Vic Point Nepean master plan released

SOME things in life don't change, even over the course of more than 150 years.

From the mid 1850s, unwell first-class passengers arriving at Point Nepean in Victoria were given the best rooms with a view at the quarantine station so they could take in the glorious vistas of Port Phillip Bay.

Now the former station's first-class quarters in the national park are slated to be transformed into a boutique hotel or some other high-end accommodation.

It is just one of 57 largely unused buildings to be either reinvigorated or demolished under the Point Nepean master plan.

The Victorian government released the plan on Sunday, with expressions of interest from the private sector to open in coming months.

Last month, the government made public the rules for developments in national parks.

Stuart Hughes from Parks Victoria said adaptive reuse of existing buildings was the way forward.

"Our objective is to bring the place to life," he said.

Near the first-class quarters at the quarantine station stands the medical superintendent's house that was built in 1899. It was last used to house Kosovo refugees in 1999 and could soon be used as a day spa facility.

The quarantine station was established in 1852 and from 1952 the buildings also housed the Army Officer Cadet School.

The army officer cadet mess hall is expected to be transformed into a restaurant and function centre that can seat up to 300 people. It has already been used for several weddings.

It won't all be high-end offerings, with backpacker accommodation and a camping ground to be considered, along with an art gallery and a marine education facility.

There are also plans to establish a coffee shop near the visitor centre with the opportunity for visitors to learn about the multi-layered history of Point Nepean, including stories from the indigenous Boonwurrung people.

Peter Watkinson, from the Department of Sustainability and Environment, said at this stage there were no height or capacity restrictions for new buildings or renovations.

"You don't want to stifle innovation," he said.

Environment Minister Ryan Smith said the government was determined to strike the right balance between preserving the historical, natural and cultural values of the national park and supporting tourism and other opportunities.

"Appropriate and sensitive private investment is critical in ensuring the long-term survival of the site's historic and culturally significant buildings," he said.

Victorian National Parks Association executive director Matt Ruchel said he supported adaptive reuse of existing structures but the government should rule out new multi-storey buildings.

Visitors to the national park grew from 50,000 a year in 2009 to 180,000 in 2012.

Mr Hughes said the park could easily accommodate a more than doubling of annual visitor numbers.

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Bomb blast on bus kills nine in Pakistan

A BOMB blast on a bus in Peshawar has killed at least nine people, in the latest attack to hit Pakistan's troubled northwest ahead of historic polls next month.

The explosion occurred just hours after militants blew up the election offices of an independent candidate in the North Wazirstan tribal district fuelling concerns that violence will mar general elections on May 11.

"At least nine passengers have been killed and seven injured. Bomb disposal officials told me that it was a timed device," Fazal Wahid, a senior police official told AFP.

Another officer, Imran Shahid said police were investigating the possibility a suicide bomber was involved in the attack which occurred as the was bus passing through the city's Matani suburb.

There was no immediate claim for responsibility, but Peshawar is regularly targeted by the Pakistani Taliban who have waged an insurgency against the state since 2007.

An intelligence official in the city said the attack may be a reaction to a fresh military push in the Tirah valley of the Khyber tribal district, where the army has been fighting Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam militants.

Military officials said heavy fighting between Pakistani troops and militants has killed 23 soldiers and 110 militants in Khyber this week.

Khyber straddles the NATO supply line into Afghanistan, used by US-led troops to evacuate military equipment ahead of their 2014 withdrawal.

Officials say securing Khyber is key to protecting security in Peshawar, ahead of elections which will mark the country's first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has served a full term in office.

Abdul Haq, a senior bomb disposal expert told AFP that four to five kilograms of highly explosive material was used.

The bomb destroyed three shops and a motorcycle, police and witnesses said.

"I was going to buy some milk when a huge blast took place. It was so powerful that it threw me back in my shop," Asad Khan, an 18-year-old shopkeeper in the market told AFP from his hospital bed.

Khan sustained injuries in his right shoulder and legs.

Anwar Ali, a passenger in the bus said the blast overturned the vehicle.

"I was sitting in the front seat when a powerful wave struck me and my head hit the front wind screen. I don't know what happened after that," Ali told AFP.

In an earlier incident, militants blew up the election office of Kamran Khan, a former legislator from North Waziristan who supported the outgoing government led by the Pakistan People's Party. No one was hurt.

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Newtown mum pleads for gun control

THE mother of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Newtown school shooting in the US has made a deeply personal plea from the White House for action to combat gun violence, choking back tears almost from the start of her speech.

Francine Wheeler, whose son, Ben, was killed in the December 14 attack inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, stepped in for President Barack Obama to deliver the president's weekly radio and internet address. She is the first person to deliver the address other than Obama or Vice President Joe Biden since the two took office in 2009.

"Thousands of other families across the United States are also drowning in our grief," Wheeler said in the address. "Please help us do something before our tragedy becomes your tragedy."

Her husband, David Wheeler, sat silently next to her as she made the recording in the White House Library. Both wore the small green pins that have become a symbol of the schoolhouse shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six adults.

Obama asked Wheeler to deliver this week's address, which was taped Friday and released on Saturday. The White House said Wheeler and her husband wrote the remarks themselves.

"Sometimes, I close my eyes and all I can remember is that awful day waiting at the Sandy Hook Volunteer Firehouse for the boy who would never come home - the same firehouse that was home to Ben's Tiger Scout Den 6," Francine Wheeler said. "But other times, I feel Ben's presence filling me with courage for what I have to do, for him and all the others taken from us so violently and too soon."

Some of the Sandy Hook families, with Obama's blessing, have launched a stepped-up effort to push a gun control bill through Congress.

As the fate of the legislation appeared uncertain last week, Obama travelled to Hartford, Connecticut - about an hour's drive from Newtown - to make his case for the legislation. On the return trip to Washington, he brought back 12 of the victims' family members, who have been meeting with senators.

The Senate is considering a Democratic bill backed by Obama that would expand background checks, strengthen laws against illegal gun trafficking and slightly increase school security aid. The bill passed its first hurdle on Thursday.

Shortly after the vote, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the voices of the Newtown families may have been the decisive factor.

The bill before the Senate stops well short of Obama's call to ban assault rifles and the high capacity magazines that leave shooters able to fire large bursts of ammunition without having to reload.

It would subject almost all gun buyers to background checks, stiffen federal laws barring illicit firearms sales and provide slightly more money for school safety measures. Background checks are aimed at preventing criminals and mentally ill people from getting weapons, and gun control advocates consider broadening the system to be the most effective step available to lawmakers.

Opponents including the National Rifle Association, a gun rights lobbying group, say the measures would infringe on the constitutional right to bear arms and inconvenience law-abiding citizens while being easy for criminals to evade.

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US stocks fall on drop in retail sales

US stocks opened have lower after a government report showed a drop in March retail sales.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 41.09 (0.28 per cent) to 14,824.05.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 6.49 (0.41 per cent) to 1,586.88, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 10.68 (0.32 per cent) to 3,289.48.

The losses came after the Commerce Department reported a 0.4 percent drop in March retail sales compared with February. Sales were down over a number of key categories: auto, electronics, food and beverage, health spending and gasoline.

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NSW police seize 95,000 pirated DVDs

POLICE have seized 95,000 counterfeit DVDs from a northwest Sydney storage unit as investigations into a large-scale piracy network continue.

The storage unit in Kings Park was on Friday raided as part of Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, ATO and NSW police investigations.

DVD sleeves and paper work were also seized, police said.

No one has yet been charged over the incident and police are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1300 333 000.

Last Friday, around 1.2 million suspected counterfeit high-quality DVDs, estimated to be worth $20 million, were found by police at a Kings Park home.

A 28-year-old Marayong woman was arrested after last week's seizure.

She was subsequently charged with two counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception and selling, infringing copy of a work.

Strict conditional bail was granted and she's due before Blacktown Local Court on May 2.

Investigations into the piracy network are continuing, police said.

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NSW man attacks police with samurai sword

POLICE have been attacked with a samurai sword by a man they were trying to arrest on the NSW mid-north coast.

About 2.30 pm (AEST) Friday four officers went to a home in Eungai Creek to arrest a man after a warrant was issued by Macksville Local Court.

"As police approached the front door, a man exited the premises allegedly armed with a Samurai sword," police said in a statement.

A fight broke out between the officers and the 51-year-old.

A male detective was cut on the left hand as police attempted to disarm the man.

Another male detective senior constable "sustained soreness to his right hand and left arm," police said.

The assailant was taken to Macksville Hospital and was treated for a number of wounds.

He was charged by virtue of the warrant and also for using a weapon to to avoid apprehension and resisting arrest.

Bail was refused and he's due before Kempsey Local Court on Monday.

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Man dies after rolling ute in Queensland

A MAN has died after rolling his ute in central Queensland.

Police say they found a male driver, believed to be in his 30s, dead at the scene of the crash south of Mitchell about 9pm (AEST).

The forensic crash unit is investigating.

No further information was available.

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Crean scathing of Gillard leadership

FORMER minister Simon Crean has made a scathing assessment of Prime Minister Julia Gillard's leadership, saying she has a "tin ear" for sound political strategy.

Mr Crean says Ms Gillard is engaging in class warfare by playing off interest groups, Fairfax Media reports.

He says he will continue to campaign for a return to Labor traditions and said the party was deluding itself that destabilisation by Kevin Rudd was the sole reason for its trouble in the polls.

"I've been through destabilisation," referring to the time when he was Labor leader in 2001-03, "and we never went this low."

He said Ms Gillard was not living up to the principles of consensus and inclusiveness established by former prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.

"She's gone the class warfare," Mr Crean is quoted as telling Fairfax Media.

"The 457 visa debate was a good example of the message being taken out of context because it looked like we'll put Australians before foreigners. Unequivocally, immigration has been good for this country. That's not the ethos of the Hawke-Keating model. How have we built the country? By cohesion. We are seen outside as the great success story of multiculturalism. Why don't we play to it? Play to strength."

He said Mr Rudd was "just arrogant, but she's got a tin ear. She sits there - 'Mmm' and listens but it doesn't translate.

"Because somewhere along the way she gets the word that here's the angle on how you get tomorrow's headline."

Ms Gillard sacked Mr Crean from her cabinet and submitted herself to a party room ballot for the leadership in March. But Mr Rudd declined to contest. Mr Crean said that Mr Rudd was now "finished".

After his unsuccessful attempt to install Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister, Mr Crean said the destabilisation within the party would stop and Prime Minister Julia Gillard had his support.

"A line has been drawn ... on the leadership issue," he told Fairfax Radio in March.

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Iraq bombs against Sunnis kill 12

BOMBS against Sunni Muslim worshippers in Baghdad and north of the capital killed 12 people on Friday, officials said, the latest in an uptick in violence ahead of provincial elections next week.

In the deadliest single blast, a roadside bomb struck after prayers at the Omar bin Abdul Aziz mosque, in the town of Kanaan in restive Diyala province, a police colonel and a doctor said.

Overall, 12 people were killed and 30 others wounded, the sources said.

Two more bombings, in Baghdad and another town in Diyala, one near a Sunni mosque and the other as Sunni worshippers were returning from mid-day prayers, wounded seven.

Iraq is to hold provincial elections on April 20, its first polls since 2010.

Attacks on candidates have left at least a dozen election hopefuls dead, according to an AFP tally. That, and the fact that only 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces will vote due to a government postponement, has drawn the credibility of the polls into question.

They come with the country mired in a political crisis that has pitted Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki against several of his erstwhile national unity cabinet partners, and amid more than three months of anti-government protests by the Sunni Arab minority.

Violence killed 271 Iraqis last month, the highest monthly figure since August, according to an AFP tally.

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Sting catches alleged Red Bull blackmailer

AN Austrian who allegedly blackmailed Red Bull by threatening to put excrement in its energy drinks is behind bars after a sting operation straight out of the movies.

The 47-year-old man, who has not been named, thought he was meeting someone from Red Bull with a bag full of money late on Wednesday. Instead he was arrested by an armed police unit.

"This was no amateur," local police chief Herrmann Rechberger told a news conference. "The money in the package was real and it was in a black bag, just as he had demanded. He gave instructions by phone and SMS."

He said the suspect kept changing the location for the handover: "It was very difficult for us to stay in contact with him. The operation began at 1pm and the arrest wasn't till 9.45pm."

"The operation was like something out a film," said Salzburg police chief Franz Ruf.

Red Bull, built up from nothing to a global beverages behemoth by a former Austrian toothpaste executive, revealed in March that someone was trying to blackmail it.

"We notified the police when it became clear that this was not another case of insane letters," company executive Roland Concin said.

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Girl hospitalised after being hit by car

AN eight-year-old girl is in a critical condition in hospital after being hit by a car in Sydney's southwest.

Police found the girl unconscious in the back of another car on Wilga Street, Fairfield, in Sydney's southwest about 6pm (AEST) on Thursday.

They're investigating reports the girl ran onto the road before she was hit by a car.

She was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

The driver of the car stopped after the collision and was assisting police with inquiries.

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Even non-amputees experience phantom limbs

AMPUTEES often experience "phantom limbs", or the sensation that their missing limb is still present, but a Swedish study shows that even non-amputees can experience the bizarre sensation.

"Our results show that the sight of a physical hand is remarkably unimportant to the brain for creating the experience of one's physical self," said the lead author of the study, Arvid Guterstam of Sweden's prestigious Karolinska Institute.

Phantom limbs can be distressing and painful for amputees, and drugs cannot help as the sensation is essentially a trick of the brain, which imagines the existence of a limb that is not there.

Guterstam said his team hoped the results of their study would help lead to future research on amputees' phantom pain.

The researchers conducted 11 different experiments creating a perceptual illusion so that volunteers with two arms and hands experienced having an invisible hand.

In the experiments, participants sat at a table with their right arm hidden from their view behind a screen.

A scientist then touched the participant's right hand with a paintbrush while imitating the exact movements with another paintbrush in mid-air within the participant's full view.

"We discovered that most participants, within less than a minute, transfer the sensation of touch to the region of empty space where they see the paintbrush move, and experience an invisible hand in that position," Guterstam said.

"Previous research has shown that non-bodily objects, such as a block of wood, cannot be experienced as one's own hand, so we were extremely surprised to find that the brain can accept an invisible hand as part of the body," he added.

In another experiment, researchers made a stabbing motion with a knife toward the empty space "occupied" by the invisible hand and measured the participant's sweat response in their palms to the perceived threat.

They found that the participants' stress responses were higher when they experienced the illusion, but absent when the illusion was broken.

And in a third experiment, the volunteers were asked to close their eyes and point with their left hand to their right hand. After having experienced the illusion for a while, they pointed to the location of their invisible hand instead of the real hand.

Researchers also measured brain activity, and found that the invisible hand illusion led to increased activity in the parts of the brain that are normally active when individuals see their real hand being touched.

Seventy-four per cent of the 234 volunteers experienced a phantom limb during the experiments, Guterstam said.

The results were published Thursday in the US Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

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Thatcher street debate rages in Paris

A PROPOSAL to rename a Paris street after late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher has divided politicians in the French capital, Le Figaro newspaper reports.

The proposal to honour the "Iron Lady", who regularly jousted with French leaders whether they were from the Left or the Right, came from a member of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

Following the announcement of Thatcher's death on Monday, UMP councillor Jerome Dubus said he would submit a proposal for a street or square to be named after her, as a "a small gesture for a great lady".

His proposal drew contempt from leftist politicians.

The leader of the Communist group in the city council, Ian Brossat, who declared that Thatcher's "ultra-liberalism" had an "appalling impact on the state and the working class".

Brossat said his group would submit a counterproposal - to name a street after Bobby Sands, "who died for defending the right of people to self-determination".

Sands was the first of 10 IRA prisoners, who died on hunger strike in Belfast in 1981 over Thatcher's refusal to grant political status to republican inmates.

During the course of his hunger strike, Sands was elected to the House of Commons.

A Socialist Party councillor had yet another idea.

"Dumbfounded" by the proposal for a Thatcher street, Christophe Gerard tweeted: "I will present a wish for a Shakespeare street."

The proposals are expected to be debated at the next session of the Paris council on April 22.

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Mali PM urges French troops to stay

MALI'S prime minister has urged France to maintain a military presence in its former colony, as troops began an early withdrawal three months after ousting armed Islamists from the country's north.

Diango Cissoko made the plea on a tour of Gao, the first visit to the battle-scarred northern city by a head of government since it was overrun by Al Qaeda-linked militants more than a year ago.

The premier, who was welcomed by locals and military personnel, paid tribute to the French troops who intervened to liberate northern Mali from the armed militias in January.

"The Malian nation will be eternally grateful," he said.

But he urged the French army to "continue on this path" and stay in Mali, despite Paris pulling out 100 soldiers ahead of schedule this week as part of a phased withdrawal of the majority of its 4,000 troops.

France has said it will leave 2,000 soldiers on the ground throughout the summer, reducing its presence by the end of the year to a "support force" of 1,000 fighting alongside a UN-mandated army of some 11,000 troops.

The cities of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal fell in March last year to Tuareg rebels who declared independence of the entire desert north before losing control to armed Islamists.

French warplanes bombed parts of Gao in January to drive out fighters from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), and the city was recaptured for the Bamako government by French and Malian forces on January 26.

Just days later, jihadists managed to infiltrate the city, where they staged the first suicide bombing in Mali's history.

French troops fighting alongside the Malian army and other African soldiers have largely succeeded in driving Islamist insurgents from the north but pockets of resistance remain, particularly in the Gao region.

A thousand French soldiers have been conducting an operation to destroy MUJAO's logistics infrastructure in a valley north of Gao since Sunday.

Parallel to the ongoing military operations, the international community is pushing for a formal process of reconciliation between the deeply divided nation's diverse ethnic communities ahead of presidential elections scheduled for July.

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Pistorius out and about while on bail

THE family of athlete Oscar Pistorius says the South African runner has been spending time with people who were close to the girlfriend he shot and killed in February.

A statement from the family of the double-amputee Olympian also said Thursday that Pistorius has spent that time in "surroundings where shared memories were created."

The statement indicates Pistorius is interacting more with people outside his uncle Arnold's home in Pretoria, where he has been staying since he was released on bail in February.

Pistorius has been charged with murder in the Valentine's Day killing of Reeva Steenkamp. He called the killing an accident, saying he thought he was firing at an intruder through a bathroom door.

His next scheduled court appearance is June 4.

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OECD report recommends My School changes

AUSTRALIAN schools are performing well by international standards despite a recent "significant" decline in reading performance, a global agency says.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in a report published on Thursday, said Australia was among five OECD countries that recorded a significant fall in student performance in reading between 2000 and 2009.

The variation between low and high performing students in Australia was also higher than the OECD average in reading and science.

Despite this, Australian student learning outcomes were "very good" by international standards.

The OECD report praised the federal government's controversial My School website, which compares schools' literacy and numeracy scores with the results of statistically similar institutions and to the national average.

But it warned that it could lead to some "undesired effects" in placing too great a reliance on NAPLAN test results.

For instance, it could lead to a "narrowing effect" on the curriculum to more closely align with NAPLAN tests.

"There is also a danger that schools which perform satisfactorily may become complacent as the spotlight falls on those schools which perform least well comparatively," the OECD report said.

It recommended that direct links be provided on the My School website to school reports, which could shed more light on "the factors which have influenced performance".

Federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett said the report recognised the many steps taken by the Gillard government to improve the quality of school education.

"In particular, the report highlights the establishment of teaching standards, and teacher appraisal, as a major development to help ensure every school has suitably qualified teachers," he said in a statement.

But Mr Garrett acknowledged more work was required to ensure every Australian child had access to a better education.

The minister said the federal government was discussing the final details of its review for a new funding system with state and territory counterparts and the non-government school sector.

Mr Garrett said the plan would be presented at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on April 19.

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Thatcher's son praises support for mum

MARGARET Thatcher's son Mark says his mother would have been "greatly honoured" by the presence of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at her funeral next week.

In the first reaction from the family, Mark Thatcher said they had been "overwhelmed" by the messages of support they have received since the former British prime minister died on Monday.

"I would like to say how enormously proud and grateful we are that Her Majesty has agreed to attend the service next week in St Paul's," the 59-year-old said on Wednesday outside the Thatcher home in central London.

"And I know my mother would be greatly honoured as well as humbled by her presence."

Britain's prime minister from 1979 to 1990, Margaret Thatcher died on Monday following a stroke. She was 87.

Thatcher's two children - Mark and his twin sister Carol - were overseas when their mother died.

"By any measure, my mother was blessed with a long life and very full one," her son said.

However inevitable the conclusion may have been of her recent illness, "it is no easier for us to bear in what is, without doubt, a very sad moment."

Flowers and tributes have been left outside the house, as well as at Downing Street, in parliament, and at places associated with the political titan, such as her birthplace, her constituency, and at the street named after her in the Falkland Islands.

"We have quite simply been overwhelmed by messages of support, condolence, of every type from far and wide and I know that my mother would be pleased they have come from people of all walks of life," said Mark Thatcher.

"These messages often convey personal stories and vignettes of part of the journey of my mother's life and we are all enormously grateful for the warmth that these messages convey.

"They will be a source of encouragement and strength as we face the inevitable days ahead and for that I am most grateful."

Lady Thatcher will have a ceremonial funeral with full military honours - a step below a full state funeral, in accordance with her wishes - next Wednesday at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Queen Elizabeth has not attended the funeral of any of her prime ministers since the state funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965, also held at St Paul's.

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Test-tube baby pioneer Robert Edwards dies

BRITISH scientist Robert Edwards, who was awarded a Nobel prize for his pioneering work in developing in vitro fertilisation (IVF), has died aged 87.

Edwards spent his career making the dream of having a baby come true for millions of people worldwide, running into conflict with the Catholic Church and fellow scientists on his way.

He was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 2010, three decades after the birth of the world's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, in 1978, and five decades after he first began experimenting.

"It is with deep sadness that the family announces that Professor Sir Robert Edwards, Nobel prizewinner, scientist and co-pioneer of IVF, passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 10, 2013 after a long illness," the University of Cambridge said in a statement on Wednesday.

"He will be greatly missed by family, friends and colleagues."

Edwards was too frail to pick up his Nobel prize in Stockholm in 2010, leaving that to his wife Ruth, with whom he had five daughters. However, he remained a fellow of Churchill College at Cambridge until his death.

His work was motivated by his belief, as he once described it, that "the most important thing in life is having a child. Nothing is more special than a child".

"Bob Edwards is one of our greatest scientists," said Mike Macnamee, chief executive of Bourn Hall, the IVF clinic that Edwards founded with Patrick Steptoe, a gynaecological surgeon.

"His inspirational work in the early 1960s led to a breakthrough that has enhanced the lives of millions of people worldwide."

He added: "It was a privilege to work with him and his passing is a great loss to us all."

Born in Yorkshire in northern England on September 27, 1925, into a working-class family, Edwards served in the British army during World War II before returning home to study first agricultural sciences and then animal genetics.

Building on earlier research which showed that egg cells from rabbits could be fertilised in test tubes when sperm was added, Edwards developed the same technique for humans.

In a laboratory in Cambridge, eastern England, in 1968, he first saw life created outside the womb in the form of a human blastocyst, an embryo that has developed for five to six days after fertilisation.

"I'll never forget the day I looked down the microscope and saw something funny in the cultures," Edwards once recalled.

"I looked down the microscope and what I saw was a human blastocyst gazing up at me. I thought: 'We've done it'."

But Edwards and Steptoe, who died in 1988, were forced to defend their work in the face of severe opposition, from the media, the Catholic Church - and fellow scientists.

At a conference on biomedical ethics in Washington in 1971, the Nobel laureate James Watson, who with Francis Crick had discovered DNA, said IVF research would necessitate infanticide.

Addressing the conference, Edwards defended his work with the passion and energy that characterised all his work, and received a standing ovation.

He remained convinced to the end that the Catholic Church was wrong to object to IVF, saying clergy who condemn the technique were "totally mistaken".

"Catholics are told not to do it and yet Catholics go and do it. All the Popes have done for themselves is teach their people to disobey them," he argued.

Such was the controversy surrounding the birth of Louise Brown that her mother had to give birth in secret to avoid the media, but Edwards always spoke of it with great pride.

Celebrating Brown's 30th birthday in 2008, he said: "I think the whole thing is incredible."

"Few biologists have so positively and practically impacted on humankind," said Peter Braude, emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Kings College London.

"Bob's boundless energy, his innovative ideas, and his resilience despite the relentless criticism by naysayers, changed the lives of millions of ordinary people who now rejoice in the gift of their own child. He leaves the world a much better place."

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Thousands of kids behind with their shots

TENS of thousands of Australian children are behind with their vaccinations and at risk from contagious diseases.

The threat is heightened further for those too young or ill to be vaccinated.

The biggest problem is among children aged five, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Health Performance Authority.

The report, based on 2011/12 data from the Childhood Immunisation Register, assesses the number of children considered fully immunised at one year, two years and five years.

It says 76,769 out of nearly 900,000 are not up to date and identifies 32 geographical areas where people are most at risk.

In these areas, at least 15 out of 100 children are behind in at least one of the age groups.

On the upside, 77 of 325 areas have immunisation rates of at least 95 per cent in at least one of the three age groups.

The best performing area across all three age groups is Maitland in NSW, where 95 per cent or more children are fully vaccinated.

The worst performer across all three age groups is "Richmond Valley - coastal" in NSW, where 85 per cent or fewer children are up to date.

Overall, two year olds have the best vaccination rates but many children fall behind by the age of five.

National Health Performance Authority CEO Dr Diane Watson says the report "shows we have done well to protect children in most local areas and is intended to help local communities better target their efforts".

She says more work is needed to explain why the drop-off occurs among five year-olds and why areas with similar demographics have significantly different figures.

Another question is why the rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are high in some areas and low in others.

The results are reported by Medicare Local catchment areas and some are broken down into 325 smaller areas used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Results are also available for more than 1500 postcodes at www.nhpa.gov.au

NSW Director of Health Protection Jeremy McAnulty says immunisation rates have improved dramatically over the past 15 years but "getting those last few is really hard".

Dr McAnulty says a major problem is that parents are busy and forget how important it is to have vaccinations done on time.

Victoria Chief Health Officer Rosemary Lester says immunisation protects individual children against dangerous diseases but also protects people who are not immunised.

"If you have a very high rate of immunisation, diseases like measles cannot find enough susceptible people to circulate," Dr Lester said.

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Aust ranking falls in global IT survey

AUSTRALIA continues to fall in global rankings on how ready business and governments are to benefit from using information technology (IT).

In the 2013 Global Information Technology survey produced by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Australia ranked 18th of 144 nations, down one spot from the previous year and from ninth place in 2004.

The nation's ranking for individual IT use rose one spot to 15th, but dropped three places to 25th for business use and down 11 positions to 19th for government.

"This reinforces both the need for high speed ubiquitous broadband but importantly, the critical need to invest in lifting the skills needed to gain the greatest benefit from this infrastructure," Australian Industry (Ai) Group chief executive Innes Willox said in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Willox said businesses required confidence and knowledge to invest, and governments needed policies in areas such as skills, innovation, cutting red tape, cybersecurity and buying technology goods.

"Lifting productivity is front and centre of the economic agenda and ICT adoption is an important part of this challenge," he said.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated investment in information and communications technology (ICT) accounted for nearly a third of Australia's labour productivity growth between 2000 and 2009, he said.

Mr Willox said businesses wanted all political parties to support the rollout of high-speed broadband infrastructure.

The political battle over broadband policy has begun after the coalition launched its broadband proposal on Tuesday.

It promised a cheaper and quicker plan to build national broadband network than Labor's but critics say it will have slower broadband speeds.

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Kids spend too long watching screens

CHILDREN are spending more than half their spare time in front of a screen after embracing smart device technology, a study has found.

Tablets and smartphones have joined TV as the major entertainers of children, the New Generations study found.

Kids spend more than half their spare time in front of devices, sparking concerns children are not spending enough time interacting with real people and getting exercise.

More than half of the children surveyed had a smartphone and two-thirds of children have used an app device, the study found.

On average children are accessing 7.1 apps a month.

Children are abandoning gaming consoles - their use has dropped 32 per cent since the last survey in 2011.

Psychologist Professor Matthew Sanders said it was "extremely concerning" that parents are allowing their kids to spend so much time in front of a screen.

"Kids need to be able to amuse themselves in a whole variety of ways," he told AAP.

"I just reject he idea that because lots of kids are doing it, it is necessarily healthy or desirable.

"What is a much more preferable alternative is that children have closely monitored screen time and participate in activities that are age appropriate."

Prof Sanders said children should not spend more than two hours a day in front of a screen and should spend time doing things such as physical activity, talking to friends in person and reading.

But he said there is no doubt there are highly engaging applications on smart technology devices that have a very positive purpose.

Peter Hammer, a research manager for Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, who conducted the study, said the combination of internet enabled devices was creating powerful ways to connect with children.

"Apps have redefined the way that parents are entertaining kids."

He said the rapid explosion of smart devices has changed the way children are accessing the internet and playing games.

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Man's body found in Sydney's southwest

THE body of a man has been found wrapped in a sheet in Sydney's southwest with police treating the death as suspicious.

About 11.25 pm (AEST) on Wednesday, police were called to Antwerp Street in Bankstown and found the man's body near the road wrapped in a sheet.

A crime scene, which will be examined by specialist police, has been established.

No further details were available.

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GM to invest $A4.79 bn in Opel/Vauxhall

GENERAL Motors will invest four billion euros ($A4.79 billion) in its German subsidiary Opel and British sister brand Vauxhall in 2013-2016, the US auto giant's chief saya.

"As a global automotive company, GM needs a strong presence in Europe, in terms of design and development as well as manufacturing and sales," GM chairman and chief executive Dan Akerson said at Opel headquarters in western Germany.

He said the investment aimed to allow Opel and Vauxhall to grow in the medium term and would permit Opel to launch 23 new models and 13 new power train transmission units by 2016.

Opel is "on the right track" and has GM's "full support" in its restructuring plan as well as its aim to balance its books by mid-decade, Akerson told gathered Opel chiefs, local politicians and workers.

The German carmaker has been making losses for years as it has been slow to react to the crisis in demand for cars in Europe, and GM has ordered Opel's management to prescribe draconian cost-cutting.

The restructuring plan was approved by three of Opel's sites in Germany recently, except at its Bochum factory.

Last month Opel said it would press ahead with plans to phase out auto production at Bochum at the end of 2014, earlier than planned.

A proposed agreement for keeping Bochum open until the end of 2016 - in exchange for a wage freeze, the giving up of some fringe benefits and other cost-saving measures - was rejected by unions and employees.

However the plan was accepted at Opel's other three sites in Germany.

"Those cars can be sold outside Europe if it makes sense," Akerson said adding it was "a time of challenge but also of excitement and optimism".

Workers have in the past reproached the US giant for its strategy of confining sales to Europe.

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Boy, 6, shot by 4-year-old in US

US authorities are deciding whether to charge anyone after police say a six-year-old was shot in the head by a four-year-old in New Jersey.

The older boy is in serious condition.

Authorities are still investigating how the younger child obtained the .22-calibre rifle from his family's home on Monday night.

Police Chief Michael Mastronardy says the children were outside the four-year-old's home when the boy went inside, got the rifle and shot the six-year-old about 15 metres away.

It's not clear if the four-year-old pulled the trigger or if the rifle accidentally discharged.

The parents of the four-year-old were home at the time.

No names have been released.

The shooting comes amid debate over gun control laws in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting.

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Vatican prepares for adult stem cell talks

THE Vatican will organise a conference to promote adult stem cell research as an alternative to research using destroyed human embryos, which is considered by the Roman Catholic Church as deeply unethical and less effective.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture, at a briefing on Tuesday said several leading world scientists would attend on Thursday including Britain's John Gurdon, winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine last year.

Ravasi said the upcoming meeting showed the Church did "not intervene only negatively" in the debate on stem cell research and its commitment to finding cures was not only "words".

The cardinal said he would personally present Pope Francis with the results of the three-day conference, which will include examples of successful therapy using adult stem cells.

The conference follows a similar one held in November 2011 and like the previous one it is being organised together with the US laboratory NeoStem, headed up by Robin Smith, who is also president of the "Stem for Life Foundation".

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Vic school group claims funding cut

ALMOST one in five Victorian private schools would lose money next year under the federal government's funding reforms, an independent school lobby group says.

Independent Schools Victoria says it will tell its 210 member schools the group can't recommend accepting the government's proposed funding model because the modelling is flawed.

Group chief executive Michelle Green's criticisms include that the modelling is based on 2011 information and contains inaccuracies or uses 2010 data.

It also provides no indexation and transition arrangements beyond 2014, and the federal government has indicated the model might change before coming into operation, Ms Green says.

Affected schools would include those that charge low fees, are in low socioeconomic areas, or cater for students with special needs.

"While Victorian Independent schools will gain funding in 2014, 38 will receive less than if the arrangements had stayed the same," Ms Green said in a statement on Wednesday.

"It is particularly unfortunate that schools that can least afford to lose funding are the worst affected."

Current funding arrangements should be extended for the next two years, with more time needed for open talks between federal and state governments and the independent and Catholic school sectors, Ms Green said.

Federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett has said no school will be worse off in real terms under the government's funding model.

The federal government is seeking to next week finalise a funding agreement with the states and territories that would see an extra $6.5 billion a year spent on education by 2019.

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Dutch chippies offer cannabis mayonnaise

A CHAIN of Dutch chip shops is to start offering cannabis mayonnaise on their fries, but the resulting snack will not give you the munchies or make you high.

"I had the idea because I smell the cannabis coming from the coffee shop opposite my chip shop in Amsterdam every day," Manneken Pis chip shop chain owner Albert van Beek said on Tuesday.

Unlike the cannabis sold in Dutch coffee shops, the mayonnaise will contain none of the active ingredient THC.

"It's just about the taste. We specialise in sauces and we constantly want to diversify," Van Beek said.

Menus will clearly state the mayonnaise, vastly more popular with chips in the Netherlands and Belgium than ketchup or vinegar, contains no euphoric THC.

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Sydney woman seriously injured in shooting

A WOMAN has been seriously injured in a shooting in western Sydney.

The woman arrived at Blacktown Hospital with a gunshot wound to her back about 10.15pm (AEST) on Tuesday, police say.

She is thought to be aged in her early 20s and was driven there by her male partner.

The woman was transferred to Westmead Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Officers have established a crime scene at a home on Aliberti Drive in Blacktown, but are not yet sure where the shooting occurred.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Israeli gets life for Palestian murders

AN Israeli court has sentenced an extreme rightwing US-born Jewish settler to two life terms in prison for the murder of two Palestinians in 1997.

Jack Teitel, 40, was found guilty in January of murdering a bus driver and a shepherd as well as two separate attempted murders, for illegal possession of weapons and incitement to violence.

The religious activist was handed two life sentences by the Jerusalem District Court, one for each of his victims, and will have to pay compensation of 180,000 shekels ($A45,345) to each of their families.

Teitel was also sentenced to 30 years for the two attempted murders and other offences.

At Tuesday's hearing, judge Yoed Cohen said in his verdict: "The day after Holocaust Memorial Day - which marks the deaths of millions of Jews at the hands of a racist, insane ideology - one man, a Jew, must remember that you should never kill."

At the January hearing, the court ruled that Teitel was mentally competent when he carried out the offences, and rejected his lawyers' arguments that their client had not been mentally stable and was therefore not guilty.

The father-of-four from the West Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel has been branded by the Israeli press as a "Jewish terrorist."

He was arrested in 2009.

In January, he admitted carrying out a 2008 bomb attack on the home of leading leftwing Israeli professor Zeev Sternhell, wounding him.

He also admitted sending a parcel bomb to a Jewish couple that accepts Jesus as the Messiah, wounding their 15-year-old son.

Teitel, who immigrated from the United States, is also known for his hatred of homosexuals, calling for the murder of "sodomites".

Settlers frequently clash with Palestinians in the West Bank, but killings are rare. The most infamous incident was the 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinians by a radical American-born settler in a mosque in the West Bank town of Hebron.

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IMF warns central banks to watch inflation

THE International Monetary Fund has warned central banks to keep an eye on inflation and resist political pressure to focus policy only on lowering unemployment.

With many governments desperate to find ways to generate jobs, the IMF said on Tuesday, it was ever more important for central banks to assert their independence to keep an eye on all potential problems in the economy - whether growth, prices, or jobs.

"In the wake of the Great Recession, there is political urgency to reduce unemployment," the IMF said in a section of its World Economic Outlook.

"Instead, what our analysis underscores is that, whatever the source, limits on central banks' independence and operational restrictions that limit their flexibility in responding to evolving challenges can cause problems and must be avoided."

While the IMF played down the immediate threat of a surge in inflation, many economists remain concerned that the exceptionally loose monetary policies pursued by major central banks will eventually spark runaway price increases.

In the four years since the global financial crisis, advanced economies have unloaded massive monetary firepower to try to jump-start growth and create jobs.

The US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have employed large bond-purchase programs, or quantitative easing (QE), while the European Central Bank has focused on lending.

Last week, the Bank of Japan announced an aggressive QE program and monetary policy to tackle deflation and end decades of tepid growth.

So far the wave of easy money has not yet unhinged widespread expectations that prices will remain tame amid weak growth.

The IMF noted broad evidence that, since the mid-1990s, inflation has become "better anchored around long-term expectations, which themselves have become more stable."

But the IMF said the nature of inflation in advanced economies had changed since the 1970s.

In the past, inflation rose as unemployment fell, an inverse relationship known as the Phillips curve.

That relationship has flattened out, according to IMF analysts, and they now warn that inflation can suddenly pick up without an improvement in joblessness if other aspects of the situation change - particularly market and consumer expectations about inflation.

"The greatest risk for inflation, just as in the 1970s, is the possibility that expectations will become disanchored," the IMF said.

That underscores the need for central bankers currently pumping up their economies with easy money to not take their eyes off the threat of inflation.

"Central banks are already making use of whatever flexibility they have in responding to the unprecedented circumstances following the Great Recession," the international lender said.

"However, changes in the behaviour of inflation and profound challenges in the aftermath of the Great Recession may mean there is need for even greater flexibility."

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Australia seeks broad China relationship

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says Australia needs a broad relationship with China, from three-way military exercises involving the United States to building better personal links with our largest trading partner.

Ms Gillard will use an address to a business lunch in Beijing later on Tuesday Australian time, on her final full day of her visit to China, to paint a detailed picture of the Sino-Australian relationship.

Richer links in education and training, action on climate change, more diplomatic activities, working on global issues at forums such as the G20 and more regular political talks are part of this.

But she will also flag further ties between the Chinese and Australian militaries.

Australia has an annual senior level dialogue between defence chiefs and about three years ago held joint live-fire exercises.

"Our shared interests in aid and development in the Pacific along with our growing naval co-operation and skills and experience in disaster relief and recovery will be a major asset to the region," Ms Gillard will tell the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce function.

"In the coming decade, our cooperation will continue to grow - over time we would like to see this extend to tri-lateral exercises, including with the United States."

But just as important was the link between suburban Australians and China's cultural development.

"When western Sydneysiders celebrated the Wanderers winning the Premiers plate in A-league football the weekend before last, they were also celebrating the club's qualification for the Asian Football Confederations Champions League in 2014," Ms Gillard will say.

"There is every chance the campaign will bring them to China and bring Chinese fans to Parramatta too ... it's distinctly possible the fans will share some of that Aussie beef and Chinese beer when they do."

Also on Tuesday, Ms Gillard will meet Premier Li Keqiang, following her first official meeting with President Xi Jinping on Sunday.

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Cold warrior who forged strong Reagan bond

MARGARET Thatcher was credited with restoring Britain's reputation on the world stage and her close bond with US president Ronald Reagan was seen as a key factor in ending the Cold War.

From "handbagging" European leaders in demanding Britain's money back to sending a task force to retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina, she cultivated the "Iron Lady" image to cunning effect.

When she took power in 1979 as Britain's first female prime minister, Thatcher had little experience and even less interest in foreign affairs, with her main priority being to shore up the crumbling economy.

But that same year she approved the deployment of US cruise missiles in Britain, despite mass protests at home, as part of NATO's efforts to counter what it saw as the growing threat from the Soviet Union.

When Reagan took office in 1981 she quickly formed a close bond with him.

Despite their different upbringings, the former Hollywood star and the shopkeeper's daughter shared a free-market economic philosophy and a deep mistrust of communism.

"I have lost a dear friend ... such a cheerful and invigorating presence," she said in a video eulogy after Reagan died in 2004. "Thank you for your presidency, thank you for your testament of belief."

But despite their shared distrust for Moscow and its allies, Thatcher was also the first Western leader to reach out to reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

In 1984, three months before he took power, Thatcher met him and declared "I like Mr Gorbachev. We can do business together."

Her Cold War judgment was not always so forward looking, though, as she told Gorbachev that "we do not want a united Germany", just two months before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.

Yet it was a conflict over a windswept archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean that was in many ways the making of Thatcher as a foreign policy player on the global stage.

British forces drove out Argentine invaders from the Falklands in 1982 despite Washington's refusal to offer any support - a sore point between Thatcher and Reagan - ending a long period of post-imperial military decline.

"We have ceased to be a nation in retreat," she declared afterwards.

Geopolitics professor Klaus Dodds of Royal Holloway University in London told AFP the effect of her stance over the Falklands was "to give successive prime ministers the confidence to project British forces into various other theatres".

"When you think about where Britain's gone after the Falklands - Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya - a lot of that has come off the back of the Falklands," said Dodds.

From then on she lived up to the nickname she was given by a Soviet newspaper after a tirade against the Soviet Union in 1976 - the Iron Lady - and deepened Britain's strategic relationship with the United States.

That toughness manifested itself particularly in her increasing opposition to growing European unification.

She had supported British membership of what was then the European Economic Community in 1975 but at a European summit months after she took office in 1979 she was taking on the French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing and German chancellor Helmut Schmidt over the amount Britain paid.

In a victory that has hung over her successors, Thatcher then won a budget rebate for Britain at a summit in 1984, when she said: "We are simply asking to have our own money back."

Europe became an "obsession" for her, said William Wallace of the London School of Economics, adding she became "less and less interested in compromise".

But it also led to her downfall.

In 1990, soon after she delivered an incendiary House of Commons statement vowing "No! No! No!" to increased powers for Europe, one of her closest allies, Geoffrey Howe, quit with a devastating resignation speech which blamed her entrenched Euroscepticism.

That triggered the chain of events that led to her quitting in November that year.

Summing up her foreign policy, Christopher Hill, director of the Centre of International Studies at Cambridge, said her economic policies had had more of an influence at an international level.

Hill told AFP she had a "short-sighted" view of international affairs and was too much under Washington's spell, much like her successor-but-one Tony Blair, who took Britain into Iraq alongside the United States in 2003.

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Labor may take new media changes to poll

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy says Labor will consider what policies on media reform, if any, it will take to September's election.

The government withdrew four bills last month after it could not gain the support of the crossbenchers for them to pass the lower house.

Senator Conroy said the old policies were rejected by the parliament.

"We will work through it over the next month or two what we will consider taking to the election," Senator Conroy told ABC television on Monday night.

The four bills included proposals to introduce a new public interest test for media mergers and acquisitions and to establish an advocate to ensure press councils upheld standards and dealt with complaints.

Two non-contentious bills to reduce licence fees for commercial television broadcasters and make changes to the level of local content broadcast passed.

Senator Conroy said the failed bills were dead.

"That is no longer our policy," he said.

The minister slammed Sydney's Daily Telegraph for its story on the $37.4 billion national broadband network (NBN) on Monday.

The paper quoted coalition analysis suggesting the final cost of the NBN could push up to $90 billion and it would take an extra four years to complete.

"Let's be clear, today's Daily Telegraph is back to the bad old days, it's back to a campaign against the NBN Co, a campaign against the government," Senator Conroy said.

"The Daily Telegraph did not even seek comment from my office about these claims of $90 billion."

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UK still dominated by Thatcher legacy

MARGARET Thatcher's free-market reforms were controversial, but they fundamentally changed the British economy and still provide a yardstick against which her successors are judged.

During the 1980s, her Conservative government deregulated the financial markets, broke the power of the trade unions, privatised the utilities and the national airline, and promoted individual responsibility wherever possible.

Debate still rages about the impact of these changes, from supporters who say it put Britain on a more competitive footing, to detractors who say it wrecked communities and left the country exposed to the vagaries of the markets.

But like them or loathe them, the reforms had an enduring legacy in attitudes to work and welfare in Britain, and are now the point of comparison for all policies introduced by Thatcher's successors.

Ever since Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron begin introducing deep spending cuts following his election in May 2010, his efforts have been viewed through the prism of whether he is more or less radical than the Iron Lady.

Labour prime minister Tony Blair, in power from 1997 to 2007, was also branded an heir to Thatcher when he advocated bringing competition into public services.

But where that would have once been toxic for a Labour leader, the electoral success of Blair's New Labour project, which combined market-friendly policies with heavy investment in health and education, proved Britain had changed.

"Whether you like Mrs Thatcher or not, she changed the British economy forever and she also changed the way British people think about money, capitalism and enterprise," said Tony Travers, a lecturer at the London School of Economics.

But while proclaiming his admiration for Thatcher, who he received at Downing Street shortly after his election, Cameron has distanced himself from the more controversial aspects of his predecessor's policies.

Learning the lessons from a decade in opposition, he tried to soften his party's image, offering a vision of "compassionate Conservatism" that embraced the liberal principles but was more concerned about the social impact.

In retort to her claim that there is "no such thing as society", Cameron's supporters insist that there is - "it's just not the same as the state". And of course, he has joined a coalition with the centrist Liberal Democrats.

However, his plan for a "Big Society", which envisages transferring many state responsibilities to civil society, has echoes of Thatcher.

The coalition is also selling off the state-owned postal service the Royal Mail, and is mulling new strike laws to limit union action against the cuts.

Michael Portillo, a leading Conservative figure in the 1980s and 1990s, praised the coalition's "breathtaking" ambition to reform government practice and bring in economic changes "at least as challenging" as Thatcher's.

From which Travers concludes: "Cameron's supporters like to think he looks like her. The truth is he is a younger and more modern politician ... acting at a different time."

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Thatcher's battle with dementia

IT is a sad irony that, during her time in power, Margaret Thatcher was renowned for her razor-like intellect and power-house memory.

No one at that time could have foreseen her later mental decline, least of all her daughter Carol.

In her memoir, A Swim-On Part in a Goldfish Bowl, Carol Thatcher told of her mother's "blotting paper brain" that effortlessly absorbed information.

But in a cruel twist of fate, Thatcher was destined to become one of the more than 820,000 people in the UK whose lives are blighted by dementia.

Although it has often been reported that she suffered from Alzheimer's disease, this has never been confirmed.

Alzheimer's is the most common of four principal kinds of dementia, affecting about two thirds of all those with the condition.

The second most common is vascular dementia, caused by reduced blood flow to the brain, followed by dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia.

All forms of dementia result in symptoms of memory loss, confusion, and mood changes that can be devastating not only for those affected but also the loved ones around them. In some cases, dementia can also lead to altered personality and hallucinations.

For more than a decade, Thatcher struggled with the cruel draining away of her mental faculties.

Carol broke the news that her mother had been suffering from dementia in 2008.

She first noticed her mother's memory failing over lunch in 2000, relating in her book how she "almost fell off her chair" with surprise.

As dementia tightened its grip, Thatcher frequently forgot that her husband, Denis, had died.

Thatcher's descent into dementia was dramatically - and some say, unfairly - depicted in the film The Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep playing the former British PM.

In her book, Carol Thatcher describes how the tell-tale signs of dementia slowly began to emerge.

"Whereas previously you would never had had to say anything to her twice, because she'd already filed it away in her formidable memory bank, Mum started asking the same questions over and over again, unaware she was doing so," she wrote.

After Denis Thatcher died from cancer in 2003, her mother continually had to be reminded that her husband had gone.

"I had to keep giving the bad news over and over again," said Carol Thatcher. "Every time it finally sank in that she had lost her husband of more than 50 years, she'd look at me sadly and say 'oh', as I struggled to compose myself."

On bad days her mother could "hardly remember the beginning of a sentence by the time she got to the end," she recalled.

Thatcher became patron of Alzheimer's Research UK, Britain's leading charity dedicated to dementia research, in 2001.

Rebecca Wood, the charity's chief executive, said: "The loss of Baroness Thatcher will resonate across the world, but in particular with the 820,000 people living with dementia in the UK. Irrespective of personal politics, few would dispute Lady Thatcher's profound influence, the power of her presentation and strength of her convictions.

"That dementia could affect such a forceful personality is a lesson that this cruel condition does not discriminate. As patron to Alzheimer's Research UK, her support of our research could not have been more important, helping draw attention to a condition so frequently swept under the carpet.

"Thanks to Lady Thatcher, we have made inroads with our research to defeat dementia. The answers will come too late for her, but they will come, and this will be another important part of our collective memory of her life and work."

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US loses 'true friend': Obama on Thatcher

US President Barack Obama says after the death of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher that America has lost a "true friend" and the world a champion of freedom and liberty.

"As an unapologetic supporter of our transatlantic alliance, she knew that with strength and resolve we could win the Cold War and extend freedom's promise," Obama said in a written statement.

Obama - who turned 29 and was elected editor of the Harvard Law Review in 1990, the year Thatcher lost power - said Britain's first woman leader was an example to girls that "there is no glass ceiling that can't be shattered".

"With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend," Obama said.

"As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best."

The US leader noted Americans would never forget Thatcher standing shoulder to shoulder with president Ronald Reagan to end the Cold War, and she was a reminder that the currents of history can be shaped with "moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will".

"Michelle and I send our thoughts to the Thatcher family and all the British people as we carry on the work to which she dedicated her life - free peoples standing together, determined to write our own destiny."

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Climate change blamed for bumpier flights

FLIGHTS will become bumpier as global warming destabilises air currents at altitudes used by commercial airliners, climate scientists warn.

Already, atmospheric turbulence injures hundreds of airline passengers each year, sometimes fatally, damaging aircraft and costing the industry an estimated $US150 million ($A145 million), scientists say.

"Climate change is not just warming the Earth's surface, it is also changing the atmospheric winds 10 kilometres high, where planes fly," said study co-author Paul Williams of the University of Reading's National Centre for Atmospheric Science in southeastern England.

"That is making the atmosphere more vulnerable to the instability that creates clear-air turbulence.

"Our research suggests that we'll be seeing the 'fasten seatbelts' sign turned on more often in the decades ahead."

Turbulence is mainly caused by vertical airflow - up-draughts and down-draughts near clouds and thunderstorms.

Clear-air turbulence, which is not visible to the naked eye and cannot be picked up by satellite or traditional radar, is linked to atmospheric jet streams, which are projected to strengthen with climate change.

"Turbulence strong enough to make walking difficult and to dislodge unsecured objects is likely to become twice as common in transatlantic airspace by the middle of this century," said Williams.

Williams said CO2 caused non-uniform warming, which increased the jet stream winds.

"A stronger jet stream means the atmosphere is less stable, which creates more turbulence," he explained.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, said planes already spent about one per cent of their cruise time in strong clear-air turbulence.

Frequent flyers had reported bumpiness to be on the rise, but this was the first study to actually measure the projected impact of climate change, said the authors.

"Flight paths may need to become more convoluted to avoid patches of turbulence that are stronger and more frequent, in which journey times will lengthen and fuel consumption and emissions will increase," they wrote.

"Aviation is partly responsible for changing the climate in the first place," added Williams.

"It is ironic that the climate looks set to exact its revenge by creating a more turbulent atmosphere for flying."

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Unruly students treat discipline as a joke

Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek accused some students of "playing the system to suit" and attracting multiple suspensions because they knew that teachers and principals were limited in what they could do to deter their violent, abusive and disruptive behaviour. Source: The Courier-Mail

UNRULY schoolchildren are abusing the system as teachers struggle to crack down on bad behaviour, Queensland's Education Minister says. John-Paul Langbroek said he was appalled at the latest figures which showed there were 64,324 suspensions and exclusions from the state's schools last year.

Mr Langbroek accused some students of "playing the system to suit" and attracting multiple suspensions because they knew that teachers and principals were limited in what they could do to deter their violent, abusive and disruptive behaviour.

"I know that's happening at schools. I want to stop it," he said.

Mr Langbroek said teachers were only allowed to hand out maximum lunchtime detentions of 20 minutes or after-school detentions of 30 minutes.

And while principals have the power to exclude students, the process takes up to 25 days. Even then, parents are able to lodge a final appeal with the director-general.

Mr Langbroek said he believed principals and teachers were fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.

"Principals and teachers can be confident that we are not just going to tinker at the edges," he said of his discipline reform plan.

"We want perpetrators to know that we're serious about making sure that principals have got autonomy to run their schools, and students who get in the way . . . they can't use the system."

New figures show there were nearly 400 more suspensions, exclusions and mature-age student enrolment cancellations in state schools in 2012 compared with 63,936 in 2011. Exclusions increased about 30 per cent to 1331, up from 1030 in 2011.

Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek  John-Paul Langbroek said he was appalled at the latest figures which showed there were 64,324 suspensions and exclusions from the state's schools last year.

The majority of suspensions and exclusions, about 34,911, were handed out for physical or verbal and non-verbal misconduct.

Drug, cigarette and alcohol-related misconduct accounted for about 3200 disciplinary absences.

Five students were deemed to be so bad they were excluded from all state schools in Queensland.

The figures come as the Newman Government puts the finishing touches on its plan to overhaul state school discipline, handing principals more power to crack down on misbehaviour.

But the Queensland Teachers' Union has called for the Government to focus instead on providing support to teachers and to reoffending students to help them change their ways.

QTU president Kevin Bates said while some students were attracting multiple suspensions and knew how to work the system, he believed they needed greater support to curb that behaviour.

"As a teacher, there are those students that you know are probably out there looking for reasons to be sent away from school," he said.

"They're the ones you tend to work that much harder to keep in the school context because that's where they are going to get the support they need."

He called for the Government to increase the number of positive learning centres for students around the state.

The way students are disciplined has continued to evolve, with corporal punishment now only adopted in some private schools.

But Australian Primary Principals Association president Norm Hart said he believed there was less tolerance of misbehaviour in schools now than there used to be.

"I think students are subject to more discipline than they used to be," he said.

Mr Hart said principals generally preferred to work with the families of misbehaving students to teach them a better way of dealing with their problems.

"But in the end we need to make sure that schools are safe places for everybody and that includes other students," he said. "Sometimes kids have to be either suspended or excluded but that is only used as a last resort.

"If these figures are increasing, then perhaps there's a message there about the way Australian society is changing and the way that children are acting out their emotional issues."

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Liberals close in on SA: Newspoll

THE Liberals are closing in on South Australia - Labor's last-held mainland state - according to the latest Newspoll.

With federal Labor heading towards a September 14 election, primary support for the party's South Australian branch has slumped to 33 per cent, the survey shows.

Conducted over the past month and published in The Australian on Monday, the poll shows primary vote support for Labor dipped from 37 per cent in a quarterly October-December 2012 survey to 33 per cent in March, while Liberal support rose from 40 to 43 per cent.

On a two-party preferred basis, the Liberal Party meanwhile leads Labor 54 to 46 per cent.

The results come eight weeks after the state Liberal leadership changed from Isobel Redmond to Steven Marshall.

Support for Labor, which has held power in South Australia since 2002, now stands 4.5 percentage points lower than when it narrowly retained office at the 2010 election.

The Australian said if the result was replicated at the next state election, due next March, Labor would lose five MPs in marginal electorates and its majority in the 47-seat House of Assembly.

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Unis spend $280m a year on red tape

UNIVERSITIES estimate they spend $280 million a year on meeting red tape requirements like telling the government every time any academic travels overseas.

The Universities Australia submission to the coalition's deregulation taskforce calls for a comprehensive Productivity Commission review of the regulatory burden on tertiary institutions.

The sector also wants a single national university data centre to look after all information collection, as recommended in a government-commissioned report released last week.

"While we support the need for effective accountability, the existing regulatory and reporting regime is characterised by unchecked creep, duplication, fragmentation, inefficiency, and waste," Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said in a statement.

Most universities have between 15 and 20 staff whose sole job is to meet the regulatory requirements of 100 separate state and federal laws.

They have to report some 50 different sets of data to the federal tertiary education department multiple times each year, and another 50 types of data to different government agencies.

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Hayes and Mailman score silver Logies

ACTORS who brought the stories of real-life Australians to the screen have been recognised with Logies for the most outstanding actor and actress.

A teary-eyed Deborah Mailman was given a standing ovation in Melbourne on Sunday when she received the most outstanding actress award for her portrayal of Bonita Mabo in the made-for-TV movie Mabo.

"I got the chance to play the most extraordinary woman," Mailman said as she accepted the award with Bonita Mabo joining her on stage.

"It was a gift for me to meet this woman," Mailman said.

Mabo told the story of Eddie "Koiki" Mabo and his historic high court challenge to the myth of Terra Nullius.

"It was a story that was close to my heart, the fact that I got to play Bonita Mabo and for that to be recognised tonight was incredibly special," Mailman said, still teary, speaking to media after receiving her award.

Most outstanding actor Anthony Hayes dedicated his silver Logie for the portrayal of Bernie Banton in Devil's Dust to all the people who lost their lives to asbestos-related disease.

"I know it's not much but it's recognition for you and I just hope we stop mining asbestos and it never happens again," Hayes said when accepting the award.

Hayes has just finished shooting The Rover with fellow nominee Guy Pearce and said he thought it would have been the Nine Network's Kerry Packer juggernaut Howzat, and not Hollywood star Pearce, that would see him come undone in his bid for Logie glory.

"I told him I'd stick it to him and I did. There it is Guy," Hayes said.

"I've been acting since I was nine years old and this is my first lead."

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Dramatic rescue as man pulled from river

RESCUE crews have pulled a man out of the Brisbane River after police, fire crews and paramedics rushed to the scene following reports a car had plunged into the water.

A swiftwater rescue crew launched an inflatable boat into the river about 11.15pm, pulling a man from the water soon after.

A police spokeswoman has confirmed a man is helping officers with their investigation into the incident.

MORE TO COME.

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Direct trade for Aust, China currency

AUSTRALIAN and Chinese currency will be traded in China for the first time under a deal to be announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

And a major tourism and investment campaign will be run in Shanghai in late 2014 to take advantage of China's booming middle class and fast-growing economy.

Under the currency agreement, the Australian dollar will be directly convertible into Chinese yuan, easing costs for mining companies and other global industries.

China only has deals of a similar kind with the United States and Japan.

"This reflects the rapid growth of our bilateral trade and the value of two-way investment - and it also creates opportunities for new financial integration," Ms Gillard will tell the China Executive Leadership Academy in Shanghai on Monday.

"This is good news for the Chinese economy and good news for the Australian economy."

Ms Gillard said she hoped the deal would advance China's policy of greater internationalisation of its currency.

The prime minister is in Shanghai leading Australia's largest political delegation, which includes Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Trade Minister Craig Emerson.

She said Australia Week, hosted by Shanghai in the second half of 2014, would further boost Australia's reputation as a world-leading destination and a valuable tourism, trade and investment partner.

Events will include contemporary performing and visual arts, a gala dinner in Shanghai and meetings with potential Chinese investors.

It will coincide with Tourism Australia's Greater China Travel Mission, which attracts more than 120 Australian tourism operators.

A record 625,000 Chinese visited Australia during 2012, up 16 per cent on the previous year.

Ms Gillard on Sunday held her first official meeting with Xi Jinping, who became China's president in March.

She also spoke at the opening of the Boao Forum on Asia.

The Australian delegation will head to Beijing on Monday night.

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Joy for Ten as Keddie wins Gold

OFFSPRING star Asher Keddie has given Network Ten something to celebrate after winning the Gold Logie.

Keddie had been twice nominated for a Gold Logie before claiming the highest individual honour at the annual television awards night in Melbourne.

Her win also eases the pain of Ten's disastrous 2012, when it sacked executives and dumped shows as ratings plummeted.

However, Offspring and Keddie have been a shining light in dark days for Ten.

The actress said she is very proud to be a part of the network and just being nominated was a win for the series and the station.

"Channel Ten is extremely proud of Offspring and could not be more supportive of us," Keddie told AAP.

"They don't interfere, they trust us and I wish nothing but the best for the network."

Keddie was a raging favourite to win the award after a betting plunge during the last week.

Her price was slashed from $11 into $1.25 when betting closed with bookmaker Sportsbet.com.au.

The bookmaker was not crying foul but said there had been a steady stream of money for the Offspring star.

The initial favourite was Andy Lee who drifted from $2.30 to $6, and last year's winner Hamish Blake was a $6.50 chance.

"Over half the money bet was on Keddie," Sportsbet.com.au spokesman Shaun Anderson told AAP.

"It was very steady over the last week and a half."

Keddie said she thought the award might not just be for her work on Offspring.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to say thank you to the audience who have watched me play a number of characters over a number of years," she said.

"I think this is for a body of work."

The Gold Logie was again tainted by controversy after News Ltd repeated its 2012 performance, releasing news of Keddie's win prematurely on The Australian and Adelaidenow websites.

Keddie also took out the Logie for Most Popular Actress and Home And Away star Stephen Peacocke was named Most Popular Actor.

Indigenous actor Deborah Mailman was extremely emotional when she collected the peer-voted Logie for Most Outstanding Actress for her role in Mabo.

Anthony Hayes, who starred in the ABC's Devil's Dust, dedicated his Most Outstanding Actor honour to those who have died and suffered from asbestos-related illnesses.

Foxtel finally cracked it for a Logie when it took out Most Outstanding Sports Coverage for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Nine Network claimed nine awards, the ABC claimed seven, Ten finished with four and Seven won three.

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