimetres in Omaha, Nebraska.

The storm dumped more than 0.6 metres snow in parts of the western US, including Washington state and Wyoming.

Chicago's bustling O'Hare International Airport, one of the world's busiest, rated delays at five on a five-point index, hours before the snow was even expected to hit, in mid-afternoon, according to FlightStats.com.

The website reported that flights were being held up an average of just under two hours, and some flights slowed by up to four hours.

Flights through smaller airports in South Dakota and Iowa were cancelled.

The delays and cancellations could affect travel across the country, especially since many passengers need to change planes in Chicago - and even if they do not, their aircraft may have to pass through there.

The national weather service forecast "intense snowfall rates," along with high winds and reduced visibility to start in Chicago by 3pm local time (2100 GMT).

Two major airlines, Delta and United, issued travel alerts allowing passengers to change their tickets without fees for travel through affected areas.

Further south, the weather service warned of a "life-threatening blizzard" that was located over central Missouri Thursday morning and heading into western Illinois by morning.

"This will result in life threatening conditions and nearly impossible travel overnight through today," the bulletin warned.

"Falling trees may also occur to due heavy snow accumulation on trees and high winds."

Many schools across Nebraska and Iowa were closed Thursday or opening late.

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Three Palestinians dead from swine flu

THREE Palestinians in the West Bank have died in the past week from the H1N1 influenza strain known as swine flu, the Palestinian health ministry said.

"There were three deaths in the past week, and more than 50 people sickened by the virus," said Assad Ramlawi, the ministry's director general of health care for the West Bank.

He said the deaths occurred in the northern cities of Jenin, Qalqilya and Tulkarem, but played down the significance of the fatalities.

"The situation is not out of the ordinary. This virus spreads at the beginning of winter season," he said, adding that those who had died "had weak immune systems, which is what caused their deaths."

The health ministry said medical staff had been trained to detect and treat the virus.

The virus has affected Israel and the Palestinian territories in the past, killing dozens of people.

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