Philip Morris reports $A2.34b profit

TOBACCO giant Philip Morris International has reported first-quarter profit of $US1.8 billion ($A2.34 billion).

THE New York-based company said it had profit of $US1.16 per share.

Thursday's result topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $US1.02 per share.The seller of Marlboro and other cigarette brands posted revenue of $US6.62 billion in the period.Philip Morris expects full-year earnings to be $US4.32 to $US4.42 per share.The company's shares have decreased four per cent since the beginning of the year.

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Rock-throwing NT kids threatened with care

IF the parents of children responsible for attacking authorities and damaging property in Alice Springs can't control them they'll be taken into care, the NT chief minister has warned.

ADAM Giles says he won't tolerate a situation, which early on Tuesday escalated to a group of more than 50 youths throwing rocks at police, starting several fires and damaging property in the central Australian town.

Police say they are concerned they are being targeted.Over the past two weeks there have been other rock-throwing incidents, one resulting in a damaged ambulance being taken off the road.The government says many of the young people responsible are from outlying, predominantly indigenous communities.Over Easter, Alice Springs hosted a metal concert, a national bike race and the AFL's Lightning Cup Carnival, with many attendees staying on for the school holidays.But there have been numerous reports of property damage since."I'm giving the parents of the children responsible for this spate of violence a very clear message: get your kids off the streets, get them back to communities and back into school," Mr Giles said in a statement late on Wednesday."Otherwise, these children will be regarded as requiring protection and we will take immediate action. Parents should not doubt our resolve to do this."Any school-age child found on the streets during school hours will now be issued with a $298 fine by school attendance officers.Minister for Children and Families John Elferink said he had directed the department "to take strong action" and put children into care where legally possible."Normally the department would see this as a last resort and be willing to work with parents but these are not normal circumstances," he said."If parents don't want to see their children in care then they need to get off the grog and head back to their home community."The government will organise bus transport for families to get them home.Mr Giles said in light of the violence the government is reconsidering supporting the Lightning Cup Carnival next year."If the organisers want taxpayers support, they best think long and hard about how they conduct their event and how to reduce the impact it has created on the town in the subsequent days," he warned.

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WA's Water Corp cuts 300 jobs

About 300 full-time workers at WA's Water Corporation will lose their jobs over eight months. Source: AAP

THE hundreds of jobs to go from Western Australia's Water Corporation reflect the high human cost of the Barnett government's post-mining boom mismanagement, the opposition says.

THE state-owned company will would cut 10 per cent of its workforce over the next eight months, with about 300 full-time jobs to go.

Chief Executive Sue Murphy said the decision followed an organisation-wide review as the company transitions from capital investment to operations and maintenance.But Labor opposition spokesman for water Dave Kelly said this was an excuse that flew in the face of the company's five-year plan released by the minister in parliament last August.The plan called for it to be given more resources in coming years to maintain its infrastructure."It looks to everybody that these 300 jobs that are going are really about budget cuts rather than a well thought out business plan for the Water Corporation," Mr Kelly said on Tuesday."The constant stream of job losses that we're seeing at the moment in the WA economy really reflects badly on the way the government has managed the post-mining sector boom."The first round of Water Corp redundancies will be announced over the next few weeks.JOBS SHEDDING IN WA* 300 full-time positions Water Corporation* 200 jobs oil giant BP's Kwinana refinery, about half of staff* 70 mining jobs junior iron ore producer Karara Mining* Rio Tinto sheds hundreds of jobs in Pilbara* Atlas Iron suspends operations, threatening trucking contractor McAleese* Mining services firm Ausdrill cuts jobs* Fortescue Metals restructures rosters, job cuts flagged

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Lane's alleged US murderer faces trial

The murder of Aussie Chris Lane had such an impact on locals it may take 4 days to select a US jury. Source: AAP

JUST before 3pm on a scorching August day in 2013 Chris Lane, a good-looking athlete from Melbourne, set off for a jog along Country Club Road in the southern Oklahoma city of Duncan.

LANE, 22, had a baseball scholarship at Oklahoma's East Central University and was visiting girlfriend Sarah Harper at her home in the rural city of 23,000.

As Lane approached an intersection in an affluent area of Duncan a bullet from a .22 calibre revolver was fired into the Australian's back.The bullet collapsed both lungs, fractured two ribs and tore through his aorta and pulmonary artery.Lane collapsed on the side of the road.A 911 phone call made by a frightened Duncan local, Joyce Smith, who saw Lane covered in blood gives insight into the terrible last seven minutes of Lane's life.On Monday (Tuesday AEST) Chancey Luna, the boy prosecutors allege pulled the trigger that ended Lane's promising life will be escorted by sheriffs into Duncan's Stephens County courthouse for his first-degree murder trial.Luna was 16 when he allegedly murdered Lane.If found guilty he faces life in prison without the prospect of parole.There are many theories in Duncan why Lane was shot."They wanted to be Billy Bob Badasses," Duncan police chief Danny Ford told AAP in the days after the shooting."They" are Luna and his two teenage mates, James Edwards who was 15 at the time of Lane's death, and Michael Jones, then 17.Chief Ford said one of the boys admitted, "We were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody".Edwards has become a prosecution witness and is expected to testify at the trial, which could last 10 days.Edwards had a murder charge replaced by an accessory count.In evidence at a preliminary hearing last year Edwards said Jones was driving a Ford Focus, he was in the front passenger seat rolling a joint and Luna was in the back seat.Edwards said they saw a man jogging on the side of the road, the car accelerated and veered near the jogger and to his surprise a gun was fired from the back seat."Who shot the gun?" assistant district attorney Leah Edwards asked."Mr Luna," Edwards replied.Edwards testified Luna later handed Jones the gun and said, "I thought there were supposed to be blanks in the gun," and Jones replied, "Me, too".Luna's lawyers, cousins Jim and Howard Berry, told reporters Edwards' evidence pointed to an accidental shooting.Last month Jones entered a guilty plea to second degree murder and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 38 years.A fourth defendant, Oddesse Barnes, 23, who was given the handgun after the shooting, pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and is eligible for release in 12 years.Edwards hasn't been sentenced.Lane's death shocked Duncan and the Berrys fear Luna will not get an impartial jury.About 400 potential jurors have been summoned for jury duty, with selection for Luna's trial possibly taking four days.

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Aboriginal protest disrupts Melb CBD

A large protest opposing the closure of remote indigenous communities in WA has shut down Melbourne. Source: AAP

A LARGE protest opposing the closure of remote indigenous communities in WA has shut down streets in central Melbourne.

SEVERAL thousand people gathered outside the city's main railway station Flinders Street at 4pm.

"Enough is enough - where is the justice for Aboriginal people?" a speaker shouted to the crowd before the walk through CBD streets, flanked by police.The rally forced the closure of Flinders and Elizabeth streets, where surrounding streets soon became clogged with cars and trams forced to stop.Rally goers gathered again outside Flinders Street station, blocking the intersection, just on 5pm.Police, on foot and on riot horses, followed the marchers all the way.Jason Maxwell, 31 of South East Dandenong Ranges, was among the protesters."I disagree, strongly disagree, in selling out on the aboriginal communities just for money," Mr Maxwell told AAP.He said the WA and Federal governments should recognise the importance of the link between indigenous people and their lands, and it was wrong to describe this as a lifestyle choice."It is the worst thing that a modern government could ever say," Mr Maxwell said."It's a political tool to separate us, and I think it is wrong."The protesters did not enjoy universal support, with a heckler heard to shout "move over to WA".

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Ukraine rebels 'killed govt soldiers'

Amnesty International believe Russian-back soldiers in east Ukraine executed government soldiers. Source: AAP

AMNESTY International says it has evidence that Russian-backed separatists in east Ukraine have executed several captured government soldiers in gross violation of international humanitarian law.

THE human rights group said in a statement that footage it has seen shows at least four Ukrainian soldiers - now confirmed dead - being interrogated by rebel militia.

Pictures showing bullet wounds to the soldier's heads and bodies appeared to show they had died as the result of execution-style killings, the group said.Rebel officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Amnesty's allegations.The English-language Kyiv Post newspaper earlier this week managed to contact a rebel unit commander, Arseniy Pavlov, who is believed to be a Russian national, to respond to widely aired claims he was responsible for executions.In the telephone interview, which has been uploaded to YouTube, Pavlov responds that he personally shot dead 15 Ukrainian servicemen.

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Man charged over Melb bouncer stabbing

A MAN has been charged after a bouncer was stabbed in the back outside a Melbourne nightclub.

SECURITY camera footage released after Thursday's late-night attack shows the 29-year-old bouncer manning the door as a man approached from behind and stabbed him in the back.

Police raided a house in Footscray late on Monday where they arrested a 25-year-old man.He has been charged with conduct endangering life, assault and weapon offences.The man was bailed to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on June 30.

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Facebook must release documents: US judge

A US federal judge says Facebook must turn over documents important to a fake ownership claim. Source: AAP

FACEBOOK and its founder must release documents and electronic correspondence to a defence lawyer whose client has fled from criminal charges that he falsely claimed a majority ownership in the social media giant, a federal judge said.

US District Judge Vernon Broderick on Friday ordered Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg to relinquish documents by Monday that were requested by Paul Ceglia's lawyer, Robert Ross Fogg.

The judge said he received a letter on Thursday from lawyers for Facebook Inc and Zuckerberg asking that an order he issued earlier in the week to promptly turn over requested documents be suspended until Ceglia is caught.Documents requested include all electronic communications Zuckerberg had about a Ceglia contract during an 18-month stretch beginning in 2003.With a May 4 trial approaching, Ceglia cut off his electronic ankle bracelet last month and fled. His wife, two children and dog also are missing from their home in Wellsville, 112 kilometres southeast of Buffalo.Ceglia's father told Broderick at a hearing last week that he believed his son might have fled because he believed Facebook and Zuckerberg were working together with prosecutors against him, jeopardising his chance for a fair trial. The judge said he would not allow a trial to proceed unjustly.Federal prosecutors had urged Broderick not to force Facebook and Zuckerberg to turn over the documents, saying doing so would "reward Ceglia's flouting of the judicial process while unreasonably drawing on the resources of the government and the authority of the court."The criminal case against Ceglia was brought after a judge threw out his 2010 civil lawsuit claiming that he gave Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard University at the time, $US1000 ($A1320) in startup money in exchange for 50 per cent of the future company.Prosecutors said a forensic analysis of his computers and Harvard's email archive determined Ceglia had altered an unrelated software development contract he signed with Zuckerberg in 2003 and falsified emails to make it appear Zuckerberg had promised him a half-share of Facebook.Zuckerberg has said he didn't come up with the idea for Facebook until months after he responded to Ceglia's online help-wanted ad and signed a contract agreeing to create some software for him.Fogg said in an email on Wednesday that he and others "continue to fight for Paul, even in his absence, with the same vigour and fortitude and in a sense - more determined than ever".

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Handbags stolen from Vic hospital patients

A homeless woman is wanted by police after handbags were stolen from Melbourne hospital patients. Source: AAP

A HOMELESS woman is wanted for questioning after handbags were stolen from Melbourne hospital patients.

REBECCA Cheryl Porter, 33, was due to appear in the Dandenong Magistrates Court last month charged with burglary but failed to appear.

Handbags and personal items have been stolen from patients in public hospitals and other areas around inner Melbourne, and police think Ms Porter can assist their investigation.She is known to frequent the Richmond, Fitzroy and Collingwood areas.A warrant has been issued for her arrest.

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Vic parade remembers 'Princess Marci'

FRIENDS of murdered Melbourne schoolgirl Masa Vukotic have celebrated her life in a celebration fit for a princess.

THE dress code was pink, Lolita Japanese fashion and anything rabbit related, and the masses complied.

As many as 300 people, mostly woman, and many from the cosplay - costumed role play - community walked around the Queen Victoria Gardens in a memorial titled "Princess Marci's Royal Parade".White doves and pink balloons were released and a memorial book was signed to be presented to Masa's parents, brother and sister who also attended.Masa, 17, was fatally stabbed at a Doncaster park on March 17.Her funeral was held on Thursday.

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