Malaysia lukewarm on Australia asylum centre plan (AFP)

CANBERRA (AFP) – Malaysia's prime minister has offered lukewarm support to Australia's proposal for a regional processing centre for asylum seekers, during his first visit to the country since taking office.

Najib Razak discussed the plans for the regional refugee facility, which Australia hopes to build in neighbouring East Timor, during a meeting with his counterpart Julia Gillard in Canberra.

People-smuggling is a hot-button issue in Australia after more than 6,300 asylum seekers made their way to the country by boat last year -- the highest number on record -- and Malaysia is considered a key transit nation.

"We need a bit of time to study the Australian proposal but we will be as positive as we can," Najib told reporters after the talks, saying it would be discussed further at an upcoming regional human-trafficking meeting in Bali.

"We have to take a regional outlook first and we will be as cooperative as possible," he said, when pressed about his position.

Najib, who came to office in 2009, highlighted a recent amendment to Malaysia's anti-trafficking act -- which was welcomed by Gillard -- saying the penalties for people-smuggling were now "very severe".

"We will do our part to make sure that Malaysia is never a transit point for these people and this is where cooperation in terms of exchange of timely intelligence will be very useful for us to make the appropriate interdiction," he said.

Gillard's centre-left Labor government claims offshore detention will have a deterrent effect on the thousands of asylum seekers who head through Southeast Asian countries on their way to Australia every year.

East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta has said the proposed centre to be built in his impoverished nation had to be temporary and could cost about US$30 million.

Australia has a policy of detaining immigrants on arrival and the large influx of boat people -- mostly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka -- has stretched its facilities to breaking point.

In December, about 50 people were killed when a ship sank carrying scores of asylum seekers travelling from Indonesia sank at the remote Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island, Australia's main immigration detention centre.

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Another cyclone bruises weather-weary Australia (AP)

DARWIN, Australia – A cyclone struck a glancing blow on Australia's main northern city Wednesday, two weeks after a much stronger storm devastated another part of the weather-weary country.

Cyclone Carlos knocked down trees and power lines and caused limited flooding as it passed by the city of Darwin with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 80 mph (130 kph). Schools, the airport and government buildings were closed, but officials said evacuations were not needed.

Emergency services rescued several people from cars that stalled in floodwaters. One man was hospitalized after being injured by a falling tree, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The storm passed as close as 2 miles (3 kilometers) to the city but stayed offshore. The Bureau of Meteorology warned it could circle back toward the city Thursday but that the cyclone's path was proving erratic.

Residents were warned to stay off the streets because of the blustery winds. Police went door-to-door in several low-lying coastal suburbs telling people their properties could be inundated by extra-high tides. People stocked up on bottled water and food and queued at filling stations for fuel.

Police Commissioner John McRoberts said people should prepare for rough weather but that there was no need for people to evacuate. "I certainly recommend preparedness, but not panic and there is a very significant difference," he told reporters.

Darwin is the unofficial capital of Australia's tropical "Top End," a vast, sparsely-populated zone that stretches for thousands of miles (kilometers) and that experiences some half-dozen cyclones a year.

Cyclone Tracy destroyed the city and killed 71 people at Christmas in 1974, in one of the country's worst natural disasters. A much sturdier city was rebuilt under a stricter building code.

Cyclone Yasi, a category 5 storm that officials said was Australia's largest in a century, crashed ashore in northeastern Queensland state on Feb. 3, smashing scores of houses in coastal communities but causing no deaths.

Yasi came on top of Australia's worst flooding in decades, which destroyed 35,000 homes, inundated the country's third largest city, Brisbane, and killed 35 people. The government estimated last week its bill for roads, bridges and other infrastructure damaged by the Queensland flooding before Yasi was at least $5.6 billion.

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Australia crash to Chawla spin in warm-up match (AFP)

BANGALORE, India (AFP) – Piyush Chawla spun India to a remarkable 38-run win over defending champions Australia in a high-profile World Cup warm-up match on Sunday.

The leg-spinner took 4-31 as Australia collapsed to 176 chasing a modest 215-run target, after being strongly placed at 118-1 in the day-night match before a sizeable crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

"It will be difficult to chase anything over 230 on such kinds of tracks. I would be pleased if the wicket turns slightly less in future matches," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"Piyush has a good googly and turns the odd one. It's not about winning these warm-up games, as the real task starts when we get into the tournament."

Chawla, 22, also upstaged Australian paceman Brett Lee, who earlier gave a superb exhibition of fast bowling to rock India and finish with 3-35 off 10 impressive overs.

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, who missed a recent home one-day series against England due to a finger injury, top-scored with a solid 57 off 85 balls with four boundaries.

"It was hard to bat on right through the day. It spun a lot in the second innings. Hopefully, as the tournament goes on, we will get better wickets than this one. This one looked a bit underprepared," said Ponting.

"It was nice to spend time in the middle. I had three-four training sessions before this game and it was nice to spend time there."

The tourists' chances receded sharply after the dismissal of their captain, stumped while attempting to slog-sweep off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (3-15), who brilliantly supported Chawla.

Ponting and Indian fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth exchanged words after an appeal for caught behind was turned down in early stages of the Australian skipper's knock.

There was no hint of collapse following fine knocks from openers Shane Watson (33) and Tim Paine (37). Paine added 51 for the opening wicket with Watson and 67 for the next with his captain.

But Chawla started the slide with Michael Clarke's dismissal for a duck as the tourists lost their last nine wickets for 58 runs, with spinners doing the maximum damage.

Lee was in the limelight in the first session, dismissing Suresh Raina (12), Harbhajan and Chawla in his second spell to prove he is bang in form for the World Cup, which starts February 19.

Lee was backed by John Hastings (2-24). Australia's only bowling concern was 25 runs they conceded in wides, with off-song paceman Mitchell Johnson giving away 10.

Hard-hitting opener Virender Sehwag gave a good account of himself in India's below-par batting performance, top-scoring with a 56-ball 54 with one six and eight fours.

He fell soon after reaching his half-century with a six over long-off, inside-edging off-spinner Jason Krejza's delivery on to his stumps.

India, who rested batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar, struggled against pace. Yusuf Pathan (32), Ravichandran Ashwin (25 not out) and Virat Kohli (21) were the only other batsmen to cross the 20-mark.

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Australia crash to Chawla spin in warm-up match (AFP)

BANGALORE, India (AFP) – Piyush Chawla spun India to a remarkable 38-run win over defending champions Australia in a high-profile World Cup warm-up match on Sunday.

The leg-spinner took 4-31 as Australia collapsed to 176 chasing a modest 215-run target, after being strongly placed at 118-1 in the day-night match before a sizeable crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

"It will be difficult to chase anything over 230 on such kinds of tracks. I would be pleased if the wicket turns slightly less in future matches," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"Piyush has a good googly and turns the odd one. It's not about winning these warm-up games, as the real task starts when we get into the tournament."

Chawla, 22, also upstaged Australian paceman Brett Lee, who earlier gave a superb exhibition of fast bowling to rock India and finish with 3-35 off 10 impressive overs.

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, who missed a recent home one-day series against England due to a finger injury, top-scored with a solid 57 off 85 balls with four boundaries.

"It was hard to bat on right through the day. It spun a lot in the second innings. Hopefully, as the tournament goes on, we will get better wickets than this one. This one looked a bit underprepared," said Ponting.

"It was nice to spend time in the middle. I had three-four training sessions before this game and it was nice to spend time there."

The tourists' chances receded sharply after the dismissal of their captain, stumped while attempting to slog-sweep off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (3-15), who brilliantly supported Chawla.

Ponting and Indian fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth exchanged words after an appeal for caught behind was turned down in early stages of the Australian skipper's knock.

There was no hint of collapse following fine knocks from openers Shane Watson (33) and Tim Paine (37). Paine added 51 for the opening wicket with Watson and 67 for the next with his captain.

But Chawla started the slide with Michael Clarke's dismissal for a duck as the tourists lost their last nine wickets for 58 runs, with spinners doing the maximum damage.

Lee was in the limelight in the first session, dismissing Suresh Raina (12), Harbhajan and Chawla in his second spell to prove he is bang in form for the World Cup, which starts February 19.

Lee was backed by John Hastings (2-24). Australia's only bowling concern was 25 runs they conceded in wides, with off-song paceman Mitchell Johnson giving away 10.

Hard-hitting opener Virender Sehwag gave a good account of himself in India's below-par batting performance, top-scoring with a 56-ball 54 with one six and eight fours.

He fell soon after reaching his half-century with a six over long-off, inside-edging off-spinner Jason Krejza's delivery on to his stumps.

India, who rested batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar, struggled against pace. Yusuf Pathan (32), Ravichandran Ashwin (25 not out) and Virat Kohli (21) were the only other batsmen to cross the 20-mark.

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