Shots fired in drive-by on Qld highway

A motorcyclist has fired shots into a car travelling on a Gold Coast highway, police say. Source: AAP

A MOTORCYCLIST has fired shots into a car travelling on a Gold Coast highway, but no one was hurt.

Police said two men were travelling in the car on the Gold Coast Highway at Helensvale about midnight on Friday (AEST) when a motorcyclist fired at least five shots at the vehicle.

Three shots hit the car, which pulled over immediately, but neither the 18-year-old nor the 21-year-old in the car were hurt.

The motorcyclist fled the scene.

Police said investigations were continuing.

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China's Sichuan mourns quake dead

CHINA'S southwestern Sichuan province has stopped to mourn the victims of a deadly earthquake that struck exactly a week ago, state media report.

The public mourning began on Saturday with the sound of sirens at 8.02am (1002 AEST), the moment the tremor struck, followed by three minutes of silent remembrance, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

CCTV state television showed footage of mourners bowing in remembrance at one ceremony held in front of a black and white banner printed with words of condolence.

The quake, measured by the US Geological Survey at magnitude 6.6, has killed 196 people, left 21 missing, and injured more than 13,000, according to state media.

Rescue teams have been hampered by blocked roads caused by landslides and traffic congestion in their hunt for survivors in the quake-prone province.

State media reported on Thursday that a 78-year-old man was rescued five days after the earthquake hit.

The disaster comes five years after a massive quake in the same province left 90,000 people dead or missing.

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Serbian MPs vote to support Kosovo deal

The majority of Serbia's parliament has voted to normalise relations with the state of Kosovo. Source: AAP

SERBIAN MPs have overwhelmingly supported an agreement normalising relations with breakaway Kosovo, a potentially landmark deal that could put them both on a path to European Union membership.

Parliament backed the deal in a 173-24 vote. The agreement drew support from the parties of the ruling, nationalist-led government and the centre-left opposition. A pro-Russian, nationalist party was the only group that voted against it.

Parliamentary backing is a boost for the Serbian government, which reached the agreement with Kosovo this month in Brussels, but has faced pressure from nationalists and Serb hardliners in Kosovo's divided north, who rejected it.

"This is not just a simple vote about the agreement," Prime Minister Ivica Dacic told MPs at the end of the daylong, heated debate.

"This vote shows what we stand for and which way we want to go."

Serbia has rejected Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence - which has been recognised by more than 90 countries including the US and 22 of the EU's 27 members - but it must improve ties with the former province to advance its bid to join the EU.

"The agreement with Pristina has sent a strong message across the whole of Europe about Serbia's European attitude," EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said earlier Friday during a visit to Belgrade.

The deal will give Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership authority over rebel Kosovo Serbs, ending Serbia's control in northern Kosovo. The Serbs, in return, will be granted wide-ranging autonomy.

Nationalists have insisted that this amounted to treason. Slobodan Samardzic, an MP from nationalist Serbian Democratic Party, said during the parliamentary debate that "the agreement means our people must give up their state."

Several hundred extremists rallied outside parliament amid a heavy police presence.

Top Serbian leaders have said a referendum on the deal is possible, counting on popular support to silence dissent and enable easier implementation on the ground in Kosovo.

Serbia relinquished control of most of Kosovo in 1999 when NATO chased its troops out of the region in a three-month bombing campaign.

The EU has insisted on ending the partition of Kosovo between the Albanian majority and the Serb-controlled north - about a fifth of the country.

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Zynga reports lower Q1 revenue

ZYNGA Inc's surprise profit in the first three months of the year got overshadowed by a revenue decline, a drop in the number of users and a lower-than-expected second-quarter forecast.

The online game maker's stock fell more than 10 per cent in extended trading on Wednesday after the first-quarter results came out.

Zynga, which makes "FarmVille" and other games, on Wednesday said it earnt $US4.1 million ($A4.01 million), which was breakeven per share.

A year earlier, it lost $US85.4 million ($A83.57 million), or 12 US cents per share.

Adjusted earnings were one US cent per share in the latest quarter, compared with expectations for a loss of three US cents.

Revenue fell 18 per cent to $US263.6 million, from $US321 million.

Analysts, on average, had expected revenue of $US264.5 million, according to FactSet.

As demand for its Facebook games fades, Zynga has cut jobs, closed game studios and shut down games to reduce expenses and focus only on popular titles. The quarter's expenses fell 34 per cent to $US268.5 million, from $US406.6 million.

The number of people who play Zynga games at least once a month fell 13 per cent to 253 million, from 292 million a year earlier. The number of daily players dropped 21 per cent to 52 million, from 65 million.

Chief executive Mark Pincus said in a statement that 2013 would "continue to be a transition year".

Zynga, whose games are played mainly on Facebook's website, is working on shifting to mobile games and to its own site off of Facebook.

For the current quarter, Zynga is forecasting an adjusted loss of three US cents to four US cents per share on revenue of $US225 million to $US235 million. Analysts were expecting a loss of one US cent per share on revenue of $US258.1 million.

Shares of San Francisco-based Zynga fell 34 US cents, or 10.1 per cent, to $US3.01 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed up 17 US cents, or 5.3 per cent, at $US3.35 before the results came out.

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Police praise Sydney Anzac gatherings

ONLY one arrest has been made during Anzac celebrations in Sydney despite the largest turnout for years, with police praising the good behaviour of the crowds.

The "actions and reverence" of those attending the dawn service and march in Sydney reflected the importance of the occasion, police said in a statement on Thursday.

The dawn service was packed to capacity and more than 15,000 people were involved in the Anzac Day march, "the largest seen for a number of years", Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said in the statement.

"It was an outstanding occasion, and both safe and successful for veterans, their families and community members," Mr Murdoch said.

"The support from the public, and the way in which they behaved today, generally reflected the reverence and esteem in which Anzac day is held by all Australians."

The person arrested was a 54-year-old woman, who was issued with a criminal infringement notice for offensive behaviour.

Hundred of officers from general duties, the riot squad, dog squad, mounted police, highway patrol and PolAir have been on patrol since about 2am (AEST) to deal with the crowds.

Extra police are also patrolling licensed venues.

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Thousands turn out at London dawn service

THE Anzac Day tradition remains strong among Australians and New Zealanders in London.

About 3000 expats came together to pay their respects at a dawn service in Hyde Park on Thursday.

A crowd spanning all ages was greeted by a mild London morning, with some clad in green and gold and others draped in the Australian flag.

Michael Hutchinson, a 29-year-old who moved from Sydney four years ago, said the service allowed him to carry on a tradition that started when he spent Anzac Day in Gallipoli in 2009.

"Basically my grandfather fought in World War II and Korea so I have always had a deep respect and appreciation for the sacrifice that he and his fellow veterans made," Mr Hutchinson told AAP.

"I had never attended a dawn service until I visited Gallipoli and I was so moved by the experience that I made a promise to myself I would ensure I attended a dawn service each year."

The Duke of Kent was in attendance while Australia's opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop laid a wreath during the ceremony.

Australia's high commissioner to Britain, Mike Rann, told the gathering the occasion was also about honouring those still fighting for their country today.

"In a time of terrorism, when the enemy is often unknown and unseen, we honour not only those who have fallen over the years but those who continue to bravely serve us in places like Afghanistan and in peacekeeping operations around the world," Mr Rann said.

"On this day we remember our fallen comrades as the best of our breed, the saviours of all we cherish and the architects of who and what we are."

A wreath-laying parade and ceremony at the Cenotaph on Whitehall and a memorial service at Westminster Abbey were to be held later on Thursday.

The dawn service is held on alternating years at each country's memorial, located diagonally opposite each other.

Anzac Day commemorations have taken place in London since 1916.

It's estimated about 300,000 Australians live in London and 200,000 New Zealanders reside in the UK.

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Victims' parents confront Malcolm Naden

MICHAEL Peet had just one question as he faced his daughter's killer, Malcolm Naden: "Why?"

"Lateesha trusted you ... she was family, she was blood ... and you betrayed her ... you took away her future," he said, staring at Naden sitting in the dock.

Mr Peet's victim impact statement was read out on Wednesday to the NSW Supreme Court, which was packed with the family and friends of Lateesha Nolan and Kristy Scholes, who were murdered in 2005.

Parents, aunties and brothers told Naden's sentence hearing of their ongoing grief and turmoil and how the 39-year-old had torn their families apart.

Naden pleaded guilty last month to the two women's murders and a host of other charges, including the indecent assault of a 12-year-old girl and the attempted murder of a police officer.

The former abattoir worker went on the run in 2005 - days after Ms Scholes was discovered strangled in the bedroom of his grandparents' house at Dubbo in NSW's northwest.

Five months earlier, his cousin, Ms Nolan, had gone missing from the town. Her body has never been found.

Ms Nolan's mother Joan said each year when the family lit a candle to mark her daughter's death, their grief was heightened because they had no burial place for Lateesha.

"How much torment and heartache can a mother take? I want to bring her home and lay her to rest," she said.

Ms Scholes' father David said in the seven years before Naden was captured, he would wake and wonder if that was the day he'd would be caught.

"I would sit up every night to listen to the police scanner," Mr Scholes said in a statement.

"I feel like I have let Kristy down."

"I think 'if only' ... but 'if only' is not going to bring her back."

Naden's aunt, Janette Lancaster, described how his crimes had ruptured her family - pitting sisters against sisters and herself against her mother.

"If you can't trust family, who can you trust?"

Naden, dressed in prison greens with a bald head, stretched and scratched his beard but showed no emotion as the statements were read.

When authorities finally captured and shackled him in March last year at Gloucester, in the Hunter Valley, it marked the end of one of the biggest manhunts in the state.

Dubbed a "master bushman", Naden broke into several properties while on the run, snatching hundreds of items, including a semi-automatic rifle, five kilograms of raw cashews and a book titled Dreams.

Justice Derek Price has adjourned his sentence hearing until next week.

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Unrest in China's Xinjiang kills 21

TWENTY-ONE people, including police officers and social workers, were killed in bloody clashes in China's ethnically-divided western region of Xinjiang, a local official says.

"Twenty-one persons were killed in all... including social workers and policemen," an official surnamed Cao from the provincial government's news office said on Wednesday of the incident which occurred on Tuesday.

Gun fights broke out in Bachu county, in the west of the province, after police went to search the home of locals suspected of possessing guns, a report on Tianshan Net, a government-run news website, said.

The report described the fighting as a "violent terror incident".

It said 15 of those killed were either police or social workers, with 11 of them being members of China's Uighur ethnic minority, who live mainly in Xinjiang.

A further six "gang members" were shot dead in the violence, the report said, without giving their identities.

Cao confirmed the contents of the report, but said he did not know how many police were among the dead.

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Foster carers to be considered for super

THE federal government will consider extending superannuation payments to foster carers.

Employment Minister Bill Shorten says he's open to meeting with foster carers to discuss their request.

The prime minister pledged to investigate the issue when it was raised at a community forum in Melbourne this week.

Mr Shorten says while it hasn't been a part of public policy debate recently, he can understand the principle behind it.

He says foster carers make an invaluable contribution to the country and he will meet with foster carer organisations to hear their propositions.

"Everyone has a legitimate anxiety about whether they will have enough money when they retire," he told AAP on Wednesday.

"I'm open to meeting with foster carers but I can't make a promise on behalf of the government."

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Peak to ink funding deal next month

PEAK Resources hopes to ink a deal next month which would secure funding to bring its Ngualla rare earths project into production.

Peak, which is focused on developing the Ngualla project in Southern Tanzania, has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoI) which details a three-stage funding process.

The company said the completion of the agreement in May would be dependent on the finalisation of due diligence and legal documentation.

Shares in the company were two cents higher at 15 cents at 1545 AEST on Tuesday.

The agreement comes as small mining explorers struggle to secure funding to take their projects to the next level.

Rare earth metals are used in a variety of modern technologies, with applications in the military, medical, scientific, aerospace and consumer sectors.

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