22 killed in wave of Iraq attacks

A WAVE of bombings and shootings across Iraq has killed 22 people as the country grapples with anti-government rallies and simmering political crises ahead of major Shi'ite commemoration rituals.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks in more than a dozen towns and cities that wounded 83 people, but Sunni militants such as al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq regularly target officials and security forces in a bid to destabilise the government, and also often attack Shi'ite pilgrims.

The violence comes after anti-government protesters blocked a key highway to Syria and Jordan, amid political tensions between Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a secular Sunni-backed party in his fragile national unity government.

Much of Monday's violence targeted Shi'ite pilgrims, ahead of Arbaeen commemoration ceremonies due this week.

In the deadliest attack, seven people - three women, two children and two men - were killed when three houses were blown up in the town of Mussayib, south of Baghdad, police and a medic said. Four others were wounded.

The victims were apparently targeted because they were Shi'ites, the officials said.

Shi'ite pilgrims embarking on the traditional walk to the holy shrine city of Karbala for Arbaeen commemorations were hit by three mortar strikes south of Baghdad that killed one worshipper and wounded nine others.

A series of attacks in restive Diyala province, north of Baghdad, wounded 19 people, including 10 Shi'ite pilgrims who were walking to Karbala.

Attacks in Baghdad and north of the city, meanwhile, killed 12 people.

In the capital's central commercial district of Karrada, a car bomb detonated by a suicide attacker left at least four dead and 20 others wounded, security and medical officials said.

A series of bombings in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk and nearby towns killed five policemen and wounded 11 other people, local officials said.

And in the main northern city of Mosul, two policemen guarding an election centre were gunned down, while one policeman was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb in Tuz Khurmatu.

South of Baghdad, a car bombing outside government offices killed two people as the provincial governor was arriving.

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Venezuela axes New Year's with Chavez sick

VENEZUELA has called off public New Year's Eve festivities and social media sizzled with worry after the government revealed cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez had taken a turn for the worse.

The streets of Caracas were quiet as front-page headlines relayed that Chavez had developed "new complications" from a respiratory infection after undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery on December 11 in Havana.

His vice-president and political heir, Nicolas Maduro, broke the news from Havana on Sunday night, saying the condition of the Venezuelan leader was delicate and that he faced an uphill battle.

Chavez, the face of the Latin American left for more than a decade and a firebrand critic of what he calls US imperialism, has been in power since 1999 in Venezuela, an OPEC member that sits on top of the world's largest proven oil reserves.

For many Venezuelans, a holiday season without their ubiquitous comandante just wasn't the same.

"I do not know what will happen to Chavez, but we have never had a Christmas like this. Only God knows what will happen with him and with us," said 70-year-old retiree Miguel Enrique as he prepared to attend Mass.

Authorities cancelled a New Year's eve concert in a downtown plaza and Information Minister Ernesto Villegas urged "families in Caracas and Venezuela in general to ring in the New Year at home, praying and expressing hope for the health" of Chavez.

On Twitter, hashtags translating into expressions such as "Chavez will live and conquer" and "I love Chavez" were all the rage.

But Chavez is also deeply polarising, even though he has ruled for nearly 14 years, and his detractors spoke out too.

Chavez, 58, won another six-year term in October's presidential election, and is scheduled to be sworn in on January 10.

But his ill health has raised concerns that he won't be well enough to attend his inauguration.

Chavez's government has said that the inauguration can be postponed if the president is not fit enough to be sworn in.

Not so, said Veppex, a Miami-based association of 25,000 Venezuelans living outside their country as refugees or political exiles.

It insisted the constitution must be respected verbatim and that new elections must be held within 30 days if Chavez cannot be sworn in on the scheduled day. It said all signs were that he will not be.

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Nine shot dead during party

NINE people have been shot and killed in a rural village in northwest Colombia, apparently during a party, a police official has said.

None of the four women and five men who were slain have been identified, no suspects have been arrested and authorities have no idea what the motive of the killings might be, said Yesid Vasquez, police chief for Antioquia department.

He said the victims were apparently celebrating in a rented villa in Envigado, near Medellin, when they were shot.

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Police searching for missing Sydney man

AN appeal has been issued for information on a 48-year-old man who has gone missing from his Sydney home.

Barry Kodesh was last seen between 9am and 10.45am (AEDT) on Sunday at his home in Everton Street, Pymble.

Police and family members are concerned for his welfare as the disappearance is out of character.

"There has been no access to any bank accounts and Mr Kodesh is not believed to have taken any other cash, medication or property with him," a police statement says.

Also missing is his blue 1995 Toyota Camry with a NSW registration of UBR 354.

Mr Kodesh is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 180-185cm tall with a medium build, light brown hair, brown eyes, a beard and moustache.

Anyone with information about Mr Kodesh or his car is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Greeks want probe of tax scandal minister

GREEK MPs have called for a probe into former finance minister George Papaconstantinou's alleged role in scrubbing names from a list of accused tax dodgers, days after he was ejected from his party over the scandal.

Seventy-one MPs from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's governing coalition proposed the parliamentary inquiry, which if voted through by the 300-seat legislature will investigate whether Papaconstantinou is guilty of "falsification" of an official document and "breach of duty".

The probe could lead to charges against Papaconstantinou, who helped draw up the debt-ridden nation's first austerity drive. The 51-year-old denies all wrongdoing in the tax affair, which he called a "conspiracy" on Sunday.

The ex-minister was booted from his socialist Pasok party on Friday after it was revealed that the names of four of his family members - two cousins and their husbands - had been deleted from the list of alleged tax dodgers.

Greek prosecutors are investigating some 2000 holders of HSBC bank accounts in Switzerland for suspected tax evasion, according to media reports.

Media have dubbed the case the "Lagarde list" affair, after International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, who personally gave Papaconstantinou the list in 2010 when she was France's finance minister.

The list was originally leaked by an HSBC employee before being passed to Greece by Lagarde.

Authorities have claimed the list was illegally obtained and hence cannot be used in the battle against tax evasion, a chronic problem in the heavily indebted and recession-hit country.

But mounting anger against a new round of austerity cuts, imposed by Greece's international creditors, has put pressure on the government to act on the list.

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Two-year-old boy attacked by dog in Sydney

A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy remains in hospital after he was attacked by a Rottweiler while visiting family in Sydney's west.

The boy and his parents were visiting a home in Fullerton Street, St Helens Park about 7.30pm (AEDT) on Monday, when he was attacked by the owner's five-year-old Rottweiler, police said.

The boy was playing with other children in the backyard of the premises and suffered serious facial injuries in the attack, while his father was also bitten several times on the leg as he tried to free his son.

The boy was taken to Campbelltown Hospital before being transferred to Westmead Children's Hospital in a stable condition, while his father also was treated at hospital.

The dog was surrendered to Campbelltown Council by the owner and will be destroyed.

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Japan mulls spy drones for East China Sea

JAPAN is considering introducing US spy drones to boost surveillance of its territorial waters near islands in the East China Sea at the centre of a bitter dispute with Beijing, Kyodo News says.

The Japanese defence ministry hopes to introduce the unmanned Global Hawk aircraft by 2015 "in a bid to counter China's growing assertiveness at sea, especially when it comes to the Senkaku Islands", the news agency said, citing unnamed government officials.

Beijing has been sending maritime patrol vessels into waters around the Japanese-controlled islands, which China claims as Diaoyu, since Tokyo nationalised the chain in September.

China is apparently seeking to prove that it can come and go in the area at will, and on Monday three of Beijing's ships were spotted in the waters around the islands, according to Japan's coastguard, in the latest perceived incursion.

An earlier report on Monday said China has transferred two destroyers and nine other former navy vessels to its maritime surveillance fleet.

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