Sydney - Fiji's military regime strengthened its grip on power Friday with the swearing-in of the interim indigenous affairs minister and former military forces commander as vice president, news reports from the capital, Suva, said.

Ratu Epeli Nailatikau became the first vice president since Fiji's 2006 military coup.

The regime also clamped down on the media, warning foreign journalists in the island nation not to write negative stories.

Sydney - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Friday said those involved in people smuggling should "rot in hell" as authorities investigate the cause of a deadly explosion on a small fishing boat carrying 47 Afghan asylum seekers off the west coast of Australia, news reports said.

The Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency quoted Rudd as saying his government would maintain a tough policy against people smugglers who were believed responsible for Thursday's explosion.

Melbourne, April 16 : Four baby snakes prevented a Qantas plane in Melbourne from flying after they attempted to get free from a flight from Alice Springs.

The bizarre incident occurred when the flight arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday, and it was found that the four baby Stimson''s pythons were missing from their container.

A Qantas spokeswoman revealed that the 15cm snakes were among 12 pythons in a container in the Boeing 737-800''s cargo hold, reports the Courier Mail.

Melbourne, Apr. 16 : The Australian Government has been asked to launch an inquiry into the mistreatment of international students amid reports that corrupt training colleges are exploiting them.

The National Union of Students NUS) has claimed that international pupils are being exploited by dodgy English-language providers, unscrupulous landlords and bosses.

Vienna  - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its inspectors left North Korea Thursday, after Pyongyang reacted to a UN Security Council condemnation by telling them to return to Vienna.

Before leaving, the inspectors were forced on Wednesday to remove all seals and switch off cameras installed by the nuclear agency to monitor that nuclear facilities in Yongbyon remain turned off.

Perth, Apr. 16 : A University of Western Australia bio-mechanist has said Proteas off spinner Johan Botha's action is similar to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

According to Bruce Elliot, Botha has an action that looks "not quite as different as Murali but heading in that direction."