Football codes urged to tackle concussion

AUSTRALIA'S football bosses have been urged to review their concussion management guidelines to protect players from long-term damage.

Alzheimer's Australia NSW released a series of recommendations in a discussion paper on Sunday, asking the four major football codes to take a serious look at the way they manage head injuries.

The paper asks the codes to consider changing the rules of their game to better protect junior players.

Alzheimer's Australia NSW chief executive John Watkins said there was growing evidence of links between concussion and the development of brain injuries and dementia.

Players must be aware of the potential risks of later-life cognitive impairment and dementia from multiple concussive injuries, he said.

It was also critical to ensure younger players were adequately protected.

The paper called for Australian research into a degenerative brain illness known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which had affected dozens of former American football players.

Australian Medical Association NSW president Professor Brian Owler said he was pleased with the progress made by football codes.

"Encouraging the football codes to do more to minimise the risks and allow players with suspected concussions sufficient recovery time is only sensible," he said.

Former AFL star Greg Williams said last month he had significant gaps in his memory of his playing days, which he attributed to the heavy knocks he copped.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cyprus shellshocked over eurozone bailout

RESIDENTS of Cyprus have reacted with shock after the government agreed to a 10 billion euros ($A12.62 billion) bailout that includes an unprecedented levy on all bank deposits.

The debt rescue package, agreed with the eurozone and International Monetary Fund early on Saturday morning after around 10 hours of talks in Brussels, is significantly less than the 17 billion euros Cyprus had initially sought.

It includes 5.8 billion euros to be raised through the bank deposit levy of up to 9.9 per cent, which will apply to everyone from pensioners to Russian oligarchs and tens of thousands of British expats.

At the same time, a "withholding tax" would be imposed on interest on bank deposits, and Cyprus will have to hike corporate tax to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent and sell off state assets to help balance the public finances.

Though it was reached too late for Cyprus newspapers the bailout deal prompted some to queue up outside banks to withdraw cash from ATMs.

But analyst Sony Kapoor cautioned that there was no point, tweeting: "Dear Cyprus bank depositors, the time to line outside ur banks was last week, no point now."

A flood of angry comments flowed on the internet.

"The Cyprus deal is exactly why I don't keep money in the bank anymore. Brussels can commandeer your cash. Just like that," one person wrote on Twitter.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides tried to calm shell-shocked Cypriots saying: "The situation is serious but not tragic, there is no reason to panic."

The levy will see deposits of more than 100,000 euros hit with a 9.9 per cent charge when lenders reopen their doors after a scheduled public holiday on Monday. Under that threshold and the levy drops to 6.75 per cent.

Co-operative bank branches, which, unlike the main lenders, usually open for business on Saturdays, kept their doors closed as their systems were shut down, officials said.

One furious customer reportedly parked his digger outside one such branch in the seaside resort of Limassol, claiming the government had "tricked" him into believing deposits were safe.

Cyprus - which accounts for just 0.2 per cent of the combined eurozone economy - is the fifth country to secure a debt rescue package from its eurozone partners in the three-year debt crisis.

The price tag is very small compared with two rescues for Greece worth some 380 billion euros, Ireland's 85 billion euros, Portugal's 78 billion and 41 billion for Spanish banks.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Anglican leader to skip pope inauguration

THE new leader of the world's Anglicans, Justin Welby, will miss the inauguration of Pope Francis next week as he will be on a "pilgrimage of prayer", his residence has announced.

Welby, who became Archbishop of Canterbury last month, will be represented at Tuesday's inauguration mass at the Vatican by Britain's Archbishop of York, John Sentamu.

"Dr Sentamu will travel to Rome on the Archbishop of Canterbury's behalf on Monday in time for the celebrations the following day," Lambeth Palace said on Saturday.

Welby, leader of the world's 80 million Anglicans, will meanwhile be continuing a "journey in prayer" which he started last Thursday.

The tour encompasses five cities and six cathedrals in his province of Canterbury, which covers southern England.

On Saturday the journey took Welby to London, where he stopped to pray at various locations including St Paul's Cathedral.

A statement on his website said anyone was welcome to join the journey.

"Gather in the morning, pray for the whole day, or drop in whenever you have time," it said.

Welby's own official enthronement ceremony takes place next Thursday at Canterbury Cathedral.

Cardinal Kurt Koch will represent the new pope at Welby's enthronement.

Welby, a former oil executive, takes over as Archbishop of Canterbury from Rowan Williams, who led the Anglicans for the last decade.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tense Zimbabwe votes on new constitution

ZIMBABWEANS have voted on a new constitution that would pave the way for crucial elections in a country plagued by political violence.

Voters are expected to roundly back the text, which would introduce presidential term limits, beef up parliament's powers and set elections to decide whether 89-year-old Robert Mugabe stays in power.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since the country's independence in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

The new draft constitution is part of a internationally-backed plan to get the country back on track. It is supported by both the veteran president and his political nemesis Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

But that has not prevented incidents of violence as activists keep one eye on the general election slated for July.

Shortly before polls in the constitutional referendum opened on Saturday, gunmen - later identified as plainclothes police detectives - seized a member of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change from his home southeast of Harare.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP Samson Magumura had been arrested on charges of attempted murder in connection with a recent firebomb attack that injured a Mugabe ally.

But MDC Finance Minister Tendai Biti said police could not confirm where Magumura was being held.

As he cast his vote on Saturday, Mugabe, whom many blame for past unrest, urged Zimbabweans to ensure the referendum proceeded peacefully.

"You can't go about beating people on the streets, that's not allowed, we want peace in the country, peace, peace."

Mugabe also used the opportunity to castigate the West, vowing they would not be allowed to monitor the upcoming general election.

"The Europeans and the Americans have imposed sanctions on us and we keep them out in the same way they keep us out," he said.

Casting his ballot, Tsvangirai expressed hope that a positive outcome would help catapult the country out of a crisis that has been marked by bloodshed and economic meltdown.

"I hope it sets in a political culture where we move from a culture of impunity to a culture of constitutionalism," he said.

Official results of the referendum are expected to be released within five days of the vote.

The new constitution would for the first time put a definite, if distant, end date on Mugabe's 33-year rule.

Presidents would be allowed to serve two terms of five years each, meaning that, elections permitting, Mugabe could rule until 2023, by which time he would be 99-years-old.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Swiss tourist gang-raped in India: police

A SWISS female tourist was gang-raped in central India in front of her husband, police say, renewing the focus on the issue of sexual violence against women in the South Asian nation.

The woman was on a cycling trip with her husband in impoverished Madhya Pradesh state when seven to eight men attacked the couple late on Friday while they were camping, sexually assaulting the woman and robbing the pair, police said.

The attackers "tied up the man and raped the woman in his presence", local police official SM Afzal told AFP, adding that they stole 10,000 rupees ($A179) and a mobile phone from the woman.

The attack comes just months after thousands took to the streets to protest against India's treatment of women following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi in December.

"We are deeply shocked by this tragic incident suffered by a Swiss citizen and her partner in India," the Swiss foreign ministry in Bern said in a statement.

The Swiss ministry said its diplomats in India were in contact with local authorities and that it hoped the attackers would be "swiftly identified and would appear before a court to answer for their actions".

The couple were on their way to the tourist destination of Agra, home to the iconic Taj Mahal monument, in northern India when they stopped to camp for the night.

Indian media reports said the men were wielding sticks when they attacked the couple around 50 kilometres from Orchha, a popular foreign tourist destination in Madhya Pradesh.

The Swiss woman, aged about 40, was released on Saturday from hospital, authorities said.

Swiss Ambassador Linus von Castelmur has spoken to the victim and assured her "of all possible help", the Press Trust of India reported.

Some 20 people have been detained and were being questioned over the incident, senior local police officer DK Arya told the news agency.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Another 800 dead pigs in Shanghai river

SHANGHAI has fished another 809 dead pigs out of its main waterway, bringing the total carcasses found this week to 8300 in a scandal highlighting China's troubles with food safety.

The swine effluent discovered flowing down the Huangpu river - which supplies a fifth of the commercial hub's drinking water - has added the country's most popular meat to a growing list of food items rocked by scandal.

"As of 3pm today, another 809 floating dead pigs have been fished out," Shanghai authorities said on FRiday on their Weibo account, a service similar to Twitter.

It gave assurances that authorities had not found any substandard pork products on the market and were closely monitoring water quality.

Shanghai has blamed farmers in neighbouring Zhejiang province for casting pigs thought to have died of disease into the river upstream, although officials from the area have admitted to only a single producer doing so.

Pork accounted for 64 per cent of total meat output last year, and China's increasingly wealthy urban residents consumed 21 kilograms of the meat per person in 2011.

Despite laws against the practice, animals that die from disease in China can end up in the food supply chain or improperly disposed of.

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

Cheap recycled cooking oil is available nationwide, made illegally from leftovers scooped out of restaurant drains. Amid public disgust, authorities arrested more than 30 people over its sale, but the practise continues.

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

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man drops appeal against UK race murder

ONE of the two men jailed for the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence has dropped his appeal against conviction, UK authorities have confirmed.

Gary Dobson was given a life sentence at the Old Bailey in January last year.

The second man, David Norris, is continuing his battle against conviction.

There will be a hearing in his case at the Court of Appeal in London. A date has not yet been set.

A Judicial Office spokeswoman on Friday confirmed Dobson had abandoned his renewed application to appeal his conviction.

Last summer, applications for permission to appeal by both men were rejected by a single judge who considered the papers from the case.

But Dobson and Norris, who are both in their 30s, still had the right to renew their applications before a panel of judges sitting at the Court of Appeal.

The trial judge, Justice Treacy, described the murder as a "terrible and evil crime".

He urged police not to "close the file" on catching the rest of the killers after the Old Bailey heard that a gang of five or six white youths set upon A-level student Stephen in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.

He said the murder was committed "for no other reason than racial hatred".

"A totally innocent 18-year-old youth on the threshold of a promising life was brutally cut down in the street in front of eyewitnesses by a racist, thuggish gang," he told the pair.

The breakthrough in the investigation came when a cold case team of forensic scientists was called in.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

N. Korea test-fires short range missiles

NORTH Korea's military has fired short-range missiles into the East Sea (Sea of Japan), Yonhap reports, at a time of heightened tensions following Pyongyang's recent nuclear test.

A single unit of the North's military test-fired the missiles, presumed to be KN-02, estimated to have a range of about 120km, the report on Friday said.

"The launch was seen as testing its capability for short-range missiles. It seemed to be conducted on a military-unit level, not at a national level," said a military source in Seoul cited by the South Korean news agency.

The tests came a day after North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, oversaw a live-fire artillery drill near the disputed Yellow Sea border with South Korea, as the South's prime minister visited the flashpoint area.

The area has witnessed bloody North-South clashes in the past and, with military tensions at their highest level for years, is seen as the prime location for another confrontation.

Kim made an inspection tour of the same artillery units last week that was widely covered by state TV and the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea has threatened to unleash a second Korean War - backed by nuclear weapons - in response to UN sanctions imposed after its third atomic test in February and joint South Korea-US military manoeuvres.

So far, the land and sea border dividing the two Koreas has remained calm, if tense, and the South has dismissed the North's threats as a crude attempt to put "psychological pressure" on Seoul.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man dies after Qld unit explosion

A MAN has died after an explosion at a southeast Queensland unit complex.

The blast from the George Street unit was felt around Beenleigh around 9.15pm (AEST) on Friday.

A 62-year-old man died at the scene, however police say he was not directly injured by the explosion and may have had a prior medical condition.

A 47-year-old man was taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital with significant burns and was in a serious condition, while four others were treated at the scene for non-life threatening injuries.

A police spokesman told AAP a gas bottle may have caused the blast, but added investigators would examine the scene on Saturday.

Sixteen residents have been evacuated from the complex, with some taking up emergency accommodation at the local PCYC.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Community Safety said one unit was destroyed in the blaze that resulted from the blast, and nine other units were damaged.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

US welcomes Japan's trade move

THE United States has hailed Japan's plan to join the talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade zone.

"The United States welcomes Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe's important announcement formally expressing Japan's interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations," said Acting US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis on Friday.

"Since early last year, the United States has been engaged with Japan in bilateral TPP consultations on issues of concern with respect to the automotive and insurance sectors and other non-tariff measures," he said in a statement.

"We look forward to continuing these consultations with Japan as the 11 TPP countries consider Japan's candidacy for this vital initiative in the Asia-Pacific region."

But the US Alliance for American Manufacturing, backed by the US auto industry, is critical of the idea of Japan joining the talks.

"We should welcome and encourage Japan's interest in freer trade, but let's not roll out the red carpet for their inclusion in the TPP," AAM president Scott Paul says.

"Japan's closed market, currency manipulation, and many other concerns stand in the way. It's not worth sacrificing American jobs and American manufacturing to secure a TPP agreement at any cost."

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pakistan parliament completes full term

PAKISTAN'S current parliament has made national history by becoming the first to complete a full term in office, dissolving in a low-key session that paves the way for elections.

The nuclear-armed country of 180 million, where Taliban attacks and record levels of violence directed against the Shi'ite Muslim minority has raised fears about security for the polls, is due to elect new leaders by mid-May.

"The session that started on February 18, 2013 has prorogued on completion of its business," said Yasmeen Rehman, MP for the main ruling Pakistan People's Party, reading out a letter from President Asif Ali Zardari.

Rehman stood in for the national assembly Speaker, who was not present. Very few MPs turned out on Thursday for what was the last session of Pakistan's 13th national assembly, consisting mostly of farewell speeches.

"I pray that Allah gives us success and that democracy should continue and the next parliament should also complete its term," Rehman said.

Zardari has yet to announce a date for the election. Politicians are still negotiating the make-up of a caretaker administration, which is set to replace the government within days, for the duration of the election campaign.

A senior official told AFP on Thursday the Election Commission had recommended polling on May 8, 9 or 10, and was fully prepared for whichever date Zardari would announce.

The dissolution of the national assembly is a milestone in Pakistan, where the military has seized power three times in coups and ruled for around half the country's existence.

Analysts attribute the success to Zardari's wheeler-dealer ability to keep the coalition intact, the army chief of staff's determination to keep out of politics and the opposition's unwillingness to force early elections.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

IMF chief to join eurozone talks on Cyprus

INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde will attend a eurozone finance ministers' meeting on Friday to discuss a potential bailout for Cyprus, an IMF spokesman says.

Spokesman Bill Murray declined to say whether the IMF will participate in a bailout of the Mediterranean island state.

But he reiterated the IMF wants a "durable solution" to Cyprus's financial crisis that provides debt sustainability.

Eurozone finance ministers are to meet in Brussels after a two-day European Union summit ends to work on a bailout plan for Cyprus.

Cyprus requested financial assistance from the EU in June 2012 after its two largest banks sought state aid following massive losses linked to neighbouring Greece's debt crisis.

The mooted 17 billion euro ($A21.5 billion) bailout would be roughly the same as Cyprus's annual economic output.

Murray declined to comment on what size of debt burden would be considered sustainable.

"It's a little early to be getting into the sense of the analysis" that is under way, he said.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pope's partial lung shouldn't affect work

THE new Pope has daunting challenges ahead ranging from the church sex abuse scandal to reinvigorating the flock.

And the 76-year-old Francis will have to do it all with just one whole lung.

The Argentine pontiff underwent surgery as a young man to remove "a good part" of an infected lung, according to his authorised biographer, Sergio Rubin.

"He feels it today," Rubin said. "He's a little bit slowed by it, but he's OK."

Doctors said losing part of a lung doesn't necessarily compromise the Pope's health or reduce his life span, though it means no strenuous exercise since he no longer has as much air capacity as people with two lungs.

"He probably wouldn't be able to run marathons, but I don't think that would be on his schedule," said Dr Peter Openshaw, director of the Centre for Respiratory Infection at Imperial College London.

"Having one lung should be enough as long as there is no other disease in that lung."

Experts said it would be rare nowadays to remove or cut away part of a lung. Antibiotics would be used to treat most lung infections including tuberculosis, though part of the organ might be removed to treat advanced lung cancer.

Back when Francis had part of his lung removed, the available antibiotics weren't as powerful.

"In the past, doctors used to try all kinds of strange things to try to treat lung infections," said Dr Jennifer Quint, a respiratory expert at London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

She said physicians even used to stick ping pong balls into peoples' lungs in an attempt to starve the lung of oxygen, to kill the bacteria.

Jeremy Ward, a professor of respiratory physiology at King's College London, said he was only mildly concerned about the Pope's health - unless he gets sick.

"If he gets any sort of infection, it could be much more serious in him than in someone else with two lungs. ... That could make him susceptible to pneumonia, which would be very dangerous for him."

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Defeated Kenyan leader in court challenge

THE party of Kenya's outgoing Prime Minister Raila Odinga, defeated in presidential polls by Uhuru Kenyatta, will file a petition challenging the election result on Friday, officials say.

"We are currently in the final stages of preparing our presidential election petition at the Supreme Court," Odinga party official and former justice minister Mutula Kilonzo told reporters on Thursday.

"We want to thank hundreds of brave Kenyans from across the country who have courageously come forward to provide us with information on the anomalies in the presidential elections."

Odinga's Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) has alleged fraud in the March 4 vote.

His rival Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's first president, was declared the winner of the presidential poll on March 9.

Odinga's team complained this week they were blocked from accessing data from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), forcing them to obtain a court ruling on Wednesday ordering the documents be released.

The IEBC on Thursday posted more than 33,000 official election documents used to tally the disputed presidential election on its website "for all Kenyans to see".

CORD is expected to request a "forensic audit of manual and electronic data", including investigations into an alleged "drastic reduction and rise" of votes after the official register was closed, an Odinga aide told AFP this week.

Despite concern over the risk of violence ahead of the election, no major incidents have been reported.

Elections in 2007 descended into bloodshed that killed more than 1000 people and caused hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

Kenyatta faces trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague in July for his alleged role in orchestrating the violence.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Thousands rally against EU austerity

THOUSANDS of protesters have rallied in Brussels to vent their anger at austerity measures and press EU leaders gathered for a summit to focus on investing in jobs.

Organisers said 15,000 people took part in the rally in the Cinquantenaire park a short walk from the European Union headquarters, where the bloc's 27 leaders were to meet for talks.

Factory workers, teachers, students and union activists from Belgium, Britain, France, Germany and other EU countries chanted "Revolution!" and waved placards reading "No to Austerity!"

"We don't want the austerity measures they are forcing on the people of Europe. What we need are measures to get people back to work. That's how we move forward," said protester Adam Baudoin, an activist with Belgium's CSC union wearing a green hardhat.

Protesters urged the gathered leaders to end cutbacks in government spending, to boost investments to create jobs and to make banks and corporations pay more to help end Europe's economic crisis.

"Why should the people be paying for the crisis the banks created?" asked Danish protester Mads Hadberg, a 25-year-old student. "People are losing jobs, health benefits, pensions - and the rich are getting richer."

Among the protesters were some 3000 workers for US heavy machinery firm Caterpillar, which recently announced plans to slash 1400 Belgian jobs, and several hundred from ArcelorMittal steel plants in Belgium and France that have suffered job cuts.

The rally, organised by the 85-member European Trade Union Confederation, took place without incident as protesters were kept away from the summit site by tight security.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Shining red mice help fight bowel cancer

INJECTED with a fluorescent protein to make them glow bright red, laboratory mice are helping Czech scientists better understand the causes behind intestinal cancers and skin diseases while leaving the rodents unscathed.

A research group at the Institute of Molecular Genetics at the Czech Academy of Sciences is using proteins obtained from sea organisms like coral to light up mice and observe cell development under their skin without having to kill them.

"We can take the mouse every day and place it under a camera monitoring the light," the group's head Radislav Sedlacek told AFP Wednesday.

"We can use it several times without killing it, and the data are very objective," he added.

So-called transgenic mice have their genetic backgrounds switched through simple injections or with the use of stem cells.

Sedlacek also plans to use glowing mice treated with several proteins at the same time, for a better monitoring of cellular processes.

"The red-green-blue combination is very good," he said, adding such mice would be used for example to monitor processes in the intestine to help with research into intestinal cancer, a disease that kills thousands of Czechs every year.

"The intestinal wall is very dynamic, you have different processes there, and you can monitor them by switching one colour on and another one off," Sedlacek added.

Unlike traditional research techniques, this method does no harm to the mice if "we make sure the gene we insert does not harm another gene", Sedlacek said.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malawi politicians in 'coup plot' charged

TWELVE Malawian politicians who were arrested for plotting to oust President Joyce Banda have been formally charged with treason which could carry the death penalty.

The men appeared at Lilongwe Magistrate's Court amid tight security following rioting over their arrest.

Their lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale said the case would be transferred to the High Court on Thursday for bail hearing, as the "Magistrate's Court has no jurisdiction over treason cases".

The plot is alleged to have taken place amid the chaos following president Bingu wa Mutharika's death on April 5 last year, before Banda, then his deputy, was installed as president after backroom dealings.

Among the arrested is Mutharika's brother Peter, a former foreign minister whom the deceased president had groomed to succeed him.

Goodall Gondwe, current minister of economic planning, is the only member of Banda's cabinet arrested.

Gondwe, Peter Mutharika and Bright Msaka, the chief secretary to the government, face additional charges of inciting mutiny, conspiracy to commit a felony and giving false evidence to a commission of inquiry into the death of the late president.

Last week an inquest ruled that Mutharika died of a heart attack on the way to hospital after collapsing at State House.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cardinals allowed cigarette and a tipple

THE cardinals locked inside the Sistine Chapel for deep meditation and reflection until they choose a new pope can break off for a smoke or enjoy a glass of wine, the Vatican spokesman says.

Federico Lombardi expressed the hope however that the 115 cardinals - average age 72 - who were spending a second day choosing a successor to the retired Benedict XVI would show restraint and not harm their health by chain-smoking.

"I think the cardinals are allowed to smoke where they think appropriate. As long as they follow the normal rules of politeness. We would hope they follow (them)," Lombardi told a press conference.

"We know that some smoke. We would hope that they are doing that reasonably and taking care of their health."

Wine, he said was "a normal part of the menu in Rome".

"So I would expect that it would be on the menu. They are free to drink if they wish."

Cardinals take a solemn oath at the start of conclaves to never reveal the contents of their discussions.

But according to one anecdote that leaked out after the election which chose Pope John Paul I in 1978, one cardinal asked the new pontiff if he could have a cigarette to relieve the tension.

John Paul I thought carefully before replying: "Eminence, you may smoke, just as long as the smoke is white." White smoke is used to signal that a new pope has been elected.

Austrian cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who is taking part this year, revealed before the conclave that the spartan rooms at the cardinals' residence contained "no TV and no minibar".

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

G20 economies grow in late 2012

ECONOMIC growth in G20 countries climbed by 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012, slowing only slightly from the 0.6 per cent pace recorded in the previous three-month period despite heavy contractions across Europe, preliminary estimates from the OECD show.

For the full year 2012, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that gross domestic product (GDP) in the G20 group of 20 major global economies expanded by 2.8 per cent, down from 3.8 per cent a year earlier.

The OECD said that as economic trends were still diverging widely within the G20 - with China posting the strongest growth in the quarter and Italy dipping deep into negative territory - the aggregate growth rate "continues to mask" mixed patterns among the world's largest economies.

China's economy grew by 2.0 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, while Italy's contracted by 0.9 per cent.

The OECD said that the economies of all of the G20's European members, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, contracted in the last quarter of 2012 compared with the previous three-month period.

Japan and the United States remained stable however, while emerging economies such as Brazil, India, Korea, Mexico, and South Africa showed higher growth, it said.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Projects must consider walkers: govt

CANBERRA Mar 14 AAP - Cycling, walking and access to public transport will have to be considered in major infrastructure projects that want to get federal funding, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says.

The minister told the Bus Industry Confederation dinner on Wednesday active forms of transport such as walking, cycling and catching public transport were now becoming mainstream - although the car still dominates.

This meant they should be provided for in future infrastructure programs.

Mr Albanese said the provision of safe and active travel options would have to be built into the design of any projects that got federal funding under the next tranche of the Commonwealth's nation building program.

"This will mean that federally funded urban transport infrastructure projects must consider whether provision has been made for appropriate cycling and walking paths," he told the dinner.

"When we build a bridge we shouldn't consider it only as a carriageway for car traffic, we should also ensure that it caters for walkers and cyclers."

That would avoid the hefty cost of retrofitting infrastructure in the future.

The policy of taking active transport needs into consideration during project planning is known as positive provision.

Cycling Promotion Fund spokesman Stephen Hodge said this was the first time leadership had been shown at a national level on positive provision.

"There is such strong evidence now for the benefits of putting in these relatively cheap and easy to install bits of infrastructure when you're doing big projects, that there was some leadership needed," he told AAP.

His group is a member of the Moving People 2030 Taskforce, whose report on transport in Australia was formally launched at the dinner.

The taskforce is made up of a range of transport, planning and health groups.

It said congestion in Australia's major cities would cost the country $20 billion by 2020.

The taskforce recommended a range of solutions governments should look at including congestion charges and aiming for a third of all passenger trips in 2030 to happen via public transport, walking or riding.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hackers post 'private data' of celebrities

THE US Secret Service has launched an investigation after hackers posted what they said was personal data and credit information of celebrities including first lady Michelle Obama online.

The probe was opened over files which included personal information purportedly from FBI chief Robert Mueller, Vice President Joe Biden, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and celebrities Beyonce and Jay-Z.

"We are investigating, but we will not comment due to... an ongoing investigation," said Secret Service spokesman Max Milien.

The website, which was first reported by TMZ, posted what appeared to be reports from leading credit ratings agencies along with personal financial information and social security numbers.

Attorney General Eric Holder and celebrities including Britney Spears, Mel Gibson and Ashton Kutcher were also among those affected.

The White House declined to answer questions about the report and credit rating agencies involved - Transunion, Equifax, Experian - did not immediately comment.

The Secret Service, along with its duties in protecting the US president and his family, is also involved in investigations of financial fraud and counterfeiting.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Growing cyber threat to US infrastructure

THE United States faces a mounting danger from cyber attacks on its infrastructure while digital espionage threatens to undercut the military's technological edge, the intelligence chief says.

Citing "increasing risk to US critical infrastructure," National Intelligence Director James Clapper said in an annual report to Congress that "unsophisticated" attacks could penetrate poorly protected computer networks for power grids or similar systems.

The threat of a large-scale digital assault that could cripple a regional power network was genuine but remained a "remote" possibility, the report said.

"We judge that there is a remote chance of a major cyber attack against US critical infrastructure systems during the next two years that would result in long-term, wide-scale disruption of services, such as a regional power outage," it said.

The report placed more importance on cyber threats than previous years, with more words on the problem than on Islamist militants in Afghanistan.

Countries with advanced cyber capabilities, such as Russia and China, were unlikely to launch a massive digital assault on the United States unless there was a military conflict or grave crisis that put their national interests at risk, according to the report.

But "there is a risk that unsophisticated attacks would have significant outcomes due to unexpected system configurations and mistakes, or that vulnerability at one node might spill over and contaminate other parts of a networked system," it said.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

UN monitor alarmed by Iran media crackdown

THE United Nation's monitor for human rights in Iran has sounded the alarm over a rise in arrests of journalists, saying this was part of a pattern of increasing violations as presidential elections loom.

Seventeen journalists were arrested in the space of one week in January, Ahmed Shaheed told reporters.

In addition, some 50 journalists were already behind bars, he said.

"I'm increasingly alarmed about the plight of journalists, bloggers and others who are defenders and practitioners of freedom of expression in Iran," he said.

"They have been charged with communicating with international news organisations or communicating with human rights organisations, both of which should be protected under law rather than being penalised."

Iran's 2009 elections were marked by a crackdown on opposition and Shaheed noted that there had been little effort to offer redress for the victims and hold perpetrators to account.

The media also faced sharpened state pressure in the 2102 parliamentary elections.

"I am concerned that with elections around the corner in June, these actions against journalists do not bode well for the prospects of a free and fair election in the country," he said.

Shaheed, a former foreign minister of the Maldives who is now a human rights academic in Britain, was named the UN's Iran monitor in 2011.

On Monday he presented a report on Iran to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

He spotlighted repression of freedom of speech and a slew of other abuses, including torture, forced confessions, secret executions and the jailing of members of the political opposition.

He also pointed to violations of the rights of women and of religious and ethnic minorities.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Late-winter snowstorm batters Europe

A HEAVY late-winter snowstorm has battered northwestern Europe, causing widespread travel chaos with the cancellation of hundreds of flights, suspension of train services and huge traffic jams.

The unseasonable snowfall - coming only eight days before the official start of spring - also knocked out power to thousands of people in France and left hundreds of motorists stranded in their cars.

France was worst affected but Germany, Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands also reported major disruptions.

Frankfurt Airport, Europe's third-busiest hub, had only one runway open for takeoffs on Tuesday afternoon, after being briefly forced to completely close due to the heavy snow.

An airport spokesman said 335 flights had been cancelled out of a scheduled daily total of 1250.

The Eurostar train between London and Paris, the Thalys line between Paris and Brussels and all other high-speed train lines in northern France were suspended until at least Wednesday.

Nearly a third of France's regions were on alert and the government activated a ministerial crisis group.

Two northern French regions, Calvados and Manche, were under a "red alert" urging resident to stay indoors - the first time such an alert was activated because of snow.

More than 2000 people were stranded in their cars overnight as heavy snow paralysed roads in Normandy and Brittany, with many spending the night in emergency shelters.

About 80,000 homes in the north and northwest of France were without power, following snowfalls of up to 30 centimetres and winds creating metre-high snowdrifts. Schools in some northern regions were closed.

The snow caused major disruptions as it moved into Paris, with authorities urging the seven million commuters who use public transport every day to stay home. Several major roads around the capital were forced to close.

The city's two main airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, said they had cancelled up to a quarter of flights and the nearby Beauvais airport, serving mainly low-cost airlines, cancelled all flights.

Hundreds were also stuck in their cars overnight in Britain, some for more than 10 hours as ice, snow and freezing winds descended on southeastern England.

Police, rescue services, snow ploughs and gritting lorries battled to help the motorists in temperatures as low as -3.0 degrees Celsius, with some areas under 10 centimetres of snow.

Public transport in Berlin was affected with several regional trains cancelled or severely delayed. There were also a spate of crashes on icy German roads with several people seriously hurt and one death, according to police.

In Belgium, the snowstorms caused massive traffic disruptions, with vehicles backed up on 1600 kilometres of freeways due to snowdrifts and ice.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cyprus peace push to follow bailout

CYPRUS peace envoy Alexander Downer says the UN will launch a new bid for talks on reuniting the island only after it has secured a bailout for its nearly bankrupt economy.

Downer returned to Cyprus for a first meeting with Nicos Anastasiades, the newly elected Greek Cypriot president, before holding talks in the island's north with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

"It's my judgment... that Cypriots need for the moment to conclude the negotiations - particularly the president - with the troika" of international lenders, said Downer.

"Those economic issues are bigger economic issues than most countries face. Those economic issues need to be dealt with," the UN envoy told reporters.

Cyprus needs 17 billion euros ($A21.74 billion) to save its Greek-exposed banks and keep its recession-hit economy afloat.

The Australian diplomat said he would be back in April after doing a tour of regional capitals and briefing UN chief Ban Ki-moon on the state of play.

"Next week I'll be in New York; I'll be seeing the secretary general... I think we have an increasingly clear picture about how President Anastasiades wants to take this process forward."

Downer congratulated the president on February's "decisive" election victory but said he was faced with "huge challenges" of turning the economy around.

"That's not our business but suffice it to say we are very sympathetic with the challenges he and the people of Cyprus, more broadly, have to face of an economic nature."

UN-backed peace negotiations are currently in limbo with direct talks put on hold for more than a year after a failure to bridge the gap on core issues of power sharing, property rights and territorial adjustments.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkish troops invaded in response to a Greek-inspired coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Only Ankara recognises the authorities in the Turkish-occupied north.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Latvia enjoys strongest growth in EU

LATVIA'S economy grew 5.6 per cent last year - the best performance among the 27-country European Union - thanks to robust trade and manufacturing.

The national statistics agency said on Monday that growth accelerated from 5.4 per cent in 2011.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, gross domestic product increased 5.1 per cent.

Though Latvia is enjoying fast growth, it remains one of the poorest of the bloc's 27 members.

After several years of rapid expansion, the country's economy entered a deep recession in 2008 and had to be bailed out by international lenders such as the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

The Baltic state's centre-right government hopes to phase in the euro in 2014, which would make it the 18th member in the currency union.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

N Korea accused of crimes against humanity

A UN human rights monitor has accused North Korea of committing a string of crimes against humanity, laying out a litany of abuses before the world body's top rights forum.

Marzuki Darusman told the UN Human Rights Council he had identified nine areas of key concern, including depriving the population of food, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, the use of prison camps and the secretive regime's denial of freedom of expression.

"I believe that many, if not all, of the nine patterns of violation, identified in my present report, may amount to crimes against humanity, committed as part of systematic and or widespread attacks against civilian population," Darusman, who hails from Indonesia, told the Council on Monday as he presented a report on the situation in North Korea.

He pressed his demands for an international commission of inquiry into the human rights record of North Korea, which repeatedly has refused to co-operate with Darusman and other United Nations investigators.

Japan and the European Union are set to lodge a resolution at the Council creating such a commission.

Last month, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay decried the "deplorable" situation in North Korea, saying a commission of inquiry was "long overdue".

But North Korea rejected the criticism on Monday, with its delegate Kim Ju-song claiming Darusman was in league with "hostile forces", citing Japan, the EU and the United States.

"We make it clear again. The human rights violations identified in this report do not exist," Kim said.

North Korea won support at the Council from China, whose delegate said creating a commission of inquiry could "escalate tensions".

Iran, Cuba and Venezuela also criticised the plan, calling for dialogue, not naming and shaming, and accusing the West of double standards.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cuba lost best friend: Castro on Chavez

FORMER president Fidel Castro has eulogised Venezuela's Hugo Chavez as "the best friend Cuba ever had", in his first remarks since the death of his protege and his country's long-time benefactor.

Writing in the daily Granma newspaper, Castro eulogised Chavez, who died last week, as "an unforgettable friend" who "did not even himself realise just how great he was".

"Even though we knew the critical state of his health, the news (of Chavez's death) was a heavy blow," the revolutionary icon wrote in a brief newspaper column.

Castro, 86, added that he and Chavez "had the privilege of sharing the same ideals of social justice and help for the exploited. The poor are the same everywhere throughout the world."

Chavez passed away on March 5 after a years-long battle with cancer, after undergoing surgery and treatment almost exclusively in Cuba.

His death was a major blow to Havana, which for more than a decade has relied heavily on cheap Venezuelan oil and favourable terms of trade to keep its economy afloat.

The two countries were also close ideological partners and political allies, often finding common cause against the United States and global capitalism.

Chavez was seen as the region's leftist firebrand in the tradition of Fidel Castro, who resigned Cuba's presidency in 2008 after a health crisis.

Venezuela has announced it will hold elections in 30 days with Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's hand-picked successor and now interim president, faced off against opposition leader Henrique Capriles.

Capriles, who is also the governor of Miranda state, was defeated by Chavez in the presidential election in October last year.

Cuba was represented at Chavez's funeral in Venezuela last week by current President Raul Castro, Fidel's younger brother.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Local militias used in Syria mass killings

THE Syrian regime appears to be using local militias known as Popular Committees to carry out sometimes sectarian mass killings in Syria, a UN inquiry team says.

"In a disturbing and dangerous trend, mass killings allegedly perpetrated by Popular Committees have at times taken on sectarian overtones," the UN commission of inquiry, led by Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, said in an update to its latest report on the situation in Syria, without giving concrete examples of the killings.

The groups, it said, were frequently described as Shabbiha militias and were reportedly being set up to protect their neighbourhoods against anti-government armed groups and criminal gangs.

But the groups, which according to defectors "mirror the ethnic, religious and class composition of the neighbourhoods they protect", had evolved to reinforce government forces, the report found, adding their presence had been documented across Syria.

"Recently, the regime has begun to integrate the Popular Committees along with other sympathising groups in a new paramilitary force called the National Defence Forces, institutionalising the existing militias and organising them into an operational structure," it said.

The commission, which on Monday presented the findings of its report published last month to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, said the past two months had seen a rapid deterioration of the situation in Syria.

Syrian ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoni, meanwhile, lambasted the report, which he said was full of errors and based on "testimonials of which the reliability and truthfulness we question".

The commission - set up in 2011 at the behest of the UN Human Rights Council - has previously detailed what it believes are war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Syrian government forces and their allies, and, to a lesser extent, by opposition fighters.

It is set to submit a confidential list of names of suspected perpetrators to the UN human rights office, and has repeatedly urged the deadlocked UN Security Council to refer the cases to the International Criminal Court.

Switzerland on Monday, meanwhile, presented a petition signed by 63 countries calling for the Security Council to refer the Syrian violence to the International Criminal Court.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

OECD sees signs of eurozone growth

EUROZONE economic growth is beginning to emerge, especially in Germany, leading OECD indicators show.

In France and Italy, the second and third biggest eurozone economies after Germany, the trend was not as strong however, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Monday.

In France, leading indicators pointed towards a "stabilisation" of business activity, whereas they had suggested in February that business activity could start to show slight growth.

Italy was also considered to be in a stabilising phase, which would be an improvement from a recent period of decline.

The OECD indicators are designed to identify turning points in the economic cycle, but they also pointed towards sustained growth in both the United States and Japan, the world's biggest and third biggest economies, respectively.

The data for number two China, for India and to a lesser extent for Brazil suggest that economic growth will continue but at a pace that is below trend, while Russia was tipped to benefit from a rebound in activity.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mandela leaves hospital after tests

PEACE icon Nelson Mandela is back home after spending a night in hospital for a "scheduled medical check-up", the South African president's office says.

"Former President Nelson Mandela has this afternoon ... returned to his Johannesburg home following a successful medical examination at a Pretoria hospital," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said in an emailed statement.

"The doctors have completed the tests. He is well and as before, his health remains under the management of the medical team," said Maharaj.

Mandela had been admitted on Saturday for "a scheduled medical check-up to manage the existing conditions in line with his age", less than three months after being treated for a lung infection and gallstones.

News of his latest hospitalisation sparked concern the 94-year-old had fallen ill again.

Mandela underwent treatment for a recurrent lung infection and surgery to extract gallstones over Christmas, during his longest stint in hospital since his release from prison in 1990.

He was discharged the day after Christmas and was last known to be convalescing at his Johannesburg home.

The revered statesman has not appeared in public since South Africa's Football World Cup final in 2010, six years after retiring.

Since then he has stayed out of the public eye at his rural home village Qunu in the Eastern Cape.

The last confirmed image of the statesman was a picture taken with then-US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, when she visited him last August.

At the beginning of February two of his granddaughters released a picture of a smiling Mandela sitting with his youngest great-grandson in an arm-chair.

It was taken to show his recovery after his December hospitalisation, they said while promoting their new reality show, Being Mandela.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Karzai-Hagel event off due to security

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai has cancelled a high-profile news conference in Kabul with new US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, with US officials saying the event was dropped over "security concerns".

A palace official, who declined to be named, said however the news conference had been cancelled because of "scheduling pressure", without giving further details.

Karzai and Hagel's appearance together in front of the cameras was to be a key part of the Pentagon chief's first visit to Afghanistan since he was sworn in 11 days ago and as US-Afghan ties focus on the withdrawal of foreign troops.

The start of Hagel's trip on Friday was overshadowed by a suicide bombing outside the defence ministry in Kabul.

Nine people were killed in the explosion that occurred while the defence secretary was in a briefing at a nearby US military base in the city.

Karzai also made a contentious speech on Sunday in which he said the US was in daily talks with the Taliban and that insurgent suicide attacks enabled the US-led international military force to justify its presence in Afghanistan.

"The Secretary is looking forward to meeting President Karzai," Hagel's spokesman said about their meeting, which was still on schedule. "The press conference was not cancelled because of the president's recent comments."

The decision was "reached in consultation with our Afghan partners", George Little added.

US officials travelling with Hagel said on condition of anonymity the news conference had been "cancelled due to security concerns".

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bishop fails to sell Rolex to pay bill

A TOP Bulgarian cleric has failed to sell his gold Rolex to pay the electricity bill of his cash-strapped church, with no takers for the watch in the EU's poorest country.

Metropolitan Nikolay of the southern city of Plovdiv decided to sell the watch late last month to pay the almost 3000 leva ($A2000) power bill of the Saint Marina church.

"I'd rather go to heaven without a watch than to hell with one," the state BTA agency quoted him as then saying.

A public tender for the Rolex however failed to attract any bidders on Sunday due to its high asking price of 11,600 leva.

Bulgaria's Orthodox Church is the largest property owner in the country after the state but is short of funds to cover utility bills and its clergy receive a pittance in salary.

Nikolay's Rolex and a Lincoln car owned by his counterpart in the city of Varna have sparked angry comments in the press.

The cost of electricity in Bulgaria more than doubled in January from December, sending tens of thousands into the streets in protests that led to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's resignation last month.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Activists shoot down Aussie Pope idea

CARDINAL George Pell reportedly has no chance of becoming pope after his Australian opponents filled in the media and cardinals about the Sydney archbishop's history of dealing with sex abuse allegations.

Australian commentator Paul Collins says progressive Catholics have lobbied overseas journalists and voting cardinals to make sure they are aware of a 2002 inquiry into allegations against the Sydney archbishop.

The inquiry, headed by independent commissioner Alex Southwell QC, cleared Dr Pell of allegations he molested a boy during a camp at Phillip Island, in Victoria, in 1961.

But Dr Collins, a former priest, has told Fairfax: "He has no chance."

Dr Collins said another problem for the cardinal is that his patrons, the former pope and other influential cardinals, have lost power.

"In Italy, without patrons, you're gone."

Cardinal Pell was last week named at Number Five on a so-called dirty dozen list, compiled by the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

The group cited a dozen cardinals from the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Italy, Australia, Czech Republic, Canada, Argentina and Ghana accused of protecting pedophile priests or making offensive public statements.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld police say woman's death suspicious

BRISBANE police are treating the death of a woman at Rochedale South as suspicious.

They say they were called to a residence, where the woman was found with life-threatening injuries.

She was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition, but died.

The Homicide Investigation Group and local detectives are investigating.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More