Parents turn Big Brother to beat bullies

AT THE CONTROLS: Cathy Robinson with her children Gemma, 10, Josh, 13, and Ben, 11. PIC: Mike Keating Source: Supplied

PARENTS will soon be able to limit the time their children spend on the internet and on calls from their mobile phones - and impose time-of-day restrictions.

A new online tool will allow parents, from their own computers, to impose bans on what their children are doing on their mobile phones, with or without their knowledge.

Parents will be able to set time-of-day limits on calls and mobile web use, block unwanted callers, choose the mobile web content that can be accessed and restrict outgoing calls to "safe" call lists.

The tool can also block silent numbers and allow parents to choose numbers and websites that a child can access, but it cannot yet block or restrict text or multimedia messaging. However, that is planned.

Telstra's director of corporate security, Darren Kane, said the new tool, called Smart Controls, would help combat cyber bullies.

"For some time now parents have been concerned about appropriate imaging for age-sensitive children," Mr Kane said.

"This will help parents manage children's access to online risk.

"We think a smartphone is an essential tool for a child who is mature enough to have one and we think all of the advantages to connectivity shouldn't be limited because parents have concerns about what the children might be doing on a smartphone."

Telstra plans to charge a monthly fee for the Smart Controls tool, which would work on any type of phone.

Cyber Safety Solutions director Susan McLean, a former police officer who talks in schools nationwide, said the onus was on parents when it came to the way their child used their mobile phone.

She said parents needed to question why their children needed a smartphone in the first place.

"A lot of the problems are caused by the fact kids are given these devices without any supervision," she said.

"The fault of a lot of this falls fairly and squarely back on parents who are the first to sook and whinge when something goes wrong. I go into schools and I find kids in Grade 2 with an iPhone. There is no need in the world for a seven or eight-year-old to have a smartphone."

Ms McLea said cyber bullying was a growing problem and about 40 per cent of kids she had spoken to admitted they had been cyber bullied.

"We've had such a massive increase in the development of smartphones and their usage and Australia leads the world in their usage of smartphones per capita," she said.

"Technology is here to stay and parents need to get their heads out of the sand and start to parent in the digital space and educate their children and themselves."

Mother-of-three Cathy Robinson has started using the new online tool and said as a parent cyber bullying was a major concern.

"It's not about trusting your child it's about protecting them," she said.

"I want to make sure cyber bullying doesn't come up and at the moment my children are young enough to tell me if they're being bullied."

Mrs Robinson said her 13-year-old son Josh has a smartphone and she said the tool would help protect him from potential bullying.

Optus joined forces with Kids Helpline last year to provide Australian schools with anti-cyber bullying lessons and has distributed material to more than 10,000 students across Australia.

Vodafone launched an Android app in March to set boundaries on kids using their mobile phones.

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'No one sets out to cause such pain'

IT WAS with a heavy heart I woke to the news that London nurse Jacintha Saldanha had died in a suspected suicide.

The 46-year-old mother-of-two was on the end of a childish and seemingly harmless radio prank that astonished everyone.

Her only sin was to believe Australian radio duo Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a hoax call pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles.

I feel for Ms Saldanha's family. There are so many questions and what-ifs when it comes to suicide.

But I also feel for the two radio hosts. No one sets out in search of such an outcome.

Yet in the face of such a tragedy, the blame game begins.

I'm not going to sit in judgment, nor do I want to sound like an apologist. But I will say that suicide leaves everyone gutted and searching around for answers. There is no way such a silly prank should lead to such a tragic outcome, but the radio duo will blame themselves - and there will be plenty of haters ready to fan such thoughts.

As a human being, I feel for the pair because I have been there.

Fifteen years ago I did a story for A Current Affair on a television repairman who was overcharging for work not done.

It goes down as one of the most despicable pieces of journalism in Australia because of its outcome.

It was the weekend promotion for A Current Affair and it ran on the Monday of that week.

This man committed suicide several days later.

I can't begin to fathom the pain his family has been through, although I have met with them and cried with them. I will forever blame myself for walking into the newsroom that day and being assigned that story and not seeing the disaster that was coming.

Those consumer protection stories were daily fodder for nightly television current affairs, and still are.

The shame and humiliation this man obviously felt were quickly my shame and humiliation as well.

The then-host of Media Watch, Stuart Littlemore, called me an "unspeakable bastard" and, of course, I agreed with Littlemore.

In fact, I agreed with every aspect of the criticism.

There was no justification for the outcome, but the event tore my life apart too.

I can now write that for years I did not sleep, I woke with nightmares, I stifled panic attacks in media conferences when all my colleagues were there, perhaps casting a judgmental eye. I threw myself into the most dangerous pursuits in journalism - coups, wars, you name it - to regain some of the credibility I had lost.

A few years later, I finally sought help for the post-traumatic stress disorder I had developed.

I simply couldn't breathe.

In the boiler room that was A Current Affair back then, I couldn't even tell the boss, or seek support, because exposing a soft underbelly in that joint would have done nothing but invite derision for such a "weakness".

Later, when my firstborn son died at the age of eight months from complication of his premature birth, I blamed myself.

Surely, I thought, on some karmic level, this child was taken from me as a result of my part in that story.

It is not rational of course, but it is how your heart feels in the face of such incomprehensible loss.

We all search for answers. We like to attribute blame.

I tell this story because, apart from psychopaths, no one ever intends to cause such harm to a person.

Certainly Mel and Michael did not intend for anyone to die as a result of their prank.

It is cruel to blame them.

But the media, in all their forms, can and do exacerbate things.

Suicide never happens in isolation. There is almost always a depressive illness, diagnosed or not, simmering in the background. Only in hindsight do the pieces fit together.

That is the true tragedy.

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We didn't break rules, says radio boss

MEETING THE PRESS: Southern Cross Austereo CEO Rhys Holleran answers a question during a press conference in Melbourne yesterday. PIC: William West/AFP Source: AFP

Police officers stand outside the King Edward VII's hospital following the death of a nurse who took a hoax call concerning the Duchess of Cambridge's treatment. The nurse, named as Jacintha Saldanha, was one of two hospital staff who were responsible for inadvertently revealing details of the pregnant duchess's medical condition to two Australian DJs. Picture: Oli Scarff/Getty Source: Getty Images

THE boss of the radio network at the centre of the royal hoax suicide controversy has defended prank calls as part of the "craft", as a government watchdog moves to investigate the incident.

A visibly shaken Rhys Holleran, chief executive of Southern Cross Austereo, expressed the network's "deep sorrow" over the death of British nurse Jacintha Saldanha on Friday, just days after she answered a prank call from two Sydney radio hosts pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles.

Ms Saldanha connected the call from presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian to the private nurse at the London hospital who was caring for the Duchess of Cambridge, who had been admitted with acute morning sickness.

Mr Holleran yesterday confirmed the pre-recorded prank had been signed off by management and was legalled before it was aired.

He was satisfied the company's procedures around prank calls had been adhered to, but he would not detail what they were.

"We're confident that we haven't done anything illegal," Mr Holleran said.

"Prank calls as a craft in radio have been going for decades and decades. They're done worldwide. "It's easy to make judgment with the benefit of hindsight, but I think we shouldn't rush to judgement.

"Our concern is for (Greig and Christian's) welfare. These people aren't machines, they're human beings. We will make sure that their wellbeing is the priority for us."

A station spokeswoman yesterday said the pair were"deeply shattered" by the news of the suicide and fears were held for their "physical and emotional wellbeing".

The 2Day FM hosts have been accused of having blood on their hands amid an international outcry over the incident.

A station spokeswoman said: "We have real, genuine concerns for their wellbeing and state of mind. They are getting medical assistance."

All advertising was temporarily suspended from the radio station late yesterday after Coles and Telstra pulled their commercials.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is investigating whether station owner Southern Cross Austereo had breached its licence conditions or media codes of conduct.

And the presenters also face questioning from NSW police after a formal request from Scotland Yard.

Technically they also breached the NSW Surveillance Devices Act, which prohibits the publishing of a private conversation obtained using a "listening device".

But leading criminal law specialist Bill Whitby yesterday said it was unlikely the radio hosts would face charges over the prank in Australia or Britain.

He said there was clearly no "guilty intent" shown in relation to the nurse's death.

And commercial radio's long and mostly unprosecuted history of prank calls would likely shield the pair from prosecution under the local legislation.

The most likely outcome was another sanction for radio station 2Day FM from the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The regulator is examining whether station owner Southern Cross Austereo had breached its licence conditions or media codes of conduct.

The station was inundated with complaints from around the world yesterday.

ACMA has the power to remove licences or impose conditions, and its chairman Chris Chapman yesterday confirmed the authority would be "engaging" with 2Day FM Sydney.

The prank was at first largely reported as cheeky but harmless, including by Prince Charles, who made light of the hoax by quipping to reporters: "How do you know I'm not a radio station?"

The Palace yesterday released a statement in which Prince William and wife Catherine expressed their "deep sadness".

"Their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time," the Palace said.

A Palace spokesman said the royals had not complained nor expressed concerns about the prank call.

Jeff Kennett, the chairman of the national depression initiative beyondblue, said he hoped the Australian public would support the two radio hosts involved in the prank.

"When they did this they had no intention to cause harm, it was a harmless prank," Mr Kennett said.

"Now they will be under extraordinary pressure and I just hope that they get our support and that their employer provides them with the professional support to help them get through what will be a terrible few weeks."

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Pro-fluoride MP told to rethink priorities

FLUORIDE: Nudgee MP Jason Woodforth wants fluoride taken out of drinking water in Queensland.PIC: Liam Kidston Source: The Courier-Mail

EDUCATION Minister John-Paul Langbroek has slapped down the LNP backbencher leading a party room push to have fluoride removed from drinking water.

Mr Langbroek yesterday suggested backbencher Jason Woodforth's time would be better spent shoring up his hold on the marginal electorate of Nudgee than publicly pushing his view that the use of fluoride was "mass medicating people" with a "brain-altering poison".

Those views were expressed in The Courier-Mail yesterday along with a claim by Mr Woodforth that he had the backing of 31 LNP MPs for a rethink on the former government's move in 2007 to add fluoride to water supplies in Queensland.

Mr Woodforth wants water supplies fluoride-free by March.

The Newman Government last week handed councils the power to decide whether fluoride was added to water.

The southeast Queensland Council of Mayors has decided that councils should conduct community consultations to gauge public opinion on whether fluoride should be withdrawn from their water supplies.

A 2007 Galaxy Poll for The Courier-Mail found 62 per cent of Queenslanders wanted fluoride while 29 per cent were opposed.

The Education Minister - a former dentist - yesterday denied the claims that more than one-third of the LNP party room wanted the fluoride rethink, and said the anti-fluoride push would not influence government policy or party-room unity.

"He (Mr Woodforth) can express his views in the party room as he obviously has but he should be focusing on his own seat - it's a marginal seat," Mr Langbroek said.

But Mr Woodforth said: "I'm working for my electorate every day. But I will always, even in my sleep, promote better health for the community."

The state's chief health officer Jeannette Young said: "Queensland Health recognises the benefits to the oral health of the community that fluoridation provides. Fluoride at the level used in Queensland to fluoridate the drinking water supply is safe."

Australian Medical Association Queensland president Alex Markwell said Mr Woodforth's comments were "irresponsible".

"This is safe and effective and has proven so throughout Australia," Dr Markwell said."It is concerning that the views of a minority are so well promoted because it does frighten people."

Should one council opt-out and other councils continue fluoridating supplies, the cost of delivering water to that area would skyrocket as it would require supplies to be de-fluoridated.

SEQWater spokesman Mike Foster said it would assess what was practical and the costs involved if and when it received council request.

A lack of dentists in areas outside of major cities will be a key factor for many regions.

Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown said while some were fiercely opposed to fluoridating town water supplies, the area also suffered from a lack of dentists and oral health problems.

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Mum's frantic calls to crash victims

SCENE: Flowers were left on the side of the Pacific Motorway at Coomera where five young people were killed early yesterday morning. Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

A MOTHER has told of her desperate phone calls to the young victims of yesterday's horror crash on the Gold Coast as they lay dead in the wreckage of a broken-down car they had been sitting in while waiting to be towed.

Elji Bayer, the mother of the sole crash survivor, told how she tried to ring the victims - including the parents of a one-year-old daughter - but "none of the phones answered".

Mrs Bayer was on her way to help after the blue Holden Statesman, carrying her 16-year-old son Thomas and four friends, broke down on the M1 at Coomera just after midnight.

She had rung the RACQ and was heading down the motorway from her Marsden home to make sure the car was safely towed.

But minutes after she spoke to Thomas and Natasha Maggs on their mobile phones to tell them help was on the way, the parked car was hit from behind and pushed almost 30 metres down the M1 before bursting into flames.

VICTIMS: Kody Williams, Tiana Williams, Allan Sullivan and Natasha Maggs were travelling in the same car.

Young parents Natasha and Allan Sullivan, both 20, Kody Williams, 18, and his girlfriend Tiana Williams, 17, all died.

The driver of the red Nissan Pulsar which ploughed into them, Jordan Hayes-McGuinness, 18, of Ashgrove, was also killed.

Only Thomas escaped alive, climbing out through the shattered windscreen.

Mrs Bayer arrived on the scene to find the carnage.

TRIBUTE: Family and friends of the five people killed in yesterday's horror accident gather at the crash site to pay their respects. PIC: Adam Head

"Thomas and Natasha had talked to me only 10 minutes before," she said.

"They asked how far away the tow-truck was and said they were just chilling. I rang again about 10 minutes later because we couldn't figure out where they were, but none of the phones answered.

"We were 10 minutes too late. "

Mrs Bayer said not for a moment did she think her son and his friends would be involved in a crash while parked on the side of the road. Confusion turned to shock and horror as she came across the devastation.

AFTERMATH: Five people were killed in this fiery fatal crash on the M1 at Coomera early yesterday morning. PIC: Nine News

"There were 20 or 30 police cars, ambulances, fire engines ... they wouldn't let us through," she said.

"We told them we were looking for the blue car with our kids in it. We didn't think our kids were involved."

A family friend, who gave her name only as Cherie said: "We didn't understand how this could happen. They weren't hooning or in a police chase ... they were just sitting on the side of the road waiting for help."

Mrs Bayer said she had told her son all his friends had died after he underwent burns surgery in Royal Brisbane Hospital yesterday.

INVESTIGATION: Police remained at the scene of the accident for hours afterwards. PIC: Tim Marsden

"He said 'all of them?' I said 'yes'," she said.

"I don't think it's going to sink in for quite some time. They were all such good friends. It feels surreal, like a dream."

Annabelle, the one-year-old daughter of Ms Maggs and Mr Sullivan, has now been left an an orphan just weeks before Christmas.

"The death of five people in one incident is a tragedy, especially leading up to Christmas - you couldn't ask for a worse accident at this time of year," Gold Coast police duty officer Acting Inspector Tony Wormald said.

"They (the victims) are all so young in the prime of their life. Unfortunately, they are now deceased."

Late yesterday, hundreds of the victims' relatives and friends carrying home-made crosses and flowers arrived at the crash scene to pay their respects.

There were emotional scenes as they wept and hugged by the roadside.

The police forensic crash unit is investigating.

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Taiwan finance 'titan' Koo dies at 79

TAIWANESE tycoon Jeffrey L.S. Koo, head of a leading financial group and one of the island's richest men, has died at the age of 79, his company says.

Koo, chairman of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co, died at a hospital in New York on Thursday, his company said without identifying the cause of death.

"Chairman Koo was a titan in Taiwan's economy, trade and diplomacy," President Ma Ying-jeou's office said in a statement.

"Koo had countless friends in the United States, Japan and other Asian countries and he effectively helped the government promote trade and diplomacy... President Ma was deeply saddened by his death."

An influential business leader fluent in English and Japanese, Koo was appointed a presidential adviser in 1996 and an ambassador-at-large in 1998 by former president Lee Teng-hui to help promote Taiwan internationally.

Koo, from one of Taiwan's most prominent and richest families, was credited with helping stabilise ties with Washington when it switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

Koo's late uncle Koo Chen-fu had served as Taiwan's top negotiator with China while he accompanied former vice president Lien Chan on a landmark visit to China in 2005 to promote peace with the mainland.

Koo's business empire included petrochemicals, cement, construction and telecommunications.

Koo is survived by his wife Koo Lin Jui-hui, three sons and a daughter.

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Obama aide shaves mustache for charity

SENIOR adviser to US President Barack Obama David Axelrod shaved his trademark mustache - a rarity in official Washington - live on TV Friday after raising $US1 million for epilepsy research.

"We're cutting it off because there are people who have lost a lot more than a mustache to epilepsy," said Mr Axelrod, as he prepared to loose his lip hair live on the MSNBC news show Morning Joe.

Mr Axelrod, 57, who has had a mustache for 40 years, was saved from a hack job when the TV hosts stepped aside and let a professional barber with a straight razor do the job.

One of the first donations in the challenge came from a surprising source: real estate mogul Donald Trump, a fierce Obama critic.

"We agree this is a good cause," Mr Trump said in a phone call to the show.

Other donors included actors George Clooney, Tom Hanks and millionaire and basketball team owner Mark Cuban.

Just days before the election Axelrod appeared on the Morning Joe show and vowed to shave his iconic mustache if Mr Obama lost the key states of Michigan, Minnesota or Pennsylvania in the November 6 vote.

Mr Obama carried the states, so he later promised to shave for charity.

The money goes to the Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), a group headed by Axelrod's wife Susan Landau. Axelrod also has a daughter who suffers from epilepsy.

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Beloved Daniel finally finds peace

Moments of Daniel Morcombe's young life were celebrated in this touching tribute, chosen by family to be shown at his funeral service.

ONE by one they start appearing. A woman with a red scarf, a man in a red shirt. The closer you get to the Sunshine Coast, the more people you see wearing red - red socks, red ties, red skirts, red dresses.

By the time you get to the beautiful school chapel at Sippy Downs where a 13-year-old boy was finally farewelled and laid to rest, a boy who should now be a young man starting out on life, there was a sea of red, a blazing red ocean of love.

See more pictures from the funeral here

Red was the colour of the shirt Daniel Morcombe was wearing the day he disappeared nine years ago.

It is the colour chosen by the foundation created in his name to symbolise safety awareness for children.

In the hands of the Morcombe family it has become the colour of hope and celebration.

Daniel Morcombe is forever frozen in the public imagination as a smiling, good-looking boy who went out to buy Christmas presents one morning and never came back.

Read the eulogies in full here

In the hard years since his abduction, his courageous and dignified mum and dad, Denise and Bruce, became Australia's most famous grieving parents.

Daniel Morcombe's casket is carried from St Catherine of Siena Catholic church on the Sunshine Coast. Picture: Glenn Barnes

But yesterday in a chapel open on all four sides to the air and the light, a chapel where an ordinary boy once sat just like all other ordinary kids who keep on being ordinary because the extraordinary mercifully never seeks them out, it was much-loved, ordinary Daniel who was remembered.

Daniel, champion arm-wrestler, fan of World Championship Wrestling, of dirt-bike riding. Daniel, mean maker of spaghetti bolognaise.

It was this ordinary kid who brought the oceans of people in red, many of whom never met him, but who felt an echo of the shock which ran through Daniel's parents, his grand-parents, his cousins, his older brother Dean and most especially his twin, Bradley, when the awful truth dawned that he might never come back.

GALLERY: The Daniel Morcombe story

It was Daniel from Siena Catholic College they came for in the rain.

The female police officer in her blue uniform with a slash of red lipstick because it was the only red thing she could find.

The two little girls in red shirts, India, 11, and Sienna, 8, sitting with their mum Tarn Davies from Peregian Beach, who works in child safety.

The girls have never been to a funeral before and have taken the day off school because their mum believes it's important they attend.

Bruce Morcombe speaks at the funeral for his son Daniel, held at St Catherine of Siena Catholic church, Sippy Downs on the Sunshine Coast. Thousands more mourners were gathered outside. Picture: Glenn Barnes

"There's just not enough child security in the world," she says. And here are other ordinary boys wearing Daniel's old school uniform, wiping down the rain-splattered chairs before the service.

See more pictures from the funeral here

Boys much like Daniel must have been, ribbing each other, careful of their hair in the wet.

Boys just beginning to notice girls, wearing red twists of ribbon pinned to their grey school shirts, or red cotton at their wrists.

Here are the Siena College girls, handing out red ribbons with safety pins.

Here are all the thousands of ordinary people - the SES workers, the police officers, the workers from nearby Australia Zoo, the volunteers, the mothers and fathers whose hearts went out to a frightened boy and his family.

The television crews have been setting up since 3am, and the traffic built up hours before the 11am service.

At the turn-off to the school road, a local business, T and G Sand and Gravel Centre, put out a sign reading "Farewell Daniel".

The family of Daniel Morcombe gather for his funeral at St Catherine of Siena Catholic church in Sippy Downs on the Sunshine Coast. Picture: Glenn Barnes

Soon, on the enormous wide screen set up outside the chapel so that the overflowing crowd can see the service, India spots someone famous.

"Who was the prime minister before Julia Gillard?" she asks. It's Kevin Rudd.

Then there's the white coffin of an ordinary boy, covered in red roses. Bruce and Denise are sitting in front of it, Denise's hands shaking, and the crowd watching outside on plastic chairs grows quiet.

Denise lowers her eyes, as if she can no longer bear to look up. Tarn Davies instinctively cradles her children. After the hymns, the liturgy of the sacrament, after his brother Dean and twin Bradley have spoken and all the prayers have flown up, there are cups of tea and biscuits for everyone in the school hall.

Then that immensely brave and unbreakable family bear the coffin from the chapel, down through the column of boys and girls, and out to the silver hearse, tied with red ribbons.

In private they will bury their precious child in the earth, the crowds dressed in red will separate and drift away, and life will go on.

The Morcombes want the short life of their son Daniel James not to be wasted, and for the darkness to be broken by the light.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Behind the search for Daniel Morcombe

A look at the eight year crusade to find a missing son.

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US unemployment rate falls to 7.7 pc

THE US economy added a solid 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 per cent, the lowest since December 2008.

The US government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.

The US Labour Department report offered a mixed picture for the economy.

Hiring remained steady during the storm and in the face of looming tax increases.

But the government said employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated. And the unemployment rate fell from 7.9 per cent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.

Still, there were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work. They were still counted as employed.

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Obama approval rises post-election: poll

A MONTH after the bitterly fought election, US President Barack Obama has his highest approval ratings since the killing of Osama bin Laden, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll, and more Americans say the nation is heading in the right direction now than at any time since the start of his first term.

Obama's approval rating stands at 57 per cent, the highest since May 2011, when US Navy SEALs killed the terror leader, and up 5 percentage points from before the election. And 42 per cent say the country is on the right track, up from 35 per cent in January 2009.

A majority think it's likely that the president will be able to improve the economy in his second term.

Still, four years of partisan conflict in Washington have taken a toll on the president's image.

Americans are divided on what kind of president Obama has been, with 37 per cent saying he's been above average or outstanding and 36 per cent describing his tenure as below average or poor. Another quarter say he's been just average.

Obama held much stronger numbers on this measure at the start of his first term, with two-thirds expecting an above-average presidency. And the public's take on Obama's relative performance has bounced back and forth over his four years in office, moving higher following the death of bin Laden, after declining in the northern summer of 2010, a few months before the Republican Party took back control of the House.

Looking ahead to Obama's final four years, most Americans doubt he can reduce the federal budget deficit. But almost seven in 10 say he will be able to implement the health care law passed in March 2010 and remove most troops from Afghanistan. And most think he'll be able to improve the economy and boost race relations in his final term.

About a quarter say the economy is in good shape in the new poll, similar to pre-election poll results, but optimism about the economy has dipped since before the election. In October, 52 per cent of Americans said they expected the economy to get better in the next year; now, that stands at 40 per cent. Among Republicans, the share saying the economy will improve in the coming year has dropped sharply since before the election, from 42 per cent in October to 16 per cent now.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted between November 29 and December 3 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and mobilephone interviews with 1002 adults nationwide.

AP

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Judge aims to end Apple-Samsung legal row

URGING the world's largest smartphone makers to settle their differences, a federal US judge says she will issue rulings aimed at resolving a multifaceted legal battle between Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.

"I think it's time for global peace," district judge Lucy Koh told lawyers for the two electronics giants, during a court hearing on Thursday in San Jose.

Koh appeared ready to trim a $US1 billion jury verdict Apple won over Samsung Electronics this northern summer. She said over the next several weeks she would issue a series of rulings to address the many legal issues raised at the hearing.

Samsung is seeking a new trial or a reduction of the verdict that resulted from a lawsuit Apple filed in 2011. Apple, on the other hand, urged the judge to add millions more to the award and permanently ban the US sales of eight Samsung smartphone models a jury in August said illegally used Apple technology.

Koh gave no indication on how she would rule on the sales ban request or by what amount she would cut from the $US1 billion award. Samsung was demanding that she cut the award by more than half, but Koh gave no hint that she sided with that argument or Apple's separate argument for an increase in the award.

Apple filed a second lawsuit earlier this year, alleging that Samsung's newer products are unfairly using Apple's technology. That's set for trial in 2014. In addition, the two companies are locked in legal battles in several other countries.

At Thursday's hearing, lawyers for each company responded by casting aspersions on the other side.

Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny claimed that Samsung "willfully" made a business decision to copy Apple's iPad and iPhone, and he called the jury's $US1.05 billion award a "slap in the wrist". McElhinny said Apple intended to keep on fighting Samsung in court until it changed its business ways.

In turn, Samsung lawyer Charles Verhoeven responded that Apple was attempting to "compete through the courthouse instead of the marketplace". He said Apple wants to tie up Samsung in courts around the world rather than competing with it head-on.

In the third quarter of 2012, Samsung sold 55 million smartphones to Apple's 23.6 million sales worldwide, representing 32.5 per cent of the market for Samsung compared with Apple's 14 per cent.

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Consumers warned on Xmas scams

SHOPPERS are being told to beware of online scammers fraudulently using the names of big retailers in the lead-up to Christmas.

Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) chief executive Margy Osmond says the recent growth in internet shopping, especially coming up to Christmas, was resulting in more online scams.

Ms Osmond said scammers were using the names of iconic Aussie retailers in order to "fool consumers into thinking they are legitimate" in an attempt to cash in this Christmas.

"The scams will usually invite you to take part in a survey, email or some form of social media activity and offer a prize such as a fake gift voucher from a company whose name you know and trust," she said in a statement.

Ms Osmond said the scams were designed to collect bargain hunters' personal details, including credit card numbers.

Scammers had recently targeted supermarkets, hardware chains and smartphones with a number of bogus offerings turning up on Facebook, she said.

Ms Osmond urged consumers to contact the retailers if they had doubts about the authenticity of a deal.

"Do not use the links on the potential scam site as they will take you to a fake website purporting to be the major company in question," she said.

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Naples shocked by killing in kindergarten

MORE Italian soldiers could be headed to Naples, which is reeling from a mob killing at a nursery school.

Interior Minister Annamaria Cancellieri, visiting the school on Friday, told reporters that the government is deciding how many more troops to deploy.

On Wednesday, gunmen believed to be from the Camorra crime syndicate pursued a man into the school, fatally shooting him in the back and head. The man allegedly dealt drugs for a rival clan.

Luigi Lucenti, 50, was initially only wounded by two men on a scooter who shot him near his home in Scampia, a suburb where killings between rival clans of the Camorra, the Neapolitan branch of the Italian mafia, have often taken place.

Lucenti, who had previous convictions for organised crime and drug trafficking, managed to escape and tried hiding in the school. The man was chased and finished off in the courtyard of the building.

The school's students were elsewhere in the facility practicing for a Christmas pageant, and none was hurt.

Crime turf wars in Naples have claimed some 400 lives since 2004. Over the years, hundreds of troops have been deployed to the southern region.

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ECB holds rates, holds off on more easing

THE European Central Bank (ECB) has left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low, holding off on further stimulus even as the economy across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro limps through a recession.

The bank's 22-member governing council on Thursday kept the refinancing rate unchanged at 0.75 per cent. The rate determines what private-sector banks are charged for borrowing from the ECB, and through that what rate the banks set for their businesses and consumer clients.

Markets are now waiting for a news conference by President Mario Draghi, who is expected to announce the bank is cutting its growth forecast for next year.

A rate reduction in theory could stimulate the eurozone's economy by making it easier to borrow, spend and invest. But rates are already low, and borrowing remains weak. There are only a few early signs that previous rate cuts and stimulus measures are finally trickling through to the wider economy.

The eurozone economy shrank 0.1 per cent in the third quarter and is expected to fall further in the last three months of the year. Market analysts expect the ECB to cut its growth forecast for next year to around zero from 0.5 per cent in September, bringing its outlook in line with 0.1 per cent predicted by the European Union's executive arm, the Commission.

Some analysts think the bank may now consider it has done enough to help the economy after a year of drastic measures. The most important was an offer to buy unlimited amounts of bonds issued by of Europe's heavily indebted countries.

The bond purchase plan announced in September has helped stabilise the eurozone debt crisis. The purchases would aim to drive down bond interest rates, which would lower borrowing costs for indebted countries such as Spain and Italy and make it easier for them to carry their debt loads.

Although no bonds have been bought, the mere possibility has influenced the bond market and for now pushed borrowing costs back to sustainable levels for those two countries.

But while governments are breathing easier, that hasn't restarted growth. While some business confidence indicators are beginning to rise and the supply of money in the economy is increasing, consumer spending sagged 1.2 per cent in October.

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Farewell to Daniel, we will never forget

Goodbye Daniel. December 19, 1989 - December, 2003. Source: The Courier-Mail

DANIEL James Morcombe was a brave boy who made his parents proud.

Today, as Bruce and Denise Morcombe lay their son to rest, they hope he is proud of them - and they want the world to remember the life he lived.

His first steps. His favourite stuffed toy, old bear. His love of all creatures great and small.

His quiet, loving nature with a little bit of mischief and a large dose of strength and determination.

These are just some of the things that set Daniel apart, making him so special to his family and friends.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Behind the search for Daniel Morcombe

 "All of us have gained strength from Daniel," Mr Morcombe told The Courier-Mail.

"He was a loving son, trusted friend and a good kid who enjoyed life.

"I think the Australian public have taken and embraced that little boy because of his eyes and his smile. In every photo they pick up, there's that happy kid.

"They have always wondered what happened to that boy in the red T-shirt.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe in their garden at home on the Sunshine Coast.

"We are all better people for having Daniel come into our lives.

"He wasn't able to grow up into a young man but he had special qualities - he was very loyal and very loving.

"He was a cherished family member."

This week, Mrs Morcombe shared her memories of Daniel, reminiscing about his christening on a freezing winter's day in Melbourne in 1990, childhood toys and the last present he gave her before he disappeared.

"In Year 9, Daniel made a wooden box at school and gave it to me," she said.

"One day he said: 'Are you going to use it?'

"I said: 'Yes, one day I'll put some special things in it.'

"Little did I know. It's now filled with his special things."

His special things include drawings, letters and a toy motocross bike.

A look at the eight year crusade to find a missing son.

Mrs Morcombe still has Daniel's favourite stuffed toy.

"That was old bear. He loved old bear," she said.

"He was sewn and stitched and hot-glued back together. It's seen better days. The bear probably has a few stories."

In their own words, the treasured moments in Daniel's life that Bruce and Denise Morcombe most vividly remember; birth, first day at school, presents for mum, family holidays and birthday parties.
ONLY IN TODAY'S PRINT EDITION OF THE COURIER-MAIL.

Mrs Morcombe said Daniel was an affectionate son - he would pick flowers for his mum to show how much he loved her - and inseparable from twin, Bradley. They were born eight weeks premature on December 19, 1989.

"Daniel and Bradley were always together," she said. "They were a bit mischievous. Bradley was always the bigger talker. Daniel was a lot quieter and Bradley used to talk for him too.

"A couple of weeks after their first birthday they walked.

"I think Bradley walked first but they were pretty much at the same time."

Daniel also loved animals, especially his miniature horse called Bullet, and was always cradling their cats.

RED HONOUR: People attending Daniel Morcombe's public funeral service today have been urged by his family to wear a touch of red.

"When they were babies I had to shoo the cat out of their room because I was afraid he'd sleep on them," she said.

Thousands will gather on the Sunshine Coast today to celebrate Daniel's legacy and remember the short life of a boy who touched the heart of a nation, inspired a child-safety revolution and gave his parents the strength to go on. Daniel will be farewelled at Siena Catholic College, where the diligent student harboured dreams of one day becoming a vet.

Take up the Morcombe's invitation to attend Daniel's public funeral. Watch it here, streamed live from 11am local time (12pm AEDT).

 The day after Daniel disappeared while waiting for a bus at Woombye nine years ago, his father made a vow.

"On the evening of Monday December 8, 2003, I silently promised to him I would never give up," Mr Morcombe said.

Today they will finally bury their boy, who was at the centre of Australia's highest-profile missing person's case, after almost a decade of searching.

"Even though we've had years and years of mental preparation, suddenly we had to go to a funeral director and have a look at a coffin and organise flowers and pick a grave plot at a cemetery," Mr Morcombe said.

"Even though we had years of knowing 'well, he isn't coming home' we had never done any of that - not one bit.

"It's horrible doing that for your own child.

Live broadcast from Sky News

"It's still bad preparing a funeral for an elderly parent but you know that's part of life's cycle.

"For a kid it's not the way it should be."

Beneath the Morcombes' bravery and behind their child-safety crusade remains their private pain.

Mr Morcombe urged others not to be sad about what was undoubtedly for them the saddest homecoming.

He has tried to remain positive as he wrote a eulogy and steeled himself to deliver it at a service that will be beamed into living rooms around the country.

"I have probably been a better father to Daniel in the last nine years than I was in his first 14," he said.

"It is a sad reflection but I, like most fathers, wish I had spent more one-on-one time with him and cherished those moments.

"This has been a huge motivating factor in my relentless search for the truth."

GALLERY: The Daniel Morcombe story

While Mr Morcombe appears stoic, dignified and patient, Mrs Morcombe's eyes reflect her perpetual torment.

The past 12 months have delivered her the answers she feared. She will no longer search for Daniel's face in the crowd.

"I've been pretty sad all week," she said.

"It's something that we wanted but not something you look forward to.

"I'm not looking forward to walking into that church and seeing the casket there. When they carry Daniel out - that's going to be the saddest part."

Last week Daniel was brought home to the Sunshine Coast after his family was granted permission to receive his remains.

The significant development followed months of legal wrangling over which authority had the final say on whether Daniel's remains could be released.

Brett Peter Cowan, 43, has been charged with child stealing, deprivation of liberty, indecent treatment, murder and interfering with a corpse.

His committal hearing was yesterday adjourned until February.

His lawyers said he intended to plead not guilty to all charges.

EDITORIAL: Morcombes in our thoughts

The Morcombes, whose lives were irrevocably changed on this day nine years ago, said their blue-eyed boy with the beautiful smile would not be forgotten.

"We've got to look at some positives going forward and the foundation is Daniel's legacy," Mr Morcombe said.

They said they could at least take comfort from knowing their son would now, finally, rest in peace.

Take up the Morcombe's invitation to attend Daniel's public funeral. Watch it here, streamed live from 11am local time (12pm AEDT).

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China car sales on track for record: GM

US car giant General Motors (GM) says its full-year sales in China, the world's biggest auto market, will surpass last year's 2.55 million and set a new record.

In the first 11 months, sales of GM and its ventures in China surged 10.4 per cent from a year earlier to 2.59 million vehicles, more than the total for the whole of last year, GM said in a statement on Thursday.

For November alone, GM sold 260,018 vehicles in China, up 9.7 per cent from 2011.

China's overall auto sales growth slowed last year after the government scrapped purchasing incentives and limited car numbers to ease traffic congestion and cut pollution.

In 2011 sales rose just 2.5 per cent to 18.51 million units, compared with an increase of more than 32 per cent in 2010 but growth has recovered slightly this year.

Nonetheless foreign manufacturers have bucked the slowdown with stronger brand recognition and perceptions of better quality among domestic consumers, although Japanese brands have been hurt by a territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.

GM said last week one of its Chinese joint ventures will invest 6.6 billion yuan ($A1.06 billion) in a new plant to meet growing demand for commercial vehicles.

The venture between GM and Chinese partners SAIC Motor and Wuling Motors aims to open the 400,000-vehicle-a-year plant in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing in 2015.

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Hugh Jackman still eyes 007 role

HUGH Jackman is ready to don a tux and sip a martini with the Aussie screen star joking that he is willing to wait for his chance to play famous fictitious British spy James Bond.

Jackman, 44, said he was too busy playing Wolverine in the X-Men series in 2006 when he was approached to take on the 007 part.

Instead Briton Daniel Craig, 44, got the gun and has now made three Bond films.

"At the time it was wrong for me, but when I saw Daniel in the movie I thought maybe I should have been more interested, because it was great," Jackman told British newspaper The Sun.

"But I am great mates with Daniel. When he was in Australia we caught up and, you know, no one could have played Bond better."

But the Sydneysider has not given up on the chance to serve Her Majesty's secret service and took a swipe at his mate's unflattering physique.

"I will just wait," he quipped. "The good thing about Daniel is he's, what, 62 now, isn't he? He's falling apart at the seams. So I just keep telling him, 'I'm ready, whenever you want to let him (Bond) go, I'm ready.'

"The good thing is I have also got a British passport."

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HK leader warns of housing 'talent drain'

HONG Kong's leader says the Chinese city needs to boost its housing supply and create more living space or the "best and the brightest" talents of the next generation will go elsewhere.

Property prices in Hong Kong, one of the world's most densely populated cities, has skyrocketed in recent years after an influx of mainland Chinese buyers, pushing home ownership beyond the reach of many of its seven million people.

Leung Chun-ying said the issue needed to be addressed urgently or the space-starved city, which already competes with Singapore to be Asia's economic powerhouse, will lose its competitiveness.

"If we cannot, within the phase of the next two or three decades, generally increase the space in Hong Kong, the best and the brightest of the next generation will leave us," the 58-year-old former property consultant told the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club.

"We would have lost our competitiveness in attracting and retaining overseas talents, (and) also our competitiveness in retaining our local talents.

"We need to have adequate land supply not just to meet new demand... but also to give people more elbow room in their living space and also in their work space."

Leung has vowed to boost land supply and make housing more affordable since he took office in July after he was elected by a 1200-strong committee packed with pro-Beijing elites.

And the government in October slapped new taxes on foreign buyers and raised stamp duty on resale within three years, in a bid to cool the overheated housing market.

The leader said his government will continue to deepen ties with Beijing, despite opinion polls earlier this year showing anti-Beijing sentiments had surged to a new high since the former British colony was handed back to Chinese rule in 1997.

Leung said he has rolled out a slew of measures to tackle the disenchantment among Hong Kongers toward mainlanders, including a decision to stop mainland Chinese women from giving birth in the semi-autonomous city.

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PR guru arrested on 'child sex' claim

British publicist Max Clifford poses for photographers as he arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice to give evidence at the Leveson Inquiry. He has been arrested on child sex abuse allegations. Source: AFP

MAX Clifford, one of the UK's most high profile public relations executives, has been arrested on suspicion of child sex abuse.

Clifford's lawyer, Charlotte Harris, confirmed the arrest and said Clifford would assist the police "as best he can with their inquiries."

Clifford, 69, represents some of Britain's best known entertainment figures.

Police would only say that a man in his 60s was arrested on Thursday morning in Surrey, south of London, on suspicion of sexual offenses and he is being questioned at a central London police station.

Clifford did not answer calls to his mobile phones.

Police said the arrest was part of an investigation called Operation Yewtree, a wide-ranging inquiry into alleged sexual offenses committed by Jimmy Savile and others. Savile was a BBC entertainer who has in recent months been accused of serial sexual abuse of underage girls. He died last year without having been charged with any offenses.

Police have said there may be several hundred abuse victims.

The Savile allegations have caused a major embarrassment for his employer, the BBC, which has been accused of failing to report on investigations into Savile's alleged crimes.

Four others have been arrested in the investigation of the alleged abuse. None has been charged.

British media have identified the suspects as including comedian Freddie Starr and former glam rock star Gary Glitter.

Clifford told the Associated Press in October that he was receiving calls from many celebrities and entertainers worried they would be caught up in the widening Savile investigation.

"They're phoning me and saying, 'Max, I'm worried that I'm going to be implicated.' A lot of them can't remember what they did last week, never mind 30 or 40 years ago," he said.

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Homeless man charged in NY subway death

US authorities have charged a homeless man in the death of a New York resident pushed in front of an oncoming subway train and killed as onlookers watched.

Naeem Davis, 30, was arraigned on Wednesday night on a second-degree murder charge and ordered held without bail in the death of 58-year-old Ki-suck Han on Monday. He is due back in court on December 11.

As the handcuffed defendant walked past reporters, he blamed the victim for what happened.

"He attacked me first. He grabbed me," Davis said.

Asked by a television news reporter if he meant to kill Han, Davis replied "No."

Prosecutor James Lin told the judge that Davis saw the train strike Han before leaving the Times Square station.

"The defendant never once offered any aid to the victim as the train approached the platform and in fact, this defendant watched the train hit the victim," Lin said.

But Davis' Legal Aid lawyer, Stephen Pokart, said outside court that his client reportedly "was involved in an incident with a man who was drunk and angry."

A witness, Leigh Weingus, told The New York Times that Han appeared to be aggressive towards Davis.

Han's wife had said she had argued with her husband that morning and that he had been drinking.

Han's death got widespread attention not only for its horrific nature, but because he was photographed a split-second before the train trapped him and seemingly no one attempted to come to his aid.

A freelance photographer for the New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, was waiting for a train on Monday afternoon when he said he saw a man approach Han at the Times Square station, get into an altercation with him and push him into the train's path.

The Post photo in Tuesday's edition showed Han with his head turned towards the train, his arms reaching up but unable to climb off the tracks in time.

The photographer, R. Umar Abbasi, told NBC's Today show on Wednesday that he was trying to alert the motorman to what was going on by flashing his camera.

He said he was shocked that people nearer to the victim didn't try to help in the 22 seconds before the train struck.

"The people who were standing close to him ... they could have moved and grabbed him and pulled him up. No one made an effort," he added.

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7 killed in Syria-linked violence: Lebanon

SNIPER fire has killed seven civilians in Syria-linked violence in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Sectarian tensions in Tripoli, the country's second city, have soared since the outbreak of Syria's revolt nearly 21 months ago.

Intermittent clashes have pitted Sunni Muslim districts against areas housing Alawites, from the same religious community as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The latest clashes that erupted on Tuesday began four days after 22 Sunni men from Tripoli who had joined rebels battling Assad's forces were killed by soldiers in the central Syrian province of Homs.

The violence has left seven dead in just two days, the security official said. Four were killed on Wednesday, while three others died the day before.

"Khodr Hanoub, a man in his 40s, was killed at dawn Wednesday in the (Sunni) district of Bab al-Tebbaneh," the official said, adding that Ali Habbabeh was killed in the Alawite district of Jabal Mohsen.

The official also reported the killing in Bab al-Tebbaneh of Zakaria Othman and Mehdi al-Beik on Wednesday, while Khaled Salem, 27, was killed overnight.

They died a day after kiosk owner Mohammed Ibrahim, 65, was killed in Jabal Mohsen by a sniper operating from across the street-turned-front line separating the two impoverished neighbourhoods.

Also on Tuesday, Bab al-Tebbaneh resident Abdel Rahman Nasouh was shot dead.

While there was a lull in fighting on Wednesday, snipers held their positions and continued to shoot, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.

The official reported 57 people wounded altogether, including two soldiers.

Lebanon's population is deeply divided over Syria, with the Shi'ite movement Hezbollah, its allies and supporters bitterly opposed to the revolt, and the Sunni-led March 14 movement backing it.

Lebanon was dominated politically and militarily by Damascus for nearly 30 years, until the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri prompted international outrage and forced a Syrian pullout.

Near-daily clashes in border areas pit Hezbollah supporters against anti-Assad rebels, residents and activists say.

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Taking the fight to the United States

Cage fighter Bec Hyatt at her local gym at Capalaba. Pic Peter Wallis Picture: Wallis Peter Source: The Courier-Mail

MEN often refuse to spar Bec Hyatt, assuming they are wasting their time and would just hurt the 52kg straw-weight.

They only need to watch her last cage fight, which she won in just 37 seconds via technical knockout, to realise Australia's premier female mixed martial artist does not need protecting.

Hyatt, a bubbly, tattoo-laden, 23-year-old from Capalaba in Brisbane's east, is making history.

She has just signed a three-fight contract with American mixed martial arts company Invicta Fighting Championships.

She has a first-class opportunity to become Australia's first high-profile, successful, female fighter.

A mother of two, Hyatt fights in Kansas City on January 5.

It will be the first step in her long-term goal of joining the UFC, which signed their first female fighter, Ronda Rousey, last month.

In America, female mixed martial arts events are surging in popularity largely due to former Olympic judo medallist Rousey.

Rousey's image and unbeaten streak of nine first-round wins has seen her grace the cover of ESPN The Magazine and become a talk-show regular.

Rousey's success has already allowed Hyatt (4-1) to be a full time professional although some men still decline to practise with her, fearing she may be embarrassed.

"They soon realise I punch back," Hyatt said.

"Some guys just think it's too awkward to spar a woman and that's fine, but when they see me train, they see I have no problem taking a punch."

Hyatt, training out of Impact MMA gym, was knocked out cold in her first bout.

Since then she has won four straight bouts, three of which ended in round one, and become a cult figure among combat sports fans.

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Thousands don red for Daniel's day

RED HONOUR: People attending Daniel Morcombe's public funeral service tomorrow have been urged by his family to wear a touch of red. Source: The Courier-Mail

Still grieving: Denise and Bruce Morcombe are preparing for funeral services for their son Daniel. Source: Herald Sun

AS thousands don a dash of red tomorrow to celebrate the life of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, his parents will be thinking of those whose loved ones remain lost.

Bruce Morcombe said while his family had to face the "finality" of a funeral for Daniel, there were other families "worse off".

"There are families who have suffered loss and haven't had the opportunity to say goodbye," he said.

"We've met them.

"We didn't know they would have an impact on us and that we would have an impact on their lives, but we draw parallels and strengths from them.

"Some of those people will be there tomorrow."

Mr Morcombe said he was "relieved" Daniel would finally be laid to rest, nine years to the day after the 13-year-old disappeared while waiting for a bus in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

"It's hard to put it down in words. It's more relief that we've got to this point," he said.

"We all knew the result was not great. We've known that for the best part of nine years."

A look at the eight year crusade to find a missing son.

More than 2000 people are expected to attend the service, which will include tributes and a procession with a 150m guard of honour.

Mr Morcombe and Daniel's older brother Dean will read the eulogy while three relatives will take part in readings throughout the Requiem Mass.

"The sadness and evil that happened was nine years ago and we really need to be thankful for the position we're in today," Mr Morcombe said.

"We're not here to be sad. We're here to say goodbye and have some meaning on his life and to talk about his legacy."

The Morcombes have asked attendees to wear red - the colour of the shirt Daniel was last wearing - symbolising the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

Mr Morcombe said it also reflected his son's personality.

"Red is a fiery colour and really described him," he said. "He was determined, strong-willed and, on occasions, stubborn.

"He wasn't a wimpish kid."

"We're suggesting people wear respectful clothing with a hint of red, whether it's a little piece of ribbon or red socks, a piece of red material in the hair or red earrings."

Mr Morcombe said the public was invited to the first ceremony, at 11am at St Catherine of Siena Church Sippy Downs, at Siena Catholic College where Daniel attended.

A large screen television will broadcast the service outside the church.

People have been urged to wear hats and bring sun screen, fold-up chairs and water.

The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

Daniel will then be buried privately at Woombye Cemetery, 300m from where he went missing in 2003.

Brett Peter Cowan, 43, has been charged with Daniel's murder.

His defence lawyer Tim Meehan said outside court last week that his client will plead not guilty to all charges.

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Mum chose Fiji for 'beautiful boy' Harrison

BEAUTIFUL BOY: Harrison Kadell poses for a happy snap at Brisbane airport before heading to Plantation Island resort in Fiji for Schoolies. Source: The Courier-Mail

HARRISON Kadell's face beams as he boards a flight to Fiji on a Schoolies adventure a world away from the streets of Surfers Paradise.

But now, less than two weeks short of his 18th birthday, Harrison Kadell's parents are grappling with the loss of their "beautiful boy".

They thought a post-school celebration in Fiji was a safe choice, away from the streets of Surfers Paradise and the bars of Bali.

Paying tribute to her son, Mrs Kadell told The Courier-Mail in Fiji that Harrison was "really special".

"I know every mother says that, but he really was," she said.

"He was good at school, he was good at sports.

"He wanted to be an outdoor adventure guide, he wanted to be a snowboard instructor.

"He could have been anything."

Holiday makers at Plantation Island Resort in Fiji. Australian Harrison Kadell died at the resort in the early hours of Tuesday. PIC: Leon Lord

Seven of Harrison's mates were receiving counselling on the island yesterday, dealing with their grief a long way from home.

As tributes flowed, questions were levelled at the organisers of the Fiji Unleashed festival about supervision of the schoolies at the Plantation Island resort.

Event officials would not comment on security measures but it is understood 10 police officers and 40 security guards are on patrol.

Unleashed company managing director Jot Lynas said a support network had been established for Harrison's friends and family.

"We're all deeply saddened by this tragic accident," Mr Lynas said.

"Our priority now is with the family and providing counselling and caring for those affected."

Mrs Kadell told The Courier-Mail Fiji had seemed like the safest option for the Schoolies festival.

Australian students relaxing at the pool at Plantation Island Resort yesterday. PIC: Leon Lord

She said there was "no control" in Bali and there could be "trouble" on the Gold Coast.

"I checked out Fiji and it seemed great," she said.

"I did a lot of research on sites like TripAdvisor, I looked up the company that runs the event and there were very good reports."

Vice-captain at Sunnybank's St Thomas More College, Harrison was yesterday acknowledged for his sporting abilities but also his likeability and efforts to help others.

St Thomas More College principal Peter Elmore posted a message and tribute on the school's webpage.

"I can vividly remember Harrison Kadell standing proudly and tall at his graduation," the message read.

"He was young man who had the soul, personal integrity and skills to achieve success in an ever-changing world. We will remember him for his contribution and commitment to his friends, family and this College."

Other schoolies on Plantation Island told The Courier-Mail they chose Fiji over the traditional party centre of Surfers Paradise for a more relaxed and safer experience.

"It's terrible what happened because it's so beautiful here," said one NSW schoolie from Sydney.

"It's a lot safer than staying in Queensland and going to Surfers Paradise."

Local authorities have been reluctant to comment on the tragedy, which has the potential to impact on Fiji's vital tourism industry.

As tributes flowed, questions were raised about supervision at the Unleashed Festival in Fiji, and how Harrison was left to drown in the resort pool at 4am.

Event officials have refused to comment on security measures at the festival, but it's believed to be patrolled by 10 police officers and about 40 security guards.

It is not clear if any were on patrol when Harrison died. Seven of his mates were being counselled yesterday.

Mrs Kadell described her son as "really special - he could have been anything".

Schoolies celebrations have been held on Plantation Island for the past five years and the event had been controversy-free.

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Sorrow behind the beauty

IT IS hard to imagine a place with such a magic sunset casting such a dark shadow.

Fiji's Plantation Island, an hour's ferry from the Pacific nation's main land mass of Viti Levu, is about as close to picture-perfect paradise as you are likely to get.

Spread out over several hectares, the sprawling resort is a world away from the human sardine tin of Schoolies on the Gold Coast, where Cavill Avenue and the designated Schoolies entertainment hub heave with more than 20,000 teens.

Most of the schoolies on the island are from the southern states and while they had heard of Harrison's death, few knew any more details than those swirling around social media.

Usually, those arriving at the Plantation Island Resort jetty are greeted with famous Fijian hospitality - a gently strummed guitar and a lei around the neck.

Barefoot beach bars let guests relax with a drink in hand and sand between the toes.

If the crystal clear waters of the ocean aren't enough to entice you for a dip, three swimming pools are scattered around the island.

Bungalows, called bures in Fiji, are hidden in clusters amongst the palm trees throughout the resort while schoolies are also kept amused with a host of outdoor activities.

There was a heavy police and security presence around the resort, which is currently home to more than 500 schoolies from Australia.

Fijian authorities, jittery about negative media at the best of times, are fearful of a backlash against the country's vital yet fragile tourism industry.

It all adds up to a near-total absence of officials wishing to comment on the tragedy.

Officials from both Plantation Island and the Unleashed Schoolies festival, which dominates the island for two weeks each year, were reluctant to offer any comment, saying the ongoing police investigation makes it inappropriate to fuel speculation.

Officials yesterday agreed to allow media to take a closely guarded tour of the Plantation Island Resort, before it was again placed off-limits.

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Safer in Surfers, says Coast lawyer

PARENTS should feel safer sending their children to Schoolies celebrations on the Gold Coast rather than overseas, says the head of the Glitter Strip's end-of-school party.

Mark Reaburn, a lawyer who chairs the Gold Coast Schoolies Advisory Group, said the huge police, security and volunteer presence at the Surfers Paradise celebrations made it safer than destinations such as Bali and Fiji where Australian school-leavers have died.

"If it was my child, I'd want to keep them on the Gold Coast because of all the safety mechanisms in place," he said.

Mr Reaburn did just that, with both his children attending Schoolies on the Coast.

"My daughter went last year and my son was there in 2009. I had no problem with my kids going there."

Mr Reaburn said hundreds of police and paramedics kept watch over the Coast's Schoolies celebrations, backed by about 1200 staff and volunteers.

Brisbane school-leaver Isabelle Colman died in a Surfers Paradise high-rise fall during last month's Schoolies festival, although police said there were no suspicious circumstances.

However, some high-rise managers are planning to lock balcony doors during next year's Schoolies to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

Almost 160 schoolies and more than 322 non-schoolies were arrested on 623 charges in the first main week of this year's Schoolies celebrations.

However, senior police said arrests were more than 40 per cent down on five years ago and praised the overall behaviour of school-leavers.

They also said there had been a significant downturn in intoxication levels and violence.

Brisbane school-leaver Harrison Kadell was the second Australian to have died in Schoolies celebrations overseas in the last two years.

Last year, NSW teen Jake Flannery died after being electrocuted by a sign outside a Kuta nightclub while celebrating Schoolies in Bali.

Last month, News Ltd revealed the dark side of Schoolies celebrations in Bali, including older "toolies" preying on teenagers.

Additional reporting Greg Stolz

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Britain slashes economic growth forecasts

THE British economy is heading for shrinkage of 0.1 per cent in 2012 and would grow by less than expected in coming years, official government figures show.

The revised 2012 forecast, issued by the coalition's fiscal watchdog, compared with a prior growth estimate of 0.8 per cent that was given by the government in March.

The Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog said on Wednesday that British gross domestic product (GDP) was forecast to grow by 1.2 per cent in 2013, by 2.0 per cent in 2014 and by 2.3 per cent in 2015.

Previous guidance had been for expansion of 2.0 per cent in 2013, 2.7 per cent in 2014 and 3.0 per cent in 2015.

Britain sank into the first phase of a double-dip recession in 2008 as a result of the devastating global financial crisis that sparked a number of vast bailouts of banks.

The economy rebounded in late 2009 but struggled to stage a convincing recovery and fell back into a second downturn in late 2011, which lasted for three quarters.

Recent official data showed Britain had escaped from its double-dip recession in the third quarter of 2012, with its economy growing 1.0 per cent.

However this was due to one-off factors such as the London Olympics and rebounding activity after public holidays in the second quarter of the year.

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Serbia's NATO ambassador leaps to death

SERBIA'S ambassador to NATO was chatting and joking with colleagues in a multi-story parking garage at Brussels Airport when he suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over and flung himself to the ground below, a diplomat says.

By the time his shocked colleagues reached him, Branislav Milinkovic was dead.

His motives are a mystery. Three diplomats who knew Milinkovic said he did not appear distraught in the hours leading up to his death on Tuesday night. He seemed to be going about his regular business, they said, picking up an arriving delegation of six Serbian officials who were due to hold talks with NATO, the alliance that went to war with his country just 13 years ago.

A former author and activist opposed to the authoritarian regime of Serbia's former strongman Slobodan Milosevic, he was outgoing, had a warm sense of humour and worked to reach out to keep good ties with ambassadors from other ex-Yugoslav countries, according to diplomats and acquaintances.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release details, said they knew of no circumstances - private or professional - that would have prompted him to take his own life.

But Milinkovic, 52, had mentioned to colleagues at diplomatic functions that he was unhappy at living apart from his wife, a Serbian diplomat based in Vienna, and their 17-year-old son.

Speaking in Brussels, Serbia's Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said "Belgian police are investigating, but it's obviously a suicide. It's hard to figure out the motives or causes."

The death cast a pall on the second day of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Officials said they were shocked by the news of the death of a very popular and well-liked man.

NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply saddened by the tragic death of the Serbian ambassador."

"As Serbian ambassador to NATO he earned the respect and admiration of his fellow ambassadors," he said.

During the 1990s, Milinkovic was active in the opposition to Milosevic. After he was ousted in 2000, Milinkovic was appointed Serbia's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, in Vienna.

He was transferred to NATO as Serbia's special representative in 2004. Serbia is not a member of the military alliance, but Milinkovic was named ambassador after Belgrade joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program, which groups neutral states.

At NATO, Milinkovic worked to foster closer ties with the representatives of all five other nations that gained independence after the bloody 1991 breakup of the former Yugoslav federation into Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia.

He is survived by his wife and son.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.

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Amazon launches Kindle content for kids

AMAZON is launching a subscription service for children's games, videos and books aimed at getting more kids to use its Kindle Fire tablet devices.

Amazon.com Inc plans to announce on Wednesday that the Kindle FreeTime Unlimited service will be available in the next few weeks as part of an automatic software update.

Amazon said subscribers will have access to "thousands" of pieces of content, though the company did not give a specific number. Kids will be able to watch, play and read any of the content available to them as many times as they want. Parents can set time limits, however.

The service, aimed at kids aged 3 to 8, will cost $4.99 per month for one child. It'll cost $US2.99 per child for members of Amazon Prime, the company's premium shipping service. Amazon Prime costs $US79 per year for free shipping of merchandise purchased in the company's online store.

Family plans for up to six kids will cost $9.99 per month and $6.99 for Prime members.

The Kindle already allows for parental controls through its FreeTime service. Parents can set up profiles for up to six children and add time limits to control how long kids can spend reading, watching videos or using the Kindle altogether. With the content subscription service, kids can browse age-appropriate videos, games and books and pick what they want to see. They won't be shown ads and will be prevented from accessing the web or social media. Kids also won't be able to make payments within applications.

Amazon is launching the service as competition heats up in the tablet market among Apple, Barnes & Noble, Microsoft and Samsung. Amazon's strategy is to offer the Kindle at a relatively low price and make money selling the content.

Offering a subscription service aimed at kids helps set the Kindle apart from its many competitors.

"We hope that our devices are really, really attractive for families," said Peter Larsen, vice president of Amazon's Kindle business.

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52 dead as typhoon lashes Philippines

TYPHOON Bopha has killed at least 52 people in the Philippines, officials and television reports say as the strongest storm to hit the country this year wreaks devastation.

ABS-CBN television said 43 of the deaths occurred in one southern town that was in the direct path of Bopha's 210 kilometre an hour winds soon after it hit land on Mindanao island's east coast at dawn.

"I've counted 43 bodies on the floor," reporter Vina Araneta told the station by telephone from a government building that she said had been converted into a temporary mortuary in New Bataan town.

The military said a landslide destroyed a Philippine Army patrol base in a mountainous area of the town, while a local official said an army truck laden with soldiers and civilians was swept away in a flash flood.

Neither the civil defence office in Manila nor the armed forces could give official confirmation of the 43 reported deaths, saying their rescuers were having a hard time reaching the remote town.

Officials said there were nine confirmed deaths, all but one of them occurring on Mindanao island in the country's south. Three of the victims were crushed by falling trees.

Four fishermen were also reported missing off Mindanao's east coast, said Freddie Bendulo, planning and development officer of Davao Oriental province.

By early evening a weakened Bopha was streaking across the Sulu Sea, having changed course westward in the afternoon after briefly threatening the central tourist islands of Bohol, Cebu and Negros, the state weather service said.

The typhoon brought driving rain and strong winds, toppling trees and power lines, causing localised flooding and forcing more than 56,000 to seek refuge in emergency shelters according to a civil defence office update.

Winds blew roofs off some buildings and residents of coastal and low-lying communities in Mindanao moved into shelters as floods hit some areas, residents and AFP reporters said.

Television footage showed logs being swept down Mindanao's Sumilao river, and utility workers cutting up fallen trees that were blocking highways.

They also showed large numbers of people lying on mats and cardboard sheets on the concrete floors of gyms turned into temporary shelters.

A total of 146 flights to and from Mindanao and the central islands had been grounded since Monday night and more than 3000 ferry passengers were stranded as vessels were ordered to stay in port, according to the civil defence update.

Large parts of Mindanao, which is not normally hit by typhoons, were still without electricity on Tuesday night, it said.

People living in the path of the storm did what they could to protect their homes and possessions.

"We have taken our pigs and chickens inside our house because their shed might be destroyed," said shopkeeper Marianita Villamor, 46, from the southern farming town of San Fermin.

In Cagayan de Oro city, where giant waves crashed down on the shoreline, mayor Vicente Emano said on ABS-CBN television that police rounded up all residents of low-lying areas and moved them to government shelters.

In Tagum city, hotel waiter Edgie Atilano, 23, said he and his family hunkered down in their home as Bopha bore down.

"At 3:00 am, we were woken by strong rain and howling winds. Trees and branches started snapping off near the house," said the father-of-two.

"This is my first time to experience a strong typhoon. It was a bit scary."

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UN chief urges strong climate commitment

UNITED Nations chief Ban Ki-moon says the world is faced by a global warming "crisis" and has urged bickering negotiators at climate talks in Doha to show "strong political commitment" and compromise.

Noting there were "mixed feelings" among delegates hammering out deals on curbing Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions, the secretary general called for "urgency" from the nearly 200 nations represented.

"This is a crisis," said Ban, as a string of scientific reports warned the world could be headed for calamitous warming way above the limit of two degrees Celsius being targeted by the UN.

Climate change poses "a threat to us all. Our economies. Our security. And the well-being of our children and those who will come after," said the UN chief.

About 100 ministers and a handful of heads of state gathered in Doha on Tuesday for the final, high-level stretch of the talks marked so far by bickering over cash and commitments needed to ever-rising curb greenhouse gas emissions.

After more than a week of tough talks that run until late at night, observers say delegates remain far apart on issues vital for unlocking a global deal on climate change.

Poor countries insist that Western nations sign up to deeper, more urgent cuts in carbon emissions under a follow-up, second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol.

They also want the developed world to commit to new a funding package from 2013 to help them cope with worsening drought, flood, storms and rising seas.

Ban urged the parties to "work with a spirit of compromise", and cited superstorm Sandy, which struck the US east coast and the Caribbean last month, as a "call to action".

A string of recent reports said climate change was happening before our eyes, with polar ice caps melting and sea levels rising faster than we thought at the same time as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere reached new highs.

"The abnormal is the new normal," Ban told the opening of the high-level section of the conference, citing droughts and floods plaguing countries around the globe.

"It is an existential challenge for the whole human race - our way of life, our plans for the future."

The Doha negotiators, he said, must reaffirm their commitment to a follow-up for Kyoto, which runs out on December 31, to reaching a new, universally-binding climate pact for 2020, and to climate funding for the poor world.

The know-how and technology existed to close the growing gap between countries' pledges for curbing emissions, and what is actually needed to limit warming to 2.0C, said Ban - what was lacking was political will.

"The gap can be bridged. But time is not on our side."

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Elective surgery lists to explode: surgeon

FUNDING cuts will likely cause elective surgery waiting lists to explode and no patient will be spared, surgeons warn.

Fairfax Media reports some hospitals may also be set to lose organ transplant services to other hospitals so the state can cut costs and streamline the system.

Victorian regional committee chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Dr Robert Stunden, said although every health network would deal with budget cuts differently, previous experience showed the first thing to go was elective surgery.

He said semi-urgent or category two elective surgery lists could be cut in half over the next six months, meaning people who should be operated on within three months could expect their wait to at least double to six months.

Category two patients are defined as those with some pain, dysfunction and disability and include people waiting for hip or knee replacements and vascular surgery.

Dr Stunden said although urgent surgery was likely to still be done on time, no surgical specialty, including cancer and pediatric care, would be immune from cuts, meaning many patients could expect to wait longer in pain.

"We are expecting to have major cutbacks in lists over the next six months - waiting lists will explode," he said.

Victorian Health Minister David Davis blamed the federal government for refusing to back down on plans to slash $106.7 million from Victorian hospital budgets this financial year.

Mr Davis said the federal government's recalculations of its funding were based on flawed population data, but the federal government disputes this and says funding to the state is still increasing compared to last year.

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Internet storm welcomes royal baby

FROM spoof Twitter accounts to feverish speculation about names, the internet has gone into a frenzy over the unborn child of Prince William and his wife Catherine as the first royal baby of the online age.

News of the former Kate Middleton's pregnancy - announced by the royal family on Twitter - met with an explosion of posts on social networks, from joyous congratulations to those pleading for the media coverage to end already.

It is perhaps of little comfort to Catherine, in hospital for a second day on Tuesday with severe morning sickness, that within minutes of the announcement her baby already had a slew of spoof accounts "live-tweeting from the royal womb".

"CURRENT STATUS: DARK IN HERE, WILL UPDATE," tweeted @RoyalFoetus, which has 6000 followers.

The rival @RoyalFetus, which has 9000 followers, added: "I may not have bones yet, but I'm already more important than everyone reading this. #royalbaby #sorry".

The hashtag #royalbaby instantly rocketed to the top of Twitter's "trending topics" list on the announcement.

Interest was so great that the official website of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as the couple are officially known, crashed due to high demand.

Meanwhile, online topics of royal baby-related conversation have ranged from likely names and godparents to the probability that the new third-in-line to the British throne will inherit the famous ginger locks of its uncle, Prince Harry.

Bookmakers predict that the couple will name the baby after a close relative, with William's late mother Diana among the early front-runners if it is a girl and John, George and Charles among the favourite boys' names.

But mischievous web-users have made their own helpful suggestions about what William and Catherine should call the baby.

One gleefully suggested Austerity to reflect the public mood in Britain as it struggles to climb out of recession, while others plumped for a down-to-earth name bringing the monarchy closer to the people, such as Kevin.

Online chatter has also turned to reports that Catherine could be expecting twins - potentially spelling constitutional double-trouble for the royal family.

"So if Kate has twins and a C-section," wrote one tweeter, echoing the thoughts of many, "does the doctor get to choose who will be the next in line for the throne?"

"What if there are twins and they're born by C section at the same time?" wrote another. "A pair of heirs?"

Others have been revelling in the array of computerised images, hastily put together by newspapers and websites, showing what the child may look like.

Some of the more sinister versions transpose William's thinning hairline onto pictures of the hypothetical toddler.

One thing is clear - with Catherine believed to be less than 12 weeks pregnant and much more of this to come - those already tiring of #royalbaby-talk may wish to flee the internet for a few months.

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Israel to advance east Jerusalem building

ISRAEL is moving forward with plans for two major settlement projects in east Jerusalem, a spokeswoman says, even as a senior Palestinian official warned that his government could pursue war crimes charges if Israel doesn't halt such construction.

International anger over Israeli settlement construction has snowballed in recent days, following last week's UN recognition of a state of Palestine - in lands Israel occupied in 1967 - as a non-member observer in the General Assembly.

Israel retaliated for UN recognition of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem by announcing plans to build 3000 homes for Jews in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as preparations for construction of an especially sensitive project near Jerusalem, known as E-1.

The Israeli reprisal has prompted the country's strongest Western allies to take an unusually strong line with the Jewish state.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned on Tuesday that the latest Israeli building plans would make the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, "almost inconceivable."

Australia and Brazil summoned the local Israeli ambassadors on Tuesday in protest, Israel's Foreign Ministry said, a day after five European countries, including Britain, took the same step.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev defended the recent Israeli decisions, saying that "from our perspective, Israel is responding in a very measured way to a series of Palestinian provocations."

UN recognition could enable the Palestinians to gain access to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and seek war crimes charges against Israel for its construction of settlements on occupied lands.

Last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he's not going to turn to the ICC "unless we were attacked" and that he informed many countries, including the United States, of this position. Abbas spoke before Israel announced its latest settlement plans.

A senior Abbas aide, Nabil Shaath, said late on Monday that "by continuing these war crimes of settlement activities on our lands and stealing our money, Israel is pushing and forcing us to go to the ICC."

Israel also said it is withholding some $US100 million ($A96.37 million) in tax rebates and other fees it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. The monthly transfer of the funds is vital for keeping afloat Abbas' Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government in the West Bank.

Israeli settlement construction lies at the heart of a four-year breakdown in peace talks, and was a major factor behind the Palestinians' UN statehood bid. Since 1967, half a million Israelis have settled in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, but continues to restrict access to the territory. It says the fate of settlements should be decided in negotiations and notes that previous rounds of talks continued while construction went on.

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US stocks open mixed amid budget impasse

US stocks have opened mixed, getting a lift from European market gains while US politicians continued to wrangle over a budget plan that would avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12.40 points (0.10 per cent) to 12,978.00 in the first few minutes of trade.

The broad-market S&P 500 edged down 0.72 point (0.05 per cent) to 1408.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 5.13 (0.17 per cent) to 2997.07.

The action came after the stock indexes started December in loss mode on Monday, with Washington's budget impasse weighing on sentiment.

"With the economic calendar empty, the unresolved fiscal cliff is likely to continue to command the lion's share of the Street's attention," said Charles Schwab & Co analysts.

On Monday, Republicans responded to President Barack Obama's deficit-reduction proposal with their own plan that raises half the income proposed by Obama and opposes a tax rate increase for the rich.

The White House swiftly rejected the counter-offer, leaving a stalemate less than a month ahead of the sharp automatic tax increases and spending reductions that take effect in January.

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Police arrest 2 linked to Toulouse gunman

FRENCH police have arrested two people in connection with the attacks by extremist gunman Mohamed Merah, whose shooting spree in and around the southern city of Toulouse left seven people dead.

A man described by police as a 38-year-old member of the traveller community who converted to Islam was detained on suspicion of having provided aid to Merah in carrying out the March attacks that shocked France.

He was arrested without incident at his home in the town of Albi, about 70 kilometres from Toulouse, where he was to be taken for questioning, police sources said.

His ex-girlfriend, also 38, was arrested separately at her home in Toulouse, in the same neighbourhood where Merah lived.

She was questioned shortly after her arrest. Police said she may have been aware of her ex-boyfriend's alleged involvement with Merah and failed to inform authorities.

The nature of his alleged involvement was unclear, but investigators have been searching for a suspected "third man" believed to have been with Merah and his brother Abdelkader during the theft of a scooter used in the attacks.

The detained man was known to police, a source said.

Merah shot a rabbi, three Jewish schoolchildren and three French paratroopers in March before being shot dead in a police siege in Toulouse.

Abdelkader was arrested after the attacks and remains in custody.

Sources close to the investigation warned against concluding that the suspect arrested on Tuesday was the "third man". He can be held for questioning for up to 96 hours without charge.

Merah's elder brother Abdelghani previously told French media that someone from the traveller community may have been involved in stealing the scooter.

Investigators are also probing whether any possible accomplices may have provided funds or weapons used by Merah.

A petty criminal who was lured into Islamic extremist circles in Toulouse, Merah visited Afghanistan and Pakistan before his attacks.

Since his shooting spree, it has become clear that Merah had been on the radar of France's security services for years and that authorities under-estimated the extent of his radicalisation following his trips abroad.

French intelligence services have been heavily criticised for failing to realise the threat posed by Merah.

His attacks prompted a rethink of French security policies, with legislation being considered that will allow authorities to prosecute citizens who attend militant Islamist training camps abroad and to boost monitoring of extremist sites on the internet.

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