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PM reshuffles deck after 'very close' coup

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 22 Maret 2013 | 22.34

Plotters leave vacancies as Gillard battles for ALP's credibility. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is under pressure to convince voters she can heal her bitterly divided party amid worsening fallout from the botched leadership spill. Source: The Courier-Mail

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is under pressure to convince voters she can heal her bitterly divided party amid worsening fallout from the botched leadership spill.

The PM is planning a major ministerial overhaul early next week after five of Kevin Rudd's plotters stepped down from the front bench and others faced calls to quit.

Departing ministers yesterday delivered damaging assessments of the Government.

Martin Ferguson lashed out at Labor's tactics of "class war" and branded the recent attempts to regulate the media a "debacle".

The long serving Resources Minister warned Labor had failed to learn the lessons from Mr Rudd's refusal to consult over the mining tax.

He criticised unions for being too combative and urged the Labor movement to revive the inclusive spirit of the Hawke and Keating era.

Kevin Rudd calls for time to unite behind Julia Gillard amid the ALP rubble. Cartoon: Leahy March 23, 2013

Chris Bowen, Martin Ferguson and Kim Carr resigned their portfolios yesterday, joining Simon Crean, Richard Marles, Joel Fitzgibbon, Ed Husic and Janelle Saffin in the exodus of Rudd backers.

Mr Ferguson's brother Laurie, who is a backbencher, said Anthony Albanese and Mark Butler were "gutless wonders" for not also quitting.

Queensland MPs Bernie Ripoll, Shayne Neumann, Yvette D'Ath and Senator Jan McLucas have all been named as possible contenders for promotion by Ms Gillard next week.

Others touted as likely winners in the reshuffle include Kate Ellis, Matt Thistlethwaite, Amanda Rishworth, Helen Polley, Glenn Sterle, Catherine King, Sharon Bird, David Feeney and Jacinta Collins.

Labor backbencher Chris Hayes is in line to take over from Rudd backer Mr Fitzgibbon as Chief Government Whip, a Labor source said yesterday.

Rudd and Gillard allies traded barbs about how close the former prime minister had come to reclaiming the top job.

Mr Bowen and Mr Carr both said Mr Rudd had been "very close" to winning majority support in the Caucus.

But Ms Gillard ridiculed suggestions the vote would have been close and said if any MP tries to suggest they had the numbers against her "they will be met with gales of laughter".

The Prime Minister insisted she had not been damaged by the botched coup against her.

Former leader Simon Crean, who was sacked after he called on the failed leadership spill on Thursday, praised Ms Gillard and mocked Mr Rudd.

"She is a fighter. He didn't turn up for the fight," Mr Crean said.


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Ntaganda transfered to ICC custody

CONGOLESE warlord Bosco Ntaganda has been transferred to the custody of the International Criminal Court, where he is expected to face trial on war crimes charges.

Ntaganda - wanted by the ICC since 2006 and accused of recruiting child soldiers, organising sexual slavery and murder - walked into the US embassy in Kigali this week and asked to be transferred to the court in The Hague.

"Bosco Ntaganda is currently escorted by an ICC delegation that has left Kigali heading to the ICC detention centre in The Hague," the ICC said in a statement, noting that he is the first person to voluntarily surrender to the court.

Neither Rwanda nor the United States are parties to the ICC treaty, but they have pledged to co-operate with the court on Ntaganda's case.

Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's foreign minister, also confirmed that the man known as "The terminator" was on a flight to Europe.

US embassy officials said he had left their compound in the care of an ICC delegation.

Analysts say that the 40-year-old Congolese militant handed himself in out of desperation, after his fighters suffered heavy losses.

His M23 rebel group, which operates out of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, split last month and his faction lost a series of heavy battles, forcing its leadership and fighters to flee to neighbouring Rwanda.

Rwanda and Uganda deny accusations by UN experts that they have violated arms sanctions and given key support to M23 in the past year.

The group is accused of carrying out serious abuses in the volatile east of the massive central African country.

Much of the fighting in eastern DR Congo is over the control of natural resources - including cobalt, used in mobile phones, and copper - and trade routes.

The only person tried and convicted at the ICC is Congolese man Thomas Lubanga, 52, who last year was found guilty of using child soldiers.

Lubanga and Ntaganda were in the same umbrella political grouping during the Congolese civil war, which ended in a fragile peace in 2003, though the east of the country is still home to numerous armed groups.


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Italian marines arrive in India for trial

TWO Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen have returned to India after assurances that they would not sentenced to death if convicted.

Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone were expected to report to a police station in New Delhi's diplomatic area before being taken to the Italian embassy, diplomatic officials said.

The marines arrived on a military plane accompanied by Italy's Deputy Foreign Minister Staffan de Mistura, NDTV said.

The marines were deployed on an Italian oil tanker when they allegedly shot the fishermen off the coast of Kerala in February 2012 after mistaking them for pirates.

India's Supreme Court last month allowed the marines, who were on bail awaiting trial, to travel to Italy for four weeks to vote in the general elections.

Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini had given a personal assurance to the Supreme Court that the marines would return in four weeks.

A diplomatic row followed after the Italy said on March 11 the marines would not return.

It said India had no jurisdiction to try the marines given the incident took place in international waters.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned Italy of "consequences" if the marines did not return and the Supreme Court ordered the Italian ambassador not to leave the country.

The Italian government did a turnaround and decided to send back the marines within the timeline set by the court.

"We clarified to Italy that if the marines comply with the Supreme Court's order and come back, they will not be arrested," Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said during a press briefing.

"We clarified to Italy that the nature of the alleged incident is such that there will not be death sentence in this case," Khurshid added.

In India, murder is rarely punished by death.

The Italian deputy foreign minister said on Thursday that the marines would be staying at the Italian embassy and would be free to move around New Delhi.

Indian politicians lauded the return of the marines as a victory.

Italian media have criticised the government's turnaround.

"In any case, we want to bring home the marines. It must be clear that our effort does not end here," Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata said in an interview with La Repubblica newspaper.


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Egypt protesters storm Brotherhood office

A GROUP of men have stormed a Muslim Brotherhood office in the Egyptian capital, ransacking it and assaulting some of the group's members, the movement's spokesman says.

The attack on the office came as hundreds of protesters clashed with police and Islamists outside their main headquarters in another Cairo neighbourhood.

The Islamist group's spokesman Ahmed Aref said the men assaulted women in the office who were holding an event commemorating Mothers' Day, and then forced them into bathrooms before they destroyed the office's contents.


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Refugee camp fire kills 30 in Thailand

THIRTY people have been killed and many wounded when a fire broke out in a camp in northern Thailand housing refugees from neighbouring Myanmar (Burma), Thai officials say.

"The fire destroyed 100 makeshift houses," an interior ministry official said.


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Schoolgirl missing in west Sydney

POLICE are searching for a young girl who didn't return home after school in Sydney's west.

Police said Bella Roko, 11, was last seen leaving her school on John Batman Avenue, in Werrington County about 2pm Friday.

Police have not been able to locate her on Friday night, and the girl's family are concerned about her welfare.

She's described as being of Caucasian and Pacific Islander appearance, about 150cm tall, with olive skin, a thin build, and brown hair and eyes.

She was last seen wearing a white hoodie and black jeans.


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Helicopter prison escapee close to release

A CONVICTED armed robber who in 1999 escaped from a Sydney prison by helicopter is reportedly on the verge of being released from jail.

Fairfax Media reports that John Reginald Killick appeared before a NSW State Parole Authority hearing at Parramatta Court on Friday, having served time for an armed robbery in 1999.

Killick reportedly said his life of crime had come to an end because he was no longer suffering from a chronic gambling addiction.

in 1999, Killick made a dramatic escape from Silverwater prison when his lover at the time, Lucy Dudko, hijacked a helicopter during a joyflight over Sydney, and ordered the pilot to land on the prison's sports oval to pick up Killick.

The helicopter then flew off as jail officers fired at the aircraft and fellow inmates cheered.

The pair spent about 45 days on the run before being captured by police at a Sydney caravan park.


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Double deckers return to Harbour Bridge

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 21 Maret 2013 | 22.33

DOUBLE decker buses are set to return to the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time in 25 years.

The O'Farrell government said the two-storey buses would run regular services across the iconic structure to test whether they can be used to reduce traffic congestion.

The government says two double deckers will cross the bridge on route 270 between Terrey Hills and the CBD, with other routes to open in coming months.

Double decker buses are already operating along the North West T-Way in Sydney's outer suburbs.

Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said the tall buses were "one of a number of strategies being employed by the NSW government to improve services for customers".

"Double decker buses can carry around 110 passengers, twice the number that normal buses carry, and they take up less road and depot space," she said in a statement.


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My wife's emails aren't relevant: Driscoll

BRING IT: Premier Campbell Newman says allegations against MP Scott Driscoll (inset) are turning out like an Easter egg hunt. Pictures: Darren England Source: The Courier-Mail

SCOTT Driscoll has spent another day fending off accusations of impropriety, branding the latest allegation he misled parliament a "scurrilous" attack by people who were "jealous" of the fact he was the MP for Redcliffe.

The first-term MP was responding to revelations in yesterday's The Courier-Mail that he lied to State Parliament over the use of two telephones in his electorate office.

The Courier-Mail yesterday reported on new evidence directly tying Mr Driscoll to a scheme under which phone lines used by the Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association, also known as the United Retail Federation, were moved to Mr Driscoll's electorate office last year so staff on parliamentary salaries could help run the lobby group.

It followed an earlier report that the QRTSA was paying Mr Driscoll wife's company Norsefire $350,000 a year for management services while her MP husband secretly ran it.


RELATED COVERAGE
Yesterday: Driscoll caught lying to Parliament about office phone lines
Wednesday: Driscoll faces possible CMC investigation over documents
Wednesday: LNP forced to address Redcliffe complaints
Tuesday: MP's office base for lobby group that paid wife's company $350,000 a year
FULL COVERAGE


Member for Redcliffe Scott Driscoll makes a statement to Parliament on Tuesday. Picture: Darren England

"This article relies on private emails, including from my wife especially, to base its false allegation," Mr Driscoll told State Parliament in a brief statement yesterday morning.

"My wife's terminology in private emails to me is not relevant to my actions as an MP ... In reality and fact, what ultimately came about in regard to the article was a community and not-for-profit group amenity and benefit."

An email from Mr Driscoll's wife Emma Driscoll, obtained by The Courier-Mail, discussed in detail how URF phone lines should be installed in her husband's electorate office.

Mr Driscoll on Tuesday denied misusing his office in State Parliament, saying the phone lines were part of a "community hub".

Emails have raised questions about the purpose of phone lines installed in the electoral office of Redcliffe MP Scott Driscoll.

His alleged misuse of parliamentary resources and failures to disclose business interests have been referred to Parliament's Ethics Committee.

Premier Campbell Newman yesterday defended his response to the allegations against Mr Driscoll, saying all had been referred to appropriate authorities, and responded to a question from the Opposition about whether he had raised the latest allegations with Mr Driscoll by saying it was not his job to "interfere in the operations of electorate offices."

Nr Newman likened the series of scandals to an "Easter Egg hunt".

"You get an Easter egg and you are told by the Leader of the Opposition that there is another one over there and another down there," he said.

RETAIL ROLE: Liberal National Party MP for Redcliffe Scott Driscoll

Mr Newman said there had been many allegations and if people had information they should "bring it forward".

The Crime and Misconduct Commission is assessing thousands of documents relating to Mr Driscoll's business dealings, which were handed to the anti-corruption watchdog this week.


FULL COVERAGE

Yesterday: Driscoll caught lying to Parliament about office phone lines
Wednesday: Driscoll faces possible CMC investigation over documents
Wednesday: LNP forced to address Redcliffe complaints
Tuesday: MP's office base for lobby group that paid wife's company $350,000 a year
Tuesday: Premier Campbell Newman defends Scott Driscoll
Tuesday: Newman's spin doctors offer advice on managing scandal
Monday: LNP have been looking at Driscoll "for some time"
Monday: Driscoll faced all-night grilling by LNP chiefs after The Courier-Mail report
Steven Wardill: A case of history repeating




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Abbas tells Obama no talks without freeze

PALESTINIAN president Mahmoud Abbas has told US President Barack Obama there can be no talks with Israel without a freeze on settlement construction.

"A resumption of negotiations is not possible without an Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank and east Jerusalem," Abbas's political adviser Nimr Hammad quoted him as telling Obama during a two-and-a-half-hour meeting.

"Abbas, during his meeting with Obama, was very clear, telling him that settlement construction was an obstacle on the path to peace and to the resumption of talks, and that this was not possible without a settlement freeze," Hammad said.

Obama met Abbas in Ramallah in the West Bank on Thursday as part of a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The US president condemned Israel's ongoing settlement building as unhelpful to the pursuit of peace.

"We do not consider continued settlement activity to be constructive, to be appropriate, to be something that can advance the cause of peace," he said in a joint news conference with Abbas.

But Obama dodged a question about pushing for a freeze on settlement construction, simply saying: if each party "is constantly negotiating about what's required to get into talks in the first place, then we're never going to get to the broader issue, which is how do you eventually structure a state of Palestine."


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Wild winds and tornado hit Victoria

TEN people have been hospitalised after a tornado swept across Victoria's northeast and fierce winds lashed the rest of the state.

Roofs have been ripped off houses and buildings damaged as the tornado hit about 8pm (AEDT) on Thursday, an SES spokesman said.

The tornado swept along Murray river townships near Bundalong, Rutherglen and Yarrawonga.

The SES fielded 60 calls for help in the region with 10 people hospitalised for injuries.

It comes as strong winds felled trees and damaged buildings across Victoria.

The spokesman said the greatest trauma risk was from falling buildings and roofs.

"It becomes dangerous and deadly debris," he said.

While the weather appeared to be a tornado, authorities had not yet officially confirmed it, the spokesman said.

"It definitely has tornado-like patterns. Certainly that's what it looks like," he said.

He said powerlines in the area are likely to be down.

SES volunteers have responded to more than 750 calls across the state since midnight on Wednesday amid wind gusts exceeding 100km/h.

Strong winds had hit Healesville, Nunawading and outer eastern metropolitan Melbourne, but the damage has been widespread.


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US stocks drop on concerns about Europe

US stocks have opened lower on growing concerns about the European economy and the Cyprus crisis.

Five minutes into trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 64.29 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 14,447.44.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 7.46 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,551.25.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sank 20.15 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 3,234.04.

Markets were on edge over the continuing crisis in Cyprus, after the European Central Bank warned it may halt emergency funding for the tiny island-nation's banking system unless policy makers clinch a bailout deal by Monday.

A fall in the Markit eurozone purchasing managers index, to 46.5 in March from 47.9 in February, also reinforced the worries over the region's economy.

"The concern is that the downturn has gathered pace again," said Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson.


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Rosneft completes $54bn TNK-BP takeover

RUSSIA'S state oil giant Rosneft has completed a $US56 billion ($A54 billion) acquisition of the British and Russian stakes in the TNK-BP joint venture.

"Congratulations on the completion of this deal," President Vladimir Putin told Rosneft chief Igor Sechin at a special ceremony at the Kremlin chief's suburban Moscow residence.

"In my opinion, this was a very successful deal," news agencies quoted Putin as saying.

The takeover's terms allow BP to acquire up to 20 per cent of Rosneft's shares and give the British group an additional $US17 billion in cash.

Rosneft completed the all-cash acquisition of the Russian stake held by four Soviet-born tycoons earlier in the year.

The state-owned company says that TNK-BP's takeover makes Rosneft the world's largest public oil company by production and reserves.

TNK-BP - Russia's third-largest oil company - was hit by years of infighting between its British and Russian owners though it has generated around $US19 billion in dividends for BP since the company's formation in 2003.


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Irish economy grows by 0.9% in 2012

IRELAND'S bailed-out economy grew by 0.9 per cent in 2012 but stagnated in the final quarter of last year, official figures show.

"Preliminary estimates indicate that GDP (gross domestic product) in volume terms increased by 0.9 per cent for the year 2012," said a statement from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Thursday.

"This is the second year in succession in which GDP showed an increase over the previous year following three years of declines ... during 2008 to 2010."

The annual figure was in line with the eurozone country's own government forecast.

The Irish economy meanwhile recorded zero growth in the fourth quarter of last year, compared with the previous three months, according to the CSO.

It managed to grow by 1.4 per cent in 2011 after it was rescued by an 85 billion euro ($A106 billion) bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in late 2010.

Ireland, once known as the 'Celtic Tiger' economy for its double-digit growth spanning a decade from the mid-1990s, has contracted sharply in recent years, hit by soaring state debt, a property market meltdown, the global banking crisis and surging unemployment.


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Decade on, Iraq grappling with attacks

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 20 Maret 2013 | 22.34

GRAPPLING with a spike in violence and a worsening political situation, Iraq has marked 10 years since a US-led invasion that sought to establish a stable, democratic ally in the Middle East.

The event was met with little fanfare in Baghdad, though, a day after a wave of bombings and gun attacks killed 56 people across the country, as some ministers began a cabinet boycott and officials delayed provincial polls.

Al-Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) claimed responsibility for the violence in statements posted on jihadist forums, while another car bomb in east Baghdad killed two people.

Security forces, meanwhile, claimed to have arrested 37 militants armed with as many as 30 bombs, state television reported.

In Washington, President Barack Obama had released a muted statement the day before that paid tribute to the "sacrifice" of US troops, but had few words for the Iraqi people, promising instead to support wounded American veterans of the conflict.

Iraqi officials have not announced any ceremonies to mark the invasion anniversary, with events more likely to be held on April 9, the day Baghdad fell, and there was little reference to the invasion across the capital on Wednesday.

"It was a dream to get rid of Saddam - this was a positive thing they did - but what came after is all negatives," said Raad Mohammed, a 51-year-old portrait photographer in central Baghdad's Tahrir Square.

"Now, everyone is living through tragedies, and nothing was accomplished in these past 10 years."

Nearby, however, Sabah Shawki noted that while violence had been terrible, and the country's basic services were a shambles, the invasion had brought him much-needed religious freedom.

"Now, I can pray to my God," the 34-year-old resident of the sprawling Shi'ite neighbourhood of Sadr City said.

"In Saddam's time, I could only pray to the God he said I could pray to."

Violence has spiked ahead of the anniversary, with 120 people killed in the past week, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials, with the worst of the violence striking on Tuesday.

In all, at least 20 explosions and multiple shootings left 56 people dead and more than 220 wounded, Iraq's deadliest day in six months, reflecting the brutal unrest that continues to plague the country.

Launched a decade ago with the stated goal of wiping out Saddam's stores of weapons of mass destruction, which were never found, the focus of the divisive war quickly shifted to solidifying Iraq as a Western ally in an unstable region.

Though the war itself was relatively brief - it began on March 20, 2003, Baghdad fell weeks later, and then-US president George W Bush infamously declared the mission accomplished on May 1 - its aftermath was bloody.

Separate reports by Britain-based Iraq Body Count and researchers at The Lancet put the overall death toll from the decade of bloodshed at more than 112,000 civilians.


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Russian MP urged to quit over speech

A RUSSIAN parliamentary ethics committee has censured a high-profile young opposition MP and urged him to quit after he delivered a speech in the United States criticising President Vladimir Putin.

"The State Duma ethics committee has stripped Dmitry Gudkov, a lawmaker with A Just Russia faction, of the right to speak publicly at plenary sessions for one month and also proposed that he make a public apology and hand in his mandate," the ruling United Russia party said.

"This decision has been taken following an inquiry by all four parliament factions into Gudkov's trip to the United States," the party, which controls the Russian parliament, said in a statement.

In early March, Gudkov, 33, travelled to Washington where he gave a speech at a forum organised by Freedom House, a pro-democracy group funded by the US government and private groups.

In the speech, delivered in English, he lambasted "repressive methods of Putin and his minions", and called on Washington to help expose corrupt officials in Russia by providing information on their accounts in Western banks.

Gudkov, who regularly speaks at opposition rallies, is refusing to quit.

Writing on his blog, he said it was not the first prompting by pro-Kremlin MPs for him to hand in his mandate.

"As always, I will answer them: only after you, gentlemen!" he said.

The entire State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, was expected to address Gudkov's behaviour later this week at a plenary session, a Duma spokeswoman said.

Dmitry Gudkov's father, Gennady Gudkov - who is also a vocal member of the anti-Kremlin opposition - was expelled from the parliament in September over allegedly conflicting business interests.

Both men were expelled from their left-leaning party, A Just Russia, earlier this week due to their opposition activities.


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US oil output to surpass import

THE US will become a net oil exporter late this year as domestic crude production surpasses imports for the first time in 18 years, the Energy Information Administration says.

Helped by a surge in shale-based output in North Dakota and Texas, monthly crude production has pushed past seven million barrels a day and could reach eight million barrels a day by the beginning of 2014.

Imports had dropped below eight million barrels a day and should fall below domestic output by the end of 2013, the EIA said.

The EIA said based on current projections, by the end of 2014 the US could be producing two million barrels a day more than it imports, a huge turnaround in the country that, until China passed it just recently, was the world's largest oil importer.

The "unconventional" recovery of oil from dense rock strata like shale has driven a leap in domestic production in the past three years.

Average production rose from 5.5 million barrels a day for the full year 2010 to 6.5 million last year and is projected to average 7.3 million this year.

Imports have fallen from 9.2 million barrels in 2010 to a forecast average of 7.6 million for this year.

Meanwhile, Andarko Petroleum announced on Tuesday it had made a major discovery in deepwater Gulf of Mexico with its Shenandoah-2 well.

The company did not make an estimate on the size of the reserves in the new field, but said it had "the potential to become one of the most prolific new areas in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico."


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Tens of thousands join British strike

AT least 95,000 civil servants have gone on strike in Britain, closing courts and museum galleries in a dispute over pay, pensions and working conditions timed to coincide with the government's annual budget.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union claimed almost 200,000 of its members joined the one-day walkout, although the government put the figure at 95,000.

Up to 200 people joined a rally outside parliament as Finance Minister George Osborne was delivering his 2013 budget, where he pushed ahead with his austerity program despite stagnant growth.

Ahead of the strike, designed to kick-off a three-month program of action, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka warned that the government's policy of cutting public spending was not working.

"Civil and public servants are working harder than ever to provide the services we all rely on but, instead of rewarding them, the government is imposing cuts to their pay, raiding their pensions and trying to rip up their basic working conditions," he said.

Picket lines were set up outside government offices across the country, while job centres and courts were forced to close or reduce services because of a lack of staff, the union said.

The Tate Liverpool and the National Museum of Scotland shut for the day, while other museums including the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum in London had to close galleries.

"We believe the turnout is 78 per cent of our 250,000 members," a PCS official said.

"We're getting reports from all over the country that job centres and courts are being shut down."

However, the government minister with responsibility for public servants, Francis Maude, said the number of strikers was far lower.

"I can reassure the public that we are keeping essential services open. Our rigorous contingency plans are in place across all sectors and as a result there has been minimal impact on public services," Maude said.


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Law reform package passes NSW Parliament

LAW reforms aimed at making criminal trials more efficient have passed through NSW Parliament.

In a statement, the government said the reform package, which passed parliament on Wednesday night, was a key part of its fight against organised crime.

The first tranche of the reforms allows juries to draw adverse inferences from silence in certain circumstances, according to the statement from Police Minister Michael Gallacher and Attorney General Greg Smith.

The second part mandates that both sides in criminal trials must follow a timetable for disclosing material before trials begin.

The legislation was opposed by Labor and the Greens.

Mr Smith said a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights found "similar laws in the UK were consistent with the right to a fair trial".


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3000 Afghan troops, police killed in year

ALMOST 3,000 Afghan police and soldiers have been killed in the past 12 months, nearly the same as the number of NATO deaths in Afghanistan in the past 11 years of war, Kabul says.

In statistics marking the end of the lunar year in Afghanistan, the interior and defence ministries said 2,983 security personnel - 1,800 police and 1,183 soldiers - lost their lives from March 2012 to March 2013.

According to the independent website, icasualties.org, 3,270 coalition troops, including 2,190 Americans, have died since the invasion started in late 2001.

Afghan police and soldiers have been set up and trained by NATO to take on increasing responsibility for security as NATO combat troops gradually withdraw from the country by the end of 2014.

Today numbered at 330,000 and due to reach a target of 352,000, they have been increasingly targeted by Taliban insurgents fighting to evict the Western-backed administration in Kabul.

"It is a pity but understandable why we have witnessed such a huge loss of life and increase in ANSF (Afghan security force) casualties since they started taking responsibility from international troops," said analyst Jawed Kohistani.

"Given the fact that there has not been any effective strategy from the Afghan defence or interior ministries to deal with Taliban guerilla warfare tactics, we can expect more loss of life."

In 2012, 402 NATO members died in Afghanistan, the lowest number since 2008.


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Cyprus fails to win Russia's help

CYPRIOT Finance Minister Michalis Sarris has failed to win assistance from tough-bargaining Russia after his island's rejection of an EU bailout that would have slapped a painful levy on bank accounts.

Sarris met his Russian counterpart Anton Siluanov before holding talks with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov about a possible new Moscow loan.

Cyprus also hopes to ease the terms of a 2.5 billion euros ($A3.13 billion) loan Moscow afforded Nicosia in 2011 that matures in 2016.

"We had a very good beginning. We had a very good, honest and open discussion," Sarris told reporters after his meeting with the Russian finance minister.

But a Russian government source told AFP a second round of talks with Shuvalov - a close aide to President Vladimir Putin who oversees the financial sector - produced no results.

Sarris has vowed to stay in Moscow until some agreement is reached that could help his country's banks avoid bankruptcy and the island from going into default.

Russian news reports said the talks would continue in Moscow on Thursday.

"It makes sense for Russia to extend the loan, but at what price - these are the things they are discussing now," said Renaissance Capital's chief economist Ivan Tchakarov.

The visit comes a day after furious Cypriot MPs flatly rejected a highly unpopular measure that would have slapped a one-time fee of up to 9.9 per cent on bank deposits over 20,000 euros as a condition for an EU-led 10-billion-euro bailout loan.

The European Commission said on Wednesday any new Cyprus bailout must ensure its debt burden is sustainable - a signal it expects the island to raise the remaining 5.8 billion euros believed necessary.

Cyprus badly needs the money in part to recapitalise its banks, which took a bruising in the Greek debt crisis.

Their collapse would leave the country bankrupt and in danger of going into default.

That in turn would put immense pressure on the eurozone and once again put the future of the single currency in doubt.

Cyprus is now scrambling for a Plan B that includes the option of turning to Russia.

Russians - many of them wealthy tycoons seeking to avoid taxes back home - have $US31 billion ($A30.05 billion) in private and corporate cash deposited in the island's teetering banks.


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Dead pigs in China river exceed 13,000

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 19 Maret 2013 | 22.34

The number of dead pigs found in a river running through Shanghai has reached more than 13,000. Source: AAP

THE number of dead pigs found in a river running through China's commercial hub Shanghai has reached more than 13,000, as mystery deepened over the hogs' precise origin.

Shanghai had pulled 9,460 pigs out of the Huangpu river, which supplies 22 per cent of the city's drinking water, since the infestation began earlier this month, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai has blamed farmers in Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for dumping pigs which died of disease into the river upstream, where the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday another 3,601 dead animals had been recovered.

The Jiaxing government has said the area is not the sole source of the carcasses, adding it had found only one producer that could be held responsible.

Shanghai said it had checked farms in its southwestern district of Songjiang, where the pigs were first detected, but found they were not to blame, the Shanghai Daily said.

The scandal has spotlighted China's troubles with food safety, adding the country's most popular meat to a growing list of food items rocked by controversy.

Samples of the dead pigs have tested positive for porcine circovirus, a common swine disease that does not affect humans.

"Due to some farming households having a weak recognition of the law, bad habits, and lack of increased supervision and capability for treatment have led to the situation," the national agriculture ministry's chief veterinarian Yu Kangzhen said.

Yu attributed a higher mortality rate among pigs to colder weather this spring, though he ruled out an epidemic, the ministry said in statement posted on its website over the weekend.

The thousands of dead pigs have drawn attention to China's poorly regulated farm production. Animals that die from disease can end up in the country's food supply chain or improperly disposed of, despite laws against the practice.

In Wenling, also in Zhejiang, authorities announced last week that 46 people had been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years for processing and selling pork from more than 1,000 diseased pigs.

China faced one its biggest food-safety scandals in 2008 when the industrial chemical melamine was found to have been illegally added to dairy products, killing at least six babies and making 300,000 people ill.

In another recent incident, the American fast-food giant KFC faced controversy after revealing that some Chinese suppliers provided chicken with high levels of antibiotics, in what appeared to be an industry-wide practice.


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US backs Aust and NZ's Antarctic plans

The US is backing a proposal by Australia and NZ to set up marine sanctuaries in Antarctica. Source: AAP

HAILING the waters of Antarctica as a living laboratory, the United States has joined Australia and New Zealand in appealing for the creation of marine sanctuaries in the most remote and pristine part of the world.

The United States and New Zealand have drawn up a proposal for a marine sanctuary covering 1.6 million square kilometres of the Ross Sea, which would be the world's largest reserve.

Nations led by Australia, France and the European Union also want to protect 1.9 million square kilometres of critical coastal area in the East Antarctic.

But the proposals were blocked when talks in November at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) - comprising 24 countries and the European Union - ended without resolution amid concerns from Russia and China.

Now the nations in favour are boosting their efforts to get the two sanctuaries approved at a special meeting of the group in Germany in July.

"Antarctica is a collection of superlatives. It's the highest, coldest, the windiest, the driest, the most pristine and the most remote place on Earth," US Secretary of State John Kerry told a gathering organised by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

"And it has beguiled humankind for centuries as people have sought to understand it," he added, arguing that the waters of the Southern Ocean, home to 16,000 species, are a "living laboratory."

Kerry told the gathering at the National Geographic Society he believed the world can "work together to ensure that Antarctica remains a place devoted to peace and devoted to expanding human understanding of this fragile planet."

"This is one of the last places we could do this, and I think we owe it to ourselves to make it happen."

But conservationists argue the proposals do not go far enough to protect marine life - notably the Antarctic toothfish, which is fished in huge quantities and served as Chilean sea bass on restaurant tables around the world.

The Ross Sea proposal, while creating a reserve to protect Adelie and emperor penguins, as well as killer whales and Weddell seals, would still allow some 3,000 tonnes of toothfish to be commercially caught each year.

"We wanted New Zealand to come up with a much stronger proposal, and they just didn't, and they dug their heels in, and basically the US had to go for New Zealand's proposal," documentary film-maker Peter Young said.

"It doesn't matter how sustainable this quota is, we shouldn't be in the last place. We don't take buffalo from Yellowstone. We don't take kiwi from the forests in New Zealand. We should not fish from the Ross Sea."


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Xstrata cuts 100 jobs

GLOBAL miner Xstrata says it will axe about 100 jobs as part of a decision to close its Brisbane office.

The weak global coal market including poor prices and a high Australian dollar, as well as high costs, have been blamed for the decision.


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Mistress warned after lying about call

Accused killer Gerard Baden-Clay was facing debts of around $1 million at the time his wife disappeared.

FOLLOW our rolling coverage of day five of the committal hearing to determine if Gerard Baden-Clay will stand trial for murder of wife Allison.

4.27pm: HOMICIDE detective Peter Roddick has denied telling Toni McHugh that Gerard Baden-Clay had had affairs with other women.

"I don't believe I told her ... I asked her if she was aware of any other relationships," he said.

"I didn't volunteer any names to her."

He said detectives had to issue a warning to Ms McHugh before she gave her fifth statement after discovering she had earlier "failed to disclose" a phone call with Baden-Clay.

"She told us she had not had any contact with Gerard Baden-Clay and we were aware that that was untrue," he said.

Mr Davis asked how police were aware of the phone call.

"I'm not really sure how to answer that ... covert technology," Det Sgt Roddick said.

Det Sgt Roddick denied giving Baden-Clay any instructions to stay away from the ground search in case he stumbled upon a crime scene.

"It wasn't given to him by me and I'm not aware of that direction given to him per se," he said.

COURT: An artist's sketch of Gerard Baden-Clay's mistress Toni McHugh during the committal hearing in Brisbane.  Ms McHugh gave a tearful account on the stand in day four of the committal hearing to determine if Gerard Baden-Clay (inset) will stand trial for the murder of his wife Allison (inset right).

4.09pm: A FORMER homicide detective said investigators initially looked into whether Allison Baden-Clay's mental health had anything to do with her disappearance.

Detective Sergeant Gavin Pascoe, who was a Homicide investigator at the time, said they spoke to Allison's psychologist following discussions with two of her friends.

"We looked into what her health had been like, definitely," he said.

Defence barrister Peter Davis asked whether it would be fair to say that Baden-Clay was a person of interest in the investigation very early.

"Yes, I'd agree with that," Det Sgt Pascoe said.

Mr Davis asked whether Baden-Clay had been told to stay away from the ground search for his wife in case he came upon a possible crime scene.

"No, I don't recall that at all," the detective said.

"Not to my knowledge - but that's possible, yes."

3.50pm: ALL six plant species found in Allison Baden-Clay's hair and on her body were found in the car port area of her backyard, the court has heard.

WITNESS: Brookfield woman Christine Skrzeczynski contacted police as she believes she was the person spoted walking along Boscombe Rd on the morning Allison Baden-Clay was reported missing.

But four of those plant species could not have come from the Kholo Creek area at Anstead where her body was found.

Dr Gordon Guymer, director of the Queensland Herbarium, was given samples of plant material found in Allison's hair, arms and around her head to compare to plant species at her home and the Kholo Creek.

Dr Guymer visited both locations and listed the plant species found in each area.

He told the court only two of the plant species found on Allison's body could be found at Kholo Creek.

"The other species I did not observe, did not see (at Kholo Creek), even though I conducted an extensive survey," Dr Guymer said.

"All the plant species were present in the vicinity of the house.

"On the back patio there was a very good coverage of leaf litter."

He said some of the species found on Allison's body that were growing in her back yard were not found in nearby Brookfield houses.

Mr Davis asked whether Dr Guymer had looked for plant debris during his survey of the creek area.

WITNESS: Brookfield woman Cerian Morris said she heard sounds on the night Allison Baden-Clay disappeared.

"You were looking for plants of one species that were actually growing - you weren't looking for debris?" he said.

"No, that's true," he replied.

"Obviously plants flow down creeks," Mr Davis said.

3.22pm: AN insect expert has told the Brisbane Magistrates Court about different caterpillar species and whether they would irritate the skin.

Professor Myron Zalucki, an entomologist and insect ecologist, said while most caterpillars were harmless, some had poisonous "hairs" that would cause pain and irritation.

"Very painful, very painful," he said of some species of caterpillar.

"It lasts quite a while and you would probably head off to the doctor."

Prof Zalucki said he had looked at photographs of injuries on Baden-Clay's chest but could not give an opinion on whether they had been caused by a caterpillar.

Defence barrister Peter Davis asked whether Prof Zalucki thought Baden-Clay had been bitten.

WITNESS: Dr Candice Beaven said Gerard Baden-Clay told her he injured himself while shaving with an old razor.

"(If it) had lodged in the chest area and discharged its hairs, it would cause irritation, that's possible," Prof Zalucki said.

When asked whether Baden-Clay's injuries looked like irritation from a caterpillar, he said "that's hard to judge".

"One tends to break out in red patches," he said.

"Different people will react in different ways."

Prof Zalucki said he could not find any evidence of poisonous caterpillars, the kind that would cause skin irritation, in the Brookfield area.

"We went to the site where this supposedly occurred," he said.

"I could not find any nests on those Acacia trees.

"I then searched the literature ... and it is limited ... and could find none."

11.22am: Defence barrister Peter Davis said only one of the three routes Brookfield woman Christine Skrzeczynski takes on her morning walk would have had her on Boscombe Rd for any length of time.

Ms Skrzeczynski believes she was the person police were seeking who was spotted walking on the morning Allison Baden-Clay was reported missing.

She said she did not remember which of the three routes she would have taken that morning.

Ms Skrzeczynski said she usually leaves home between 6.15am to 6.30am to get to her job as a teacher librarian by 7am.

''To go the long route takes longer so I would leave for work a little bit later,'' she said.

''Sometimes I don't feel like the whole long way - sometimes I choose to do a shorter one because I'm feeling a little bit lazy.''

11.05am: A woman has come forward to say she believes she was the person spotted walking along Boscombe Rd, Brookfield, on the morning Allison Baden-Clay was reported missing.

Christine Skrzeczynski, a Brookfield resident, said she read in The Courier-Mail during Gerard Baden-Clay's bail hearing that a witness had seen a woman walking down Boscombe Rd matching Allison's description.

''I came forward because at the time of the bail hearing, just before Christmas, I read in The Courier-Mail that a witness had seen a lone woman walking on Boscombe Rd,'' she said.

''I thought there was a very strong likelihood that that would be me."

Ms Skrzeczynski said she always walks that route in the mornings that she works.

''I do that without fail, whatever the weather, and I don't see other people walking at that time in that location.''

Ms Skrzeczynski, a woman of similar age to Allison with blonde hair, provided evidence to the court that she had worked that day.

She also provided the court with photographs of outfits she would wear while walking.

10.57am: A financial advisor has been called to the stand and then dismissed without cross examination.

Tommy Laskaris, a financial advisor, said he knew Baden-Clay and his wife through dealing with their finances.

The court was adjourned so defence barrister Peter Davis could read some financial documents.

When the hearing resumed, Mr Davis said he did not need to question Mr Laskaris.

RELATED COVERAGE:

BADEN-CLAY: Tears in court as mistress testifies

DAY FOUR: Rolling coverage of Gerard Baden-Clay's committal hearing

DAY THREE: Gerard Baden-Clay's business partners testify

DAY TWO: Former Qld minister hears screams in the night

INSIGHT: Love and death laid out in court

10.11am: A Brookfield woman has confirmed she heard sounds on the night Allison Baden-Clay disappeared.

Cerian Morris was not cross examined by the defence team and was on the stand for about a minute.

She was not asked for any details of what she heard.

10.07am: A second doctor has told of a series of explanations Gerard Baden-Clay provided when he went to see her about scratches on his face, neck and body.

After visiting a doctor in Kenmore the morning after he reported his wife missing, Baden-Clay went to see a second doctor at 4.30pm in Taringa.

Dr Renu Kumar said she was told by Baden-Clay that he had cut himself shaving with an old razor.

She said she also looked at injuries on his chest and his armpit.

The court heard Baden-Clay told her he had caused the injuries on his chest and armpit by scratching himself.

''That looked consistent,'' she said.

The court heard she queried scratch marks on his chest, wondering whether the direction of the scratches meant they could be self-inflicted.

''Why can't you scratch yourself in the sternum?'' defence barrister Peter Davis asked.

''It's easily reachable by both hands.''

Dr Kumar said it was possible.

''I was concerned about the direction of the scratches,'' she said.

''I suppose when you are scratching with your own hand it's more of an arch.

''So that's what I was clarifying.''

The court heard Baden-Clay told her the scratches on his neck were from a caterpillar.

''He told me a caterpillar landed...and he scratched the caterpillar away,'' she said.

A large patch of grazing was from scratching an ''itch'', the court heard.

''He was itchy and he scratched himself there,'' she said.

9.47am: A general practitioner who looked at scratches on Gerard Baden-Clay's face the day after he reported his wife missing has told how he claimed to have cut himself shaving with a blunt razor.

Baden-Clay went to see Dr Candice Beaven at the Kenmore Clinic Medical Centre at 8.30am on April 21 and asked her to look at his injuries.

The real estate agent has been charged with the murder of his wife Allison and interfering with her corpse.

The six-day committal hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to send him to trial.

The court heard Dr Beaven made extensive notes on her consultation with Baden-Clay about a week later.

''He obviously said that he injured himself while shaving with an old razor,'' defence barrister Peter Davis said.
Dr Beaven agreed.

''He said that he had been in a rush and that he had cut himself while shaving with a blunt razor,'' she said.

''He said initially that he thought it may have been in one motion and then I queried it because it was unusual that there were three separate abrasions and he said that he couldn't be sure because he was in a rush and it may have happened it a few.''

RELATED COVERAGE:

BADEN-CLAY: Tears in court as mistress testifies

DAY FOUR: Rolling coverage of Gerard Baden-Clay's committal hearing

DAY THREE: Gerard Baden-Clay's business partners testify

DAY TWO: Former Qld minister hears screams in the night

INSIGHT: Love and death laid out in court


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Qld MP Driscoll still facing allegations

A ROOKIE Queensland MP has been unable to shake off allegations of misusing taxpayer funds despite an attempt to explain himself in parliament.

Redcliffe MP Scott Driscoll has faced a raft of allegations in recent weeks, including claims of sexual harassment, financial mismanagement and improper business dealings.

Mr Driscoll defended himself in parliament on Tuesday, saying he had done nothing wrong other than failing to declare that his wife received more than $500 in income from a private company she runs.

Premier Campbell Newman has stood by his first-term MP, saying there's nothing to suggest he's unfit for public office.

The premier said investigations so far by the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), and ongoing departmental probes, had all turned up nothing.

But Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk repeatedly attacked the government in parliament on Tuesday, saying Mr Driscoll had not done enough to explain himself.

"We have heard today a very brief explanation from the member for Redcliffe ... and it does not go to the root of all the questions that need to be answered."

Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Driscoll had other irregularities in his pecuniary interests register and listed 13 specific questions the opposition felt he still needed to answer.

Mr Newman said Mr Driscoll had become subject to "trial by media", a scenario he had encountered himself during last year's state election.

"I, myself, and my wife know only too well about ... trial by media, but particularly the tactics of the Australian Labor Party to use the CMC as a political weapon to attack people," he told parliament.

The latest claims against Mr Driscoll, published in The Courier-Mail on Tuesday, accuse him of using his electorate office and staff to run a retail lobby group he used to head.

He's also faced sexual harassment claims from former employees of the Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association and calls to produce the association's books amid claims that about $700,000 was spent inappropriately.

Mr Driscoll's wife has also been accused of inappropriately receiving taxpayer funds from another organisation with which Mr Driscoll was involved, the Regional Community Association of Moreton Bay.

But the MP says he's the target of a campaign of "falsehoods" and the attacks on his wife have been particularly upsetting.

The CMC confirmed on Tuesday that it received a referral from the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services on November 27, 2012.

It alleged official misconduct against Mr Driscoll.

The CMC says it found at the assessment phase of the complaint, that the matter did not involve official misconduct and therefore fell outside its jurisdiction.

The commission pointed out in its statement on Tuesday that the assessment process is separate to an investigation.

The CMC said it's assessing all new relevant information on the matter to decide whether or not it needs to take any further action.


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Half a million new homes for Sydney

NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has unveiled a 20-year blueprint for Sydney's growth. Source: AAP

A 20-YEAR blueprint for Sydney's growth has identified a need for more than half a million new homes by 2031 but lobby groups want clarity about where they will be built.

Unveiling the strategy on Tuesday, Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said 545,000 new homes would be needed to cater for a population of 5.6 million Sydneysiders in 20 years - a 17 per cent increase on the number forecast in 2010.

Seventy per cent of the additional 1.3 million people who will set up homes in Sydney will be the children of current residents.

"We're trying to be less constrictive and restrictive and what we are saying is the market place should have far more of a say in what the mix of housing is and where it will be," Mr Hazzard said.

"We can make forecasts on where we believe it should be, but we are not going to do what Labor did ... they allowed the planners to be the sole determinant."

Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson said the obvious location for higher density housing was around transport nodes and town centres.

But a range of housing types was needed, including new houses on the city's fringe and apartments in existing suburban areas.

"We need more detail on the type of housing densities planned, particularly for existing urban areas," he said.

Patricia Forsythe, executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, said the strategy needed to address the density of housing along transport corridors.

"We need to increase housing density along existing transport corridors as a matter of common sense to continue to maintain a working city.

"Many existing transport corridors, especially along railway lines, have old three-storey walk-up apartment buildings that are reaching their use-by date.

"Reforming the planning and strata systems could see a flurry of building activity to redevelop these buildings into higher density, modern apartments."

Housing Industry Association executive director NSW, David Bare, said "urgent action is required".

As part of the plan, the government also wants to create 625,000 extra jobs over the next two decades, with 50 per cent of them in western Sydney.

The draft metropolitan strategy divides Sydney into nine key areas, known as "city shapers". These include growth corridors along Parramatta Road, Anzac Parade and the North West Rail Link, and an enhanced role for Parramatta as Sydney's second CBD.

A western Sydney employment area would be developed south of Mt Druitt.

"We need to make sure in whatever we plan, the jobs are near houses, the houses near jobs and infrastructure is there to connect them," Mr Hazzard told parliament.

He said western Sydney was at the heart of the government's economic strategy.

"Sydney is in effect the Aladdin's Cave, but the part of the Aladdin's Cave that is the critical part is the west," he said.

"The west is where the treasure lies for people to tap."


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Cost for water on the rise in southeast

RATEPAYERS in five southeast Queensland Council areas, including Brisbane, will pay an extra 3.9 per cent for water and sewerage this coming financial year.

Confirming the news this afternoon, Queensland Urban Utilities, which services the Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Scenic Rim council areas, said the increase should amount to about $28 to $37, or 53 to 71 cents per week for the average residential bill.

But consumers could be in for another hit yet, with the State Government yet to reveal any changes to the component of water bills that it controls - bulk water charges.

The increase comes after Queensland Urban Utilities froze its residential water and sewerage prices for the 2012-13 financial year.

QUU chief executive Louise Dudley said factors including increased operating costs and lower-than-expected growth had been taken into account when determining the increase.

Ms Dudley said she understood some found it hard to pay their bills and payment plans had ben developed to help those in need.

Charges for non-residential customers will also increase by 3.9 per cent in 2013/14, with final prices to be released in June.

Changes to the QUU water and sewerage access charges will be reflected on residential accounts issued from July 1 while consumption charges, including the state's bulk water charge, will be reflected on accounts issued from October 1.


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Carr says he was sourced incorrectly

Written By Unknown on Senin, 18 Maret 2013 | 22.53

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Bob Carr says he has been sourced incorrectly in a newspaper article about Labor ministers losing faith in Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that Senator Carr has told colleagues that he lost confidence in Ms Gillard some time ago.

The report stated that the senator was disenchanted and angered by the Prime Minister's handling of two policy decisions.

One was Australia's vote on giving UN observer status to the Palestinians and the other was her decision not to give the cabinet notice that it was going to discuss media policy last week.

But Senator Carr sent out a statement less than two hours after the article was published online, saying it was wrong.

"An article in today's Age and Sydney Morning Herald makes comment on the ALP leadership," Mr Carr said in a statement early on Tuesday morning.

"The views attributed to me in this article are incorrect and no comment was sought from my office."

A


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Pope eschews tradition with silver ring

POPE Francis has eschewed tradition and chosen a silver Fisherman's Ring rather than a gold one - and one designed decades ago rather than created specifically for him, the Vatican said Monday.

The gold-plated silver ring, one of the papal symbols that the new Pope will receive during the inauguration mass on Tuesday, is modelled on a ring designed by Italian sculptor Enrico Manfrini, who died in 2004, for Paul VI.

"The ring is designed by Manfrini, who created several religious works and it was presented to the Pope by the master of ceremonies who had received the model from one of Paul VI's secretaries," said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi.

Nicknamed "the Popes' sculptor", Manfrini designed religious objects for several pontiffs, including Pius XII, Paul VI and John Paul II.

The simple ring, customarily worn on the pontiff's right hand, depicts a bearded and haloed St Peter holding a pair of keys - an emblem of the papacy which captures the moment Peter was given the keys to heaven.

It was chosen by Francis out of three ring models presented to him, Lombardi said.

"I don't know if the ring was used by Paul VI. The design stems from that period but it is not physically the same ring. The original ring was melted down but this is a ring based on the same design."

The Fisherman's Ring originally served as both a symbol of the papacy and a seal, but these days the Pope has a separate seal with which to mark documents.

There had been a lot of speculation over what sort of ring Francis would choose, following his decision to reject the papal gold cross necklace for his own simpler one at his first appearance after his election.

"It is not the first time that a pope has chosen to have a ring made of silver," Claudio Franchi, the Roman goldsmith who crafted the elaborate ring worn by Francis's predecessor, Benedict XVI, told AFP.

"It is quite unusual, however, to use a ring which already exists or has been made based on a design which already exists," he said.

The Vatican also unveiled the coat of arms and motto Francis will use - the ones he used as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

The coat of arms shows three symbols on a blue background: at the top, a sun with the letters IHS in the middle - the logo of the Jesuit Society - and underneath a five-point star and a lily, symbolising the Virgin Mary and St Joseph.

The Latin motto beneath the crest is "miserando atque eligendo" - which refers to a Bible passage showing Jesus Christ's "mercy" in choosing Matthew, a tax collector, to be one of his disciples.

"The motto recalls Pope Francis's personal vocation and he wanted to keep it," Lombardi said.


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Pregnancy eating disorders revealed

ONE in 14 women have an eating disorder in the first three months of their pregnancy, according to British research.

A survey of more than 700 pregnant women by University College London (UCL) found a quarter were "highly concerned about their weight and shape".

Two per cent of those questioned were found to fast, exercise excessively, induce vomiting, and misuse laxatives or diuretics to avoid gaining weight during pregnancy.

The study - funded by the National Institute for Health Research - also found one in 12 pregnant women said they would overeat and lose control over what they ate twice a week.

Dr Nadia Micali, from the UCL Institute of Child Health, who led the study, said: "There is good evidence from our research that eating disorders in pregnancy can affect both the mother and the developing baby.

"Greater awareness of eating disorders and their symptoms amongst antenatal health care professionals would help to better identify and manage such disorders amongst pregnant women."

The researchers have called for women to be screened for eating disorders at their first antenatal check-up due to the adverse affects on the health of the mother and the baby.

Writing in the European Eating Disorders Review, they warned that many pregnant women with eating disorders are currently being left untreated.

Dr Abigail Easter, also from the UCL Institute of Child Health, added: "Women with eating disorders are often reluctant to disclose their illness to healthcare professionals, possibly due to a fear of stigma or fear that health services might respond in a negative way.

"Typical pregnancy symptoms such as weight gain and vomiting can also mask the presence of an eating disorder. Many women with eating disorders may therefore go undetected and untreated during pregnancy."

About 1.4 million women nationwide suffer from eating disorders, around four per cent of the female population.

The women answered an anonymous questionnaire at their first routine antenatal scan, which asked about their eating habits in the six to 12 months before becoming pregnant.

Any symptoms were assessed during the first three months of their pregnancy.


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US stocks fall on renewed eurozone fears

US stock markets opened sharply lower on Monday amid concerns that the controversial Cyprus bailout could reignite the eurozone crisis.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 97.55 (0.67 per cent) to 14,416.56.

The broad-based S&P 500, which last week appeared poised to break its all time record, declined 14.92 (0.96 per cent) to 1,545.78.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 34.36 (1.06 per cent) to 3,214.71.

The requirement that the 10 billion euro ($A12.62 billion) bailout include a tax on deposits in Cyprus banks has stirred anger and worries that go well beyond the tiny island nation.

"There is heightened concern that this bailout plan will force a run on banks, particularly in troubled peripheral countries, as other depositors worry about the potential of being hit with a similar tax on deposits in the future," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"The structure of the bailout deal has opened a whole new can of worms, inviting talk of a possible Cyprus exit from the eurozone and reinvigorating concerns about the eurozone debt crisis," O'Hare added.


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Historic Brisbane home engulfed in flame

Hanworth House. 109 Lytton Road, East Brisbane. Source: Supplied

FIVE fire crews are battling to save a heritage-listed homestead on fire in Brisbane's inner east.

Emergency services were called to the blaze at "Hanworth" on Lytton Road at East Brisbane shortly before 12.30am.

A Department of Community Services spokeswoman said 50 per cent of the house was alight when fire crews arrived.

It is not known if the house was vacant at the time but the spokeswoman said all persons were accounted for.

A police spokesman said Lytton Road would be closed to traffic while the blaze was brought under control.

Fire fighters in breathing apparatus were still working to contain the fire at 1.30am.

The 19 bedroom property, built in 1864, sold in September 2012 for over $2 million.

A police spokesperson has warned drivers to expect significant peak hour traffic delays on Tuesday morning on the inbound lanes of Lytton Rd.

Emergency services have urged drivers to avoid the area

Hanworth House. 109 Lytton Road, East Brisbane.


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Web pioneers win Queen's engineering award

FIVE engineers who helped create the internet have been awarded a $US1.5 million ($A1.46 million) prize, which British organisers hope will come to be seen as equivalent to a Nobel prize for engineering.

Robert Kahn, Vinton Cerf and Marc Andreessen of the United States will share the first ever Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering with Louis Pouzin of France and Tim Berners-Lee of Britain.

"The emergence of the internet and the web involved many teams of people all over the world," said Alec Broers, chair of the judging panel.

"However, these five visionary engineers, never before honoured together as a group, led the key developments that shaped the internet and web as a coherent system and brought them into public use."

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, who gives her name to the prize, will present the award to the winners in a formal ceremony in London in June.

Organisers said Kahn, Cerf and Pouzin had made "seminal" contributions to the design and protocols that make up the fundamental architecture of the internet.

Berners-Lee invented the world wide web, the information-sharing system built on top of the internet which allows us to use it in the way we do today.

Andreessen, meanwhile, created the first widely used web browser, Mosaic.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates was among those who pushed for the inaugural prize to be granted to internet pioneers.

"It would be difficult to point to any significant human endeavour that has not been touched profoundly through the invention and deployment of the internet," he said.

"We are living today in only the beginning of the transformations that will come through this enabling technology."

Around a third of the world's population use the internet today, according to UN figures.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize was created last year in a bid to boost the industry's profile and give greater recognition to the revolutionary impact it has on people's lives.


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Qld Health fraudster to be sentenced

THE man accused of fleecing $16 million from Queensland Health will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Joel Barlow, 37, is alleged to have defrauded the government department of millions of dollars while working there between 2007 and 2011.

Barlow, through his lawyer David Shepherd, indicated late last year that he would plead guilty.

He is in custody and due to face a Brisbane court on Tuesday.


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Newman can't shake MP's fund scandal

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 17 Maret 2013 | 22.34

UNDER FIRE: MP Scott Driscoll faces several serious accusations. Picture: Glenn Barnes Source: The Courier-Mail

A STATE Liberal National Party MP has been secretly controlling a taxpayer-funded community association that helps the homeless and other people in need, funneling tens of thousands of dollars in consultancy fees to his wife's company.

The Courier-Mail has established that Redcliffe MP Scott Driscoll has been directing the operations of the Regional Community Association of Moreton Bay, a provider of frontline social services to his electorate, from behind the scenes since becoming an MP.

Mr Driscoll cemented control - with the help of friendly RCAMB members - installing political mates on the board in 2012, getting his wife a job on the payroll and having dissenting staff removed and forcing a troublesome board member to resign.

Former RCAMB staffers have told The Courier-Mail that money was so tight last year they could not access funds to buy food for homeless clients of the RCAMB, which received about $1.6 million in public funding and donations in 2012.

It has been established that Mr Driscoll has had secret day-to-day control of the management of the RCAMB for at least the past 12 months, while Norsefire, a company owned by his wife Emma and where he was sole director until she took over on February 25, received almost $120,000 for consultancy work, only some of which was actually performed.

Emails, invoices and other documents show Norsefire charged $1000 a week until the middle of last year for "media communications strategy and management" and subsequently $2600 a week for "secretariat management fees".

From August 2012 there is no evidence of Norsefire having any employees to conduct any work on behalf of RCAMB.

Even prior to this, RCAMB staff say there was little evidence of any benefit from the "press liaison" work they understood Norsefire had been contracted to do.

Mrs Driscoll, a florist, was from late last year on the payroll as "HR admin officer".

Mr Driscoll wrote her job description, which includes "formal qualification requirement: nil".

On February 28, a day after the Department of Communities asked RCAMB, formerly known as the RCA, for information about payments to consulting companies, Emma Driscoll sent an email to a colleague at the association asking for help to "delete what is in the drop box that was on my laptop which I have of course left at RCA".

"Is there a way we/you can do a complete sweep of that computer both files/trash/word docs etc ... so there is nothing left on there?" she asks.

All the members of the RCAMB board during 2012 except one worked on Mr Driscoll's election campaign, including his campaign director Ben Scott, his campaign treasurer Geoff Jamieson and former local Federal LNP chairman Brian Roselt. Its president until last month was Bruce Mills, another supporter.

The Courier-Mail understands Mr Mills held about half of the votes of the RCAMB's 20 members as proxies, which with the votes of Mr Jamieson, Mr Scott and Mr Roselt gave Mr Driscoll's political mates control of the board.

The other member of the board is understood to be a "client" of the RCAMB's mental health program.

When former RCAMB Treasurer Terry Rogers, himself a former state MP, questioned Norsefire's involvement in the association in March 2012, Mr Driscoll wrote to Mr Mills and Mr Scott saying: "The buck stops with an elected MP or Minister to make any required disclosures not Terry Rogers ...

"I personally suggest it's time his position on this board was considered for him and action taken pretty quickly right now".

Mr Rogers was forced to resign from the board shortly afterwards.

Mr Driscoll has disclosed his directorship of Norsefire but has publicly distanced himself, saying it is "100 per cent owned by my wife".

He has only ever described himself as "patron" of the RCAMB.

But emails show he micromanaged the body, giving instructions on everything from financial audits and how to respond to demands for information from bureaucrats to which airconditioning company should be used.

In January he even banned staff from participating in free health checks provided by Medicare Local.

"The fact paid RCA staff at large are being encouraged or allowed to avail themselves of funded services while the staff are meant to be working in essentially a government funded role could understandably create a catastrophic PR disaster," Mr Driscoll wrote to services manager Tracey Slater on January 17.

Emails also show Mr Driscoll presented Norsefire invoices to RCAMB and chased up payments.

Federal and State Governments are investigating the RCAMB over allegations of mismanagement and financial irregularities following complaints by staff.

Mr Driscoll did not respond to a request for comment. Mr Mills did not respond to questions. Mrs Driscoll could not be reached.

Mr Driscoll won the seat of Redcliffe at the LNP's landslide election victory last year.

Redcliffe had long been considered a Labor stronghold but the force of the LNP victory meant such seats were swept to the conservatives. Mr Driscoll has received strong support from Premier Campbell Newman in Parliament in recent weeks under scrutiny from the Labor Opposition.


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Prince Harry hits town with girlfriend

PRINCE Harry and his girlfriend Cressida Bonas have spent a night out together in London a month after their much-publicised hug on a Swiss ski slope.

Britain's Sunday Daily Star declared on its front page that the Friday night drinks proved "She's the one".

The tabloid splashed photos of the pair leaving reggae bar The Rum Kitchen in Notting Hill.

"Friday night was her (Ms Bonas's) biggest test as the couple faced photographers after hitting several London nightspots," the newspaper stated.

"Dance student Cressida passed with flying colours."

The Mail on Sunday reported Prince Harry, 28, and Ms Bonas, 24, headed straight to The Rum Kitchen's basement nightclub where they drank rum cocktails and danced.

"They looked very much like a couple," the UK tabloid reported one onlooker as saying.

"They were very affectionate. They were hugging and they kissed a few times."

The pair reportedly left separately just after 1am on Saturday morning London time.

Prince Harry's well-documented embrace with Ms Bonas at the Swiss ski resort of Verbier in February led one royal correspondent to note at the time he'd declared his love "in an unprecedented public display of affection".

The third-in-line to the royal throne split with former flame Chelsy Davy in 2010. He was first linked with Ms Bonas in mid-2012.


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Somalia frees rape interview journalist

SOMALIA'S Supreme Court has freed a reporter imprisoned for interviewing a woman who alleged she had been raped by soldiers, in a case that has sparked widespread international criticism.

Supreme Court judge Aidid Abdulahi Ilkahanaf said the charges had been dropped and the court "has given journalist Abdiaziz Abdinuur his freedom back".

Both Abdinuur and the woman were initially sentenced to a year in prison for "offending state institutions". But all charges were dropped against the woman earlier this month, while Abdinuur's sentence was halved.

His release, following more than two months' incarceration and after an appeals court ruled he must remain in jail, came as a surprise to many.

The 25-year-old reporter walked out of the courtroom offering prayers of thanks for his release and thanking those who had supported him.

"I'm very happy that I got my freedom back, I thank those who worked in this process that helped my release including my lawyers", he said.

Abdinuur was detained on January 10 while researching sexual violence in Somalia, but did not air or print a story after interviewing the woman.

He was also found guilty of "making a false interview, and entering the house of a woman whose husband was not present".

The court had initially deemed the woman's story to be false after a midwife conducted a "finger test" to see if she had been raped, which Human Rights Watch (HRW) said was an "unscientific and degrading practice that has long been discredited".

When she was sentenced, the woman was allowed to defer her prison term for six months to breastfeed her infant.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said at the time he was "deeply disappointed" over the case.

Abdinuur works for several Somali radio stations and international media outlets.


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Alstom India boss rescued from kidnappers

THE India head of French multinational engineering group Alstom has been rescued over the weekend hours after being kidnapped near New Delhi, police say.

Police said Rathin Basu was abducted by a group of five men, at least one of whom was armed, late on Friday.

The kidnappers forced him to stop his car and pushed him into their white Camry in Delhi's satellite city of Noida before driving to the northern town of Meerut, said Meerut senior superintendent of police Deepak Kumar.

"We sent out 70 policemen to map the area from Noida to Meerut and after a firefight with the kidnappers, we finally found Mr Basu around 4am on Saturday," Kumar told AFP.

The executive, reportedly in his 60s, was found handcuffed in a small and dingy room, police said.

Kumar said a shopkeeper in Noida is thought to have masterminded the kidnapping. "He was in financial trouble and thought this would help, so he sent his servants and his drivers to do the job," the officer said.

The shopkeeper is being questioned by Noida police, after officers found phone records showing several overnight calls made by the alleged kidnappers to him during the incident.

Basu's family received no demands for ransom during that period, Kumar said.

Three of the five men involved in the kidnapping have been arrested on charges of abduction and attempted murder.


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I hope baby is a boy, Kate reveals

THE Duchess of Cambridge has told a soldier she would like her baby to be a boy as she attended a St Patrick's Day parade at a military barracks.

But Kate, who is five months pregnant, said the Duke, who attended the event with her, would prefer to have a girl.

Ahead of watching the parade at Mons Barracks in Aldershot, Hampshire, the duchess suffered an embarrassing mishap when the heel of one of her shoes became stuck in a drain.

Kate, who showed patriotic spirit in the same green Emilia Wickstead dress coat she wore to the event last year, had to lean on William while she pulled it out with her hand.

Afterwards, the royal couple chatted to soldiers from the 1st Battalion Irish Guards in the Guardsmens' cookhouse.

Guardsman Lee Wheeler, 29, said: "I was talking to her about the baby, of course.

"I asked her 'do you know if it's a girl or boy', and she said 'not yet'.

"She said 'I'd like to have a boy and William would like a girl'. That's always the way.

"I asked her if she had any names yet and she said no.

"I said I suppose you've got to stick to traditional names."


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William given aide-de-camp position

THE Duke of Cambridge has been made a personal aide-de-camp to the Queen, it has been announced.

William's honorary appointment was detailed in the Court Circular and the duke wore the insignia for the first time at the St Patrick's Day parade for the 1st Battalion Irish Guards at Mons Barracks in Aldershot, Hampshire.

The position has few duties but will be seen as symbolic of William's growing role within the royal family.

It comes after a week in which the monarch, who has been suffering from the symptoms of gastroenteritis, cancelled most of her public engagements.

The Court Circular stated the Queen "has been pleased to appoint The Duke of Cambridge as a Personal Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty" with effect from Sunday.

Queen Victoria was the first to institute the appointment of a small group of personal aides-de-camp (ADC) positions, with one of the earliest holders being Prince Louis of Battenberg.

William's father Prince Charles is also a personal aide-de-camp to the monarch.

The Duke of Edinburgh was made personal aide-de-camp by the Queen's father, King George VI.

Principal ADC is an office held by some high-ranking officers in the Armed Services and includes carrying out duties such as attendance on the Queen at the state opening of parliament or representing the Queen at memorial services.

Other ADCs, rarely asked to perform any duties, are also chosen from the Armed Services.

Last year, second in line to the throne William was given the highest honour in Scotland after being installed as a Royal Knight of the Order of the Thistle at a service in Edinburgh.

He is also a Knight of the Garter.


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Irish 'kidnapping' victim 'made up story'

AN Irish property developer who alleged he was kidnapped and held captive for eight months made up the extraordinary story, it has been claimed.

Kevin McGeever reportedly came clean after being arrested on suspicion of wasting police time on Thursday.

The former tycoon from Mayo - who was emaciated and disorientated when found wandering a roadside barefoot - said he made up the elaborate tale to escape financial pressure.

Police sources said the 68-year-old caved under questioning, according to the Sunday Independent.

The newspaper reported the cash-strapped McGeever admitted to staging his kidnapping and subsequent release to keep investors off his back.

His plan went awry when the couple who found him wandering the Cavan-Leitrim border on January 29 insisted on bringing him to a police station, which led to a full-scale investigation.

McGeever, who had lost about 32kg, claimed he had been abducted at gunpoint from his gated mansion in May last year.

The businessman had the word "thief" inked on his forehead when he was found. His beard had grown out and his finger nails had not been cut for months.

He has since admitted the eight-month ruse was an attempt to get breathing space from people hounding him for cash.

He also hoped they would leave him alone following his emergence from the alleged captivity for fear they might become suspects in the "abduction", the Sunday Independent reported.

McGeever said he lived in self-imposed exile in a remote part of the west of Ireland.

He was quizzed by police for 24 hours but released without charge on Friday night.

A police spokesman said on Sunday a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.


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