$3m paid out by defence abuse taskforce

Victims of abuse in the defence force who are yet to lodge key paperwork are being warned to act. Source: AAP

VICTIMS of assault and mistreatment in the defence force yet to lodge paperwork are being warned to act soon, with more than $3 million already paid out in 70 cases.

People who have made complaints to the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce have until November 30 to provide all relevant documentation.

A budget of $70 million has been allocated to the reparation payments scheme, and 981 complaints are at various stages of the assessment process.

As of September 16, the taskforce's reparations assessor had approved in excess of $3 million in payments over 70 cases, 50 of which were for the maximum $50,000 payment.

Slater and Gordon's military compensation lawyer Brian Briggs warned time was nearly up for victims.

"When the scheme was established, it was always made clear that it would run for a set period of time," he said.

Complainants may also have the opportunity to meet with senior defence leaders in conferences.

The third interim report by the taskforce was tabled to federal parliament on Friday, providing an update on the progress of outcomes to individual complaints of abuse in the military.

The outcomes may include a referral to counselling, reparation payments, referral of appropriate matters to police or military justice authorities, referral to the chief of the defence force for administrative action or participation in a restorative engagement conference.

"The conferences will give people who have suffered abuse in defence a powerful opportunity to have their stories heard," said taskforce chair Len Roberts-Smith QC.

More than 2400 complaints have been made to the taskforce about abuse suffered in defence prior to April 2011.

As of September 16, 10 matters had been referred to police and 11 matters had been resolved in other ways.

The taskforce's crime group also has a further 41 active matters under assessment.

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Woolies caged eggs move angers farmers

Supermarket giant Woolworths has announced it will phase out the sale of caged eggs by 2018. Source: AAP

FARMERS are upset over Woolworths' decision to phase out the sale of eggs from caged hens over the next five years.

The supermarket giant says it will drop caged eggs by 2018 amid growing consumer pressure to address animal welfare concerns, but Coles and other grocers have not yet announced similar sweeping bans.

Caged eggs will no longer be used as an ingredient in Woolworths home brand products and hen stocking density will be displayed on its free range egg brands.

The announcement is expected to affect 12 Woolworths caged egg suppliers that will be forced to change to a cage-free system.

Victorian Farmers' Federation egg group president Brian Ahmed says the move would be costly for farmers.

"As an industry, it's very upsetting," Mr Ahmed said.

"We have invested in new cage systems that meet industry requirements and now, five years later, they want to ban cages with no compensation for farmers."

Mr Ahmed said farmers would be forced to change their systems to continue to be a part of the egg industry and that free range eggs may be unaffordable for some consumers.

Woolworths spokesman Lyndsey Gordon said the company would work with farmers to lower the cost of barn-laid eggs.

"We will work closely with the industry over the next five years to improve efficiencies and minimise cost," he said.

Animals Australia campaign director Lyn White called the decision a win for animals and consumer power.

"Hens have been paying a terrible price for cheaper eggs. It's terrific that Woolworths has acknowledged this and taken an historic ethical stand on this issue," Ms White said.

Coles announced it would stop selling its company-branded caged eggs in October last year.

Coles spokeswoman Jackie Healing said the company had also removed caged eggs and sow stall-produced pork from its Coles brand product range.

The company continues to sell caged eggs from other suppliers.

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Kenya terror victim Langdon farewelled

Australian Ross Langdon, who was killed in a Kenyan terrorist attack, has been farewelled in Hobart. Source: AAP

LIFE-LOVING, high-achieving Tasmanian Ross Langdon's greatest accomplishment would have been his baby daughter, the terror victim's brother has told his funeral gathering.

Mr Langdon, who with his heavily pregnant partner Elif Yavuz was shot dead by Islamist militants in Kenya, has been farewelled by around 120 family and friends in Hobart.

The 32-year-old was remembered as a wine-loving globe-trotter whose excellence as an architect made a difference to the lives of those he helped in Africa.

But Mr Langdon's brother Craig told those assembled, the child due to the couple this month would have overshadowed it all.

"Rosso's greatest achievement had nothing to do with the world of architecture," Craig Langdon said.

"His greatest achievement was to be the birth of his baby daughter."

The couple had travelled to the Kenyan capital Nairobi from their home in Tanzania to ensure adequate health care for Ms Yavuz, who was eight months pregnant.

Three candles were lit in Hobart and a funeral for Dutch citizen Ms Yavuz and the couple's unborn child in the Netherlands was among memorial services to have been held around the world.

Mr Langdon's sister Amy had been visiting her brother in the Ugandan capital Kampala when the couple met in 2011.

"Ross disappeared from the dance floor and I later found him deep in conversation with a bright, smiling brunette named Elif," she said.

"That was the night that their life journeys collided.

"It's been a joy to observe their love and respect for each other. They were truly great for each other."

Described as "talented, idealistic, passionate", Mr Langdon was famous for his all-nighters at work and play.

Raised in the small Tasman Peninsula village of Nubeena, he'd lived in London, the US and Africa after winning the Sydney University Medal for Architecture when he graduated in 2004.

He had recently designed, without charge, a HIV-AIDS clinic in Uganda and was due to start work on a new museum of African pre-history in Tanzania.

Turkish-born Ms Yavuz, a specialist in malaria, worked for the Clinton Foundation and had been visited by former US president Bill Clinton in August.

The service took a moment to remember the families and friends of the other 69 killed in the Westgate shopping mall attack by terror group al-Shabab two weeks ago.

Another 200 were injured.

Befitting another of Mr Langdon's greatest loves, those gathered were directed to a coffee van set up for the occasion outside the Hobart funeral chapel.

Mr Langdon was buried in a private family service at Kingston in Hobart's southern suburbs.

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Toro receives FIRB approval for Maitland

TORO Energy has received approval to finalise the purchase of the Lake Maitland uranium project in Western Australia from Canada's Mega Uranium.

The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) says the deal, which will be funded with 415 million Toro shares, can go ahead.

Lake Maitland, 90 kilometres south-east of Wiluna in central Western Australia, contains higher grade material that is expected to improve the overall blended head grade from Toro's Wiluna deposits.

The company hopes to begin production at Wiluna in 2016, making it the state's first uranium mine.

Shareholders will vote on the Lake Maitland transaction on October 18.

Toro still needs to secure project financing for the Wiluna project, and hopes to complete a definitive feasibility study in 2014.

Toro shares were down 0.1 cent at 8.4 cents at 1430 AEST.

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Nitschke rues Silk Road closure

Dr Philip Nitschke says some elderly Australians will be affected by the Silk Road website closure. Source: AAP

THE closure by US authorities of the black market Silk Road website will have a devastating effect on some elderly Australians, says euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke.

They were using the site to source reliable quantities of the "premier" end-of-life drug Nembutal, Dr Nitschke, director of Exit International, said on Friday.

US Federal agents this week shut down the site which they said was a black market for drugs, hitmen and hacker tools and arrested the suspected owner.

But Dr Nitschke said the site had been welcomed by elderly Australians desperate to obtain an end-of-life safety net.

"Our elderly members appreciated the comfort that came from knowing that their transactions were private," he said in a statement.

"Although they knew that importing a small amount of Nembutal for possible use at some future date was illegal, many still felt it was a risk worth taking.

"The removal of the site will now mean that other less secure avenues will be pursued."

The site closure will be one topic discussed at an Exit International euthanasia workshop to be held in Adelaide on Saturday.

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UK mother jailed for starving son

AN alcoholic mother of eight who starved her four-year-old son to death and left his body in a cot for nearly two years has been jailed by a British court for 15 years.

Amanda Hutton, 43, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Hamzah Khan at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday and sentenced on Friday.

Hamzah's body was found in squalor at Hutton's home in Bradford in September 2011.

Hutton admitted neglecting five of her other children aged between five and 13, who were living in the terrible conditions.

Hutton showed no emotion as she was led from the dock.

Judge Roger Thomas QC told her the offences "demonstrate a most fundamental and serious breach of any duty that an individual in decent society can owe to others - namely the duty that a parent owes to her or his young children to take proper care of them".

The judge said the children were found in a situation that was "breathtakingly awful".

Judge Thomas said the manslaughter of Hamzah involved "failing to provide him with anything like adequate nourishment over a long period of time - in short you starved him to death".

In terms of the five child cruelty charges she admitted, the judge said that related to a period of nearly three years "when, on an ever declining scale, you failed your young children, causing them to live in quite appalling conditions of squalor which understandably shocked even the most seasoned police officers who attended your home in September 2011".

He recalled how an experienced pediatrician told the jury how her visit to Hutton's house after Hamzah's body was discovered was "the most extreme example of neglect" she had encountered in her career.

The judge said it was clear Hutton had an alcohol problem and that "you placed your own selfish addiction to drink well before your responsibilities to your many children."

Judge Thomas sentenced Hutton to 12 years in prison for manslaughter. He gave her a three-year sentence for child cruelty, which he said was to be served consecutive to the 12 years.

The judge said she should serve two-and-a-half years for preventing the lawful burial of Hamzah, but said this was to be served concurrently.

A charge of fraud relating to Hutton claiming child benefit for Hamzah after his death will lie on the file.

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Serial rapist to spend night behind bars

SERIAL rapist Robert Fardon is heading back to jail after his bid for freedom was short-lived.

Corrective Services says Fardon is likely to be back behind bars in Brisbane sometime on Friday night after the department received a warrant for his arrest.

Queensland's Court of Appeal ordered the warrant to be issued just two hours after the notorious sex offender was released from his cell.

"We expect him to be back there at some stage tonight, we're just not sure when," a Corrective Services spokesman told AAP on Friday.

Fardon was freed at 4pm (AEST) on Friday after Supreme Court judge Peter Lyons refused an application to delay his release.

But Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie went to the Court of Appeal to keep Fardon locked up.

Before the matter was heard, Mr Bleijie told the media he would do everything in his power to keep Fardon in prison.

"The fight is not over," Mr Bleijie told reporters.

"I simply will exhaust all legal opportunities and avenues available to me as attorney-general."

As Mr Bleijie was addressing the media, Corrective Services said Fardon had been released into the emergency accommodation area of Wacol prison.

Two hours later, at 6pm, the Court of Appeal adjourned the hearing to Wednesday and ordered Fardon be kept in custody until then.

Justice Phillip Morrison ordered a warrant to be issued for Fardon's arrest.

Mr Bleijie is seeking a stay on Justice Lyon's order, so Fardon is kept in jail while an appeal against the decision to free the sex offender is heard.

Any appeal wouldn't be heard for two to three weeks, the court heard.

Justice Morrison said as it appeared there were reasonable grounds for the appeal, an interim stay on Justice Lyons' release order was required.

Justice Lyons said lawyers for the attorney-general had failed to convince him that his earlier decision to release Fardon from indefinite detention was wrong.

If Mr Bleijie fails in his bid to keep Fardon jailed until an appeal is heard, the serial rapist will be released at 4pm Wednesday when the interim stay on the order expires.

Fardon has spent most of his adult life in prison.

He has been convicted of sex offences against women and girls dating back to 1967, when he was 18.

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Prince Harry to tour Sydney's Fleet Review

PRINCE Harry will be in Sydney on Saturday for his first official trip to Australia, inspecting navy ships taking part in the International Fleet Review.

Captain Wales, as he's known in the British military, will be joined by Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Prime Minister Tony Abbott. He is expected to meet and greet onlookers at some point in the day.

The day will culminate in a pyrotechnics and light show, marking 100 years since the Royal Australian Navy fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour.

The warships will enter formation ahead of Saturday's fleet review in preparation for a royal salute from the prince.

Project director Heath Campanaro says seven lit-up warships will act as launching pads in an Australian first.

"People will never have seen anything like this," Mr Campanaro said.

"The show is very different to anything done on Sydney Harbour before.

"It's going to be one of the most amazing things we've seen."

More than seven tonnes of fireworks are at the ready to fuel a show 12 months in the making.

Ferries will not run between 5.50pm and 9pm (AEST), while the fireworks take place and extra buses will run on routes to vantage points, including from Bondi Junction to Watsons Bay.

The Fireworks and Lightshow Spectacular kicks off at 7.30pm at Sydney Harbour.

The best public vantage points will be at Dawes Point, Bradfield Park, Mrs Macquarie's Chair and along Circular Quay.

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VW to make hefty Brazilian investment

VOLKSWAGEN is to invest 520 million reais ($A252 million) to develop a new model of its highly popular Golf compact, which will be manufactured in the southern Brazil.

Volkswagen do Brasil President Thomas Schmall made the announcement on Thursday after meeting with Brazil's head of state, Dilma Rousseff, to present the company's plans.

The new Golf model will be manufactured at the multinational's plant in Parana, and sold in Brazil from in 2016, Schmall said.

The announcement comes after Mercedes Benz and Audi unveiled big bets on Brazil's promising auto market.

Mercedes said last week it would invest some $US230 million ($A246 million) to build a second plant in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo.

The luxury automaker's factory will have a production capacity of 20,000 vehicles per year and begin operating in 2016.

Audi also has announced plans for a big push into Brazil's luxury vehicle market, saying last month it would invest $US500 million over the next two years to build a new assembly plant in Brazil.

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Mexico bus crash kills 13

AT least 13 people have died after a bus turned over as it travelled along a highway in Mexico.

The accident happened at about 7am local time on the highway connecting Naucalpan municipality with Toluca, the capital of Mexico state.

The bus went off the road and plunged down a 30m ravine, shooting several passengers out of the vehicle.

At least 13 people have been confirmed dead, and another 20 injured.

Emergency management crews, firefighters and state police are working in the area to recover the bodies still trapped in the bus, while the injured have been taken by helicopter to nearby hospitals.

In a statement on the Televisa network, Eduardo Luque, a delegate from the federal transportation department in Mexico state, said the bus was apparently speeding, though the allegation must still be confirmed by an investigation.

According to highway safety experts, every year in Mexico there are approximately 4 million traffic accidents that take about 24,000 lives.

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Church attempted to conceal crimes, FoI

THE Catholic Church believed it had an understanding with the NSW police in 2003 that allowed them to conceal evidence against pedophile priests, a freedom of information (FoI) document reveals.

The file, accessed through FoI laws by NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge and obtained by ABC's Lateline, documents the Catholic Church's attempt to co-opt NSW police to strike into the illegal agreement.

"Church authorities shall make available the report of an assessment and any other matter relevant to the accused's account of events only if required to do so by court order," the unsigned draft memorandum read.

Catholic Commission for Employment Relations executive director Michael McDonald wrote to the NSW child protection squad on June 18, 2003 seeking confirmation the memorandum of understanding (MOU) was still in place.

In response, Kim McKay from the child protection squad advised no agreement ever existed.

"The arrangements proposed by the draft MOU appear to be in direct conflict with the explicit legislative requirement of section 316 of the Crime Act," he wrote in August 20, 2003.

It's unclear how long the church had been acting according the draft MOU.

Michael Salmon, who was the Catholic Church's point of contact for police at the time, provided a statement to Lateline confirming the church had operated under the unsigned agreement.

"The church assumed it was operational, we were practicing the provisions of the MOU and dealing with the police under those provisions," he said.

"We had an understanding from police it was approved."

Mr Shoebridge says it's unclear how many cases were dealt with by the church under this assumption.

"It's likely that hundreds, if not more than that, cases were processed through this MOU," he told ABC.

"Processed in a way that didn't protect victims, didn't assist the police in prosecuting for crimes, but protected the good name of the church."

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Australians pay off NBN FoI request

AND you thought fibre-to-the-home was fast.

Australians are so keen for information on the National Broadband Network (NBN) that they've helped pay an expensive Freedom of Information (FoI) request for ministerial briefings in just five hours.

Delimiter editor Renai LeMay on Wednesday used funding site Pozible to raise $2072 for the briefing "blue book" that was provided to new Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull last month.

The site has since achieved above its target, with 122 supporters pledging a total of $2262 as of 10pm AEST on Wednesday night.

Mr LeMay has promised contributors he'll publish the 545-page document on his technology website when he receives it.

However, it's highly unlikely users will get the full briefing afforded to Mr Turnbull, with the Department of Communications estimating that 97.55 hours of decision-making time will go into judging what portions of the blue book will be released.

Mr LeMay also warned contributors in his funding request that the Department of Communications had given him a preliminary warning that a "significant proportion" of the briefings won't be made available.

The internet push for the ministerial briefings comes less than one month after an online petition urging the coalition to reconsider its plans to create a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network in place of Labor's existing fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) approach garnered 263,000 online signatures.

Labor's FTTH network connects every home and business with optical fibre cables, which provides download speeds up to 1000 megabits a second (Mbps), upload speeds of 400Mbps and aimed to be completed by 2021.

The coalition campaigned for a FTTN policy, which will rely on existing copper lines, and provide most homes with download speeds of 50Mbps and upload speeds of 5Mbps by 2019.

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Heat could cause 'massive' koala decline

AUSTRALIA'S koala population could face "massive decline" unless more is done to protect the iconic Aussie marsupial from extreme weather.

The University of Sydney found koalas were seeking shelter from hotter weather, not just in their traditional eucalypt homes, but also in pines, casuarinas and kurrajongs.

Koalas were making the move was because these "shelter trees" were cooler than eucalypts during heatwaves, Lead researcher Mathew Crowther said.

However, he said koala populations faced a "massive decline" unless more was done to retain and plant trees given increasing temperatures across Australia.

"Koalas are actually down at the bottom of trees dying," Dr Crowther told AAP.

"We could see massive declines ... it would be disastrous."

He said it was tough to put a timeframe on how fast numbers could fall, but said the impact of hotter weather was already being seen.

"It could be quicker than we hope for," Dr Crowther added.

He said the research paper, published in the online journal Ecography, showed the need for governments and landholders to place an "urgent emphasis" on retaining taller, mature trees.

"The implication is that longstanding land management practices of retaining and planting feed trees for koalas needs to be expanded to include shelter trees within the home range of each koala," he said.

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SA Greens senator backs party leader

Victoria's newest senator Ricky Muir is off to Canberra after winning the state's sixth Senate spot.

The unemployed father-of-five won the seat despite the microparty winning just 0.51 per cent of the primary vote, thanks to a complex set of preference flows.

Mr Muir will join the Greens' Janet Rice, who also picked up a Victorian Senate seat while Liberal Senator Helen Kroger has lost her senate seat.

ALP senators Gavin Marshall and Jacinta Collins and Liberal senators Mitch Fifield and Scott Ryan were returned.

With the Senate result in SA finalised on Tuesday the Australian Electoral Commission said voters had elected two Liberal Senators, Corey Bernardi and Simon Birmingham, Labor's Penny Wong, the Greens Sarah Hanson-Young, popular independent Nick Xenophon and Family First's Bob Day.

The big loser from the poll was sitting Labor Senator Don Farrell, who will lose his spot when the new Senate comes into effect in July.

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Obama to speak on US shutdown

US President Barack Obama is getting ready to address the American people as the federal government moves ahead with a partial shutdown and new health insurance exchanges are launching under his health care law.

The White House says Obama will deliver a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House at 12.25pm EDT (2.35am on Wednesday AEST).

He also plans to meet in the Oval Office with a group of citizens who are participating in the new health care program.

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SES continue clean-up from damaging winds

THE NSW State Emergency Service (SES) will continue to work its way through almost 800 calls for assistance following a day of fierce winds.

A two-level shopping centre at Greenacre, southwest of Sydney, and an apartment building were among the properties that had their roofs partly ripped off during Tuesday's strong winds.

Properties on the Central Coast and Northern Beaches also had roofs blown away.

The damage to the shopping complex and Marrickville unit block will require the services of structural engineers on Wednesday.

Eight people had to be evacuated from the Marrickville units and relocated to temporary accommodation.

The SES had to hand the Greenacre shopping centre job, which involved 160 metres of roof damage, to NSW Fire and Rescue.

SES spokesman Todd Burns said the organisation had received 794 calls for assistance as of 10pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

The SES had ticked off all but 184 jobs, dealing with the urgent ones first, but there would be plenty of work still to do on Wednesday.

The emergency crews expect to have light winds on their side.

"The front that occurred had now moved out of the coast," Mr Burns said.

A wind gust of 135km/h was recorded at Thredbo on Tuesday while a gust of 93km/h was recorded at Sydney Harbour.

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Sydney road closed after fatal truck crash

AUTHORITIES hope to have a busy Sydney road reopened by peak hour following a fiery fatal truck crash which killed two people.

A fuel tanker crashed and exploded at Mona Vale on the city's northern beaches on Tuesday afternoon and authorities are working overnight to clean up the debris left behind.

However, they say the route may not open until later in the morning due to extensive damage to the road surface.

The remains of the charred truck and four other vehicles involved in the smash littered Mona Vale Rd near Samuel St.

Two males died in the blaze just after 3pm (AEST) and six people were taken to hospital.

Police say it appears the truck lost control, hit a power pole and four other cars before ending up on its side, spilling fuel over the road.

Remaining fuel has since been drained from the tanker and it's expected what's left of the vehicle will be removed for examination.

Neither police nor the Transport Management Centre (TMC) could guarantee when the road between Pittwater Rd and Powder Works Rd would be reopened, but were hopeful it would reopen sometime in the morning.

A Transport Management Centre spokeswoman told AAP the road's pavement would need to be repaired and resurfaced.

She said authorities would work through the night.

Crash investigation police would also remained at the scene overnight.

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Abbott gives fresh assurances on boat plan

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has given President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono fresh assurances that Australia will not violate Indonesia's sovereignty amid ongoing tension over the coalition's plans to turn asylum seeker boats around.

While both leaders on Monday spoke of a united and cooperative approach to combating people smuggling, it was clear from comments following their talks in Jakarta that Mr Abbott's controversial boat tow-back plan remains a sore point in the relationship.

Speaking after what was his first bilateral meeting with Dr Yudhoyono since being elected prime minister, Mr Abbott on Monday evening said his discussions with the Indonesian president on people smuggling had been "very cordial, constructive and collegial".

"We are resolved together united to tackle this problem and to beat it - on land and at sea, and at the borders of our countries," Mr Abbott said.

"We are determined to end this scourge which is not just an affront to our two countries, but which has so often become a humanitarian disaster in our seas between our two countries."

However, Dr Yudhoyono stressed that it was Indonesia's view that the issue of asylum seekers would be best dealt with under the regional dialogue known as the Bali Process.

"They burden Indonesia," he said of asylum seekers.

"They give us social burden, they give us economic burden. And when some of them decide to continue their journey to Australia, they then bring more burden to Indonesia.

"It would be much better if cooperation at the bilateral level will flow even further based on the Bali Process so that we may both together overcome this challenge".

The meeting between the two leaders comes just days after the tragic sinking of an asylum seeker boat off the coast of Indonesia, and weeks of criticism out of Jakarta over Mr Abbott's plan to turn boats back.

Neither Mr Abbott or Dr Yudhoyono spoke in any detail about what was discussed in their meeting in terms of asylum seeker policy.

But Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa later confirmed that Mr Abbott had given a fresh guarantee that Indonesia's sovereignty would be respected, in what was clearly a reference to the coalition's controversial tow-back policy.

"The Australian side constantly repeated their assurances that they would not take any action that contravenes Indonesian sovereignty," Dr Natalegawa told reporters.

"We are assured by that expression of commitment on the part of Australia."

The comments come after Dr Natalegawa last week warned the tow-back plan could violate his country's sovereignty and damage relations.

"We have had just now a very clear recognition on the part of the Australian government, the prime minister, that the issue of people smuggling is an issue that is a shared responsibility, a shared challenge for the two of us," he said.

"Therefore the ways to overcome it must be coordinated and cooperative ... (and) the ways and means will be respectful of Indonesian sovereignty."

Mr Abbott, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Finance Minister Andrew Robb, met with Dr Yudhoyono for more than 30 minutes, also discussing trade and investment.

A group of Australian business leaders has also travelled to Jakarta as part of Mr Abbott's delegation.

Mr Abbott began his trip by laying a wreath at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in south Jakarta, where many who died fighting in the Indonesian war of independence against colonialists are buried.

He will address a business breakfast on Tuesday morning before returning to Australia.

Later, during a speech at the Presidential Palace, Mr Abbott announced an Australian Centre for Indonesian Studies would be established to "strengthen and deepen" business, cultural, educational, research and community links.

The new centre is to be based at Monash University, with the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne also involved.

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Election result boosts profit outlooks

THE election of a coalition government and the upcoming silly season has businesses more confident of profit growth in coming months.

Profit expectations have jumped to their highest level since the beginning of the year, the latest Dun and Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey shows.

The profit outlook for the final quarter of 2013 is also noticeably stronger than in corresponding periods in 2012 and 2011.

The survey showed 28 per cent of businesses expect to increase their profits in the next three months, although seven per cent forecast a reduction.

Business expectations traditionally rise ahead of Christmas, but the outcome of the federal election had provided a further boost, Dun and Bradstreet corporate affairs director Danielle Woods said.

"Despite facing tough trading conditions throughout most of the year, businesses are indicating that they see some light at the end of the tunnel," Ms Woods said.

"There's undoubtedly been a boost from last month's change of government, with 65 per cent of businesses saying they are more confident about future business conditions."

Low interest rates as well as the falling Australian dollar also contributed to rising confidence.

The survey said 34 per cent of businesses expected a positive impact from the Aussie dollar's move lower, while eight per cent expected a negative impact, and 58 per cent expected no impact.

But concerns remained around investment and employment, with more businesses planning to reduce their levels of hiring and capital spending.

Dun and Bradstreet economic adviser Stephen Koukoulas said the survey pointed to a pick-up in economic activity and an eventual rise in interest rates.

"Low interest rates and the weaker Australian dollar are now showing up quite directly in activity and the mood of the business sector," Mr Koukoulas said.

"The positive signs for the economy from the survey all but close the door on talk of a further interest rate cut from the Reserve Bank.

"It would not be surprising that if these positive signals are sustained, the market will be pricing in interest rate rises in the early part of 2014 as the RBA works to normalise monetary policy."

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Russia: Greenpeace activists posed threat

RUSSIA'S main investigative agency accuses Greenpeace activists of posing a "real threat" to the security of personnel on an offshore drilling platform in the Arctic, another indication that Moscow plans to prosecute the jailed environmentalists for their protest.

All 30 people who were on a Greenpeace ship, including two journalists, have been jailed for two months pending an investigation into their September 18 protest at the platform owned by state-controlled energy giant Gazprom.

The Investigative Committee on Monday said charges would be filed soon, but did not specify whether it was still considering charging the activists with piracy, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The investigators said the Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, had violated the 500-metre security zone around the platform and that it was carrying equipment whose purpose was still unclear.

In a statement, the investigators said they had seized some equipment and documents from the ship as part of their ongoing search.

Greenpeace Russia denied the ship had ventured closer than the 500 meters established by Russian and international law. The inflatable boats used by activists to scale the offshore platform did violate this zone, but posed no danger, the organisation said.

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American Airlines to hire 1500 pilots

AMERICAN Airlines says it will hire 1500 pilots over the next five years.

That's in addition to recalling all of the airline's pilots who have been furloughed.

American plans to start recruiting new pilots soon. It's already hiring 1500 new flight attendants.

Airlines have resumed hiring pilots in part because a large number are hitting a new mandatory retirement age of 65. The age was raised from age 60 a little over five years ago.

American earned $US71 million ($A76.70 million) in August, after losing $US82 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 7 per cent to $US2.34 billion.

American wants to exit bankruptcy protection in a merger with US Airways Group. First it needs to get past an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department. A trial is planned for November.

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Driving does not hurt ovaries: Saudi doc

A SAUDI doctor has gone on-air to dismiss claims made by a well-known cleric who caused a stir when he said medical studies show driving affects a woman's ovaries.

In comments aired over the weekend by the privately owned Rotana channel, gynecologist Mohammed Baknah says scientific studies have not proven that driving has adverse effects on women's reproductive health.

He was addressing remarks by Sheik Saleh Saad el-Leheidan who said that women who drive suffer from having the pelvis forced upward. His remarks were published on Saturday in an interview with the website el-Sabq.

Hard-line clerics have opposed a campaign scheduled for October 26 calling on women to drive in defiance of a ban in the ultraconservative kingdom.

Another cleric this month called on people to harass women who drive.

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More Greenpeace activists jailed in Russia

A COURT in Russia has sent six more Greenpeace activists to jail for two months and showed no sign that the remaining two activists would be treated any differently for a protest at a drilling platform in Arctic waters.

Twenty other activists and two journalists were ordered jailed for two months during a marathon court session on Thursday that stretched late into night, but the court ruled to hold the remaining eight only until new hearings could be held on Sunday.

No charges have been brought against any of the activists, who are citizens of 18 countries, including Russia.

Among them is Australian man Colin Russell and a British resident of Sydney, Alexandra Harris.

Russian prosecutors are considering whether to charge them with piracy, and the activists are being held pending the investigation.

The Russian Coast Guard disrupted an attempt on September 18 by two of the activists to scale a platform owned by Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom to call attention to the environmental risks of drilling in Arctic waters.

The next day, the Coast Guard seized Greenpeace's ship, the Arctic Sunrise, and towed it to Murmansk with the crew and activists aboard.

Those ordered jailed on Sunday include Dima Litvinov, Greenpeace International spokesman, who has dual US and Swedish citizenship; Finnish activist Sini Saarela, who was one of the two who tried to scale the platform; British activist Frank Hewetson; two Dutch citizens and a Ukrainian cook.

Hewetson's partner Nina Gold described the custody of the long-term activist as "wildly disproportionate and unjust".

"I would ask the Russian authorities to reconsider this unwarranted and harsh decision," she said in a statement issued by Greenpeace.

"His children and I are very concerned for him but know that he will be cheered by the support of millions of people worldwide which is bringing the destruction of the Arctic to international attention."

Greenpeace Russia campaign director Ivan Blokov has described the seizure of the ship as "the most aggressive and hostile act" against the environmental organisation since French government agents bombed the Rainbow Warrior ship in 1985, killing one man.

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Another arrest over Kenya mall attack

KENYA'S interior minister says that another arrest has been made in connection with the deadly Westgate mall attack, which left 67 people dead in a four-day siege.

Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said the arrest was made on Sunday, but he refused to give any further details.

Kenyan officials have arrested 12 people in connection with the attack, but three have been freed. Lenko declined to say if any of those arrested had been in the mall during the attack.

Investigators have also identified a car used by the gunmen, from the Somalia-based Islamist group al-Shabab, and found in it "an assortment of illegal weapons," said Lenku.

The Red Cross says 59 people remain missing after the siege, though the government puts that number at zero.

Kenyans have become increasingly frustrated over the government's unwillingness to share information about the attack. Almost no details have been released about what happened after the first hours of the siege.

"We ask you to bear with us," he said, of the government's unwillingness to share information.

While the mall was a chaotic scene for many hours after the attack began, with people moving in and out of the upscale shopping centre, Lenku insisted no terrorists could have escaped.

"Our forces sealed off every point of exit," he said. "It was completely secured."

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Small banks beat big four for satisfaction

SMALLER banks are doing a better job of keeping customers happy than the big four.

ING Direct has been voted Australia's best bank in an online survey of customer satisfaction by comparison website Mozo.com.au.

In state-by-state rankings, only South Australia included major banks in their top five for customer satisfaction.

ME Bank scored the title of best home lender, as well as provider of credit and debit cards.

Despite being pipped by their smaller competitors, the big four did enjoy an all-time high satisfaction rating of 7.55 out of 10.

Record low interest rates had ushered in a "new golden era" for banking satisfaction, Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said.

"With rates at all time lows ... the battleground will shift towards customer service, convenience, brand trust as well as pricing."

But Generation X bucked the overall trend of greater satisfaction with banks - due to the higher rate of debt carried by those aged 35-54, she said.

This is the fourth year Mozo.com.au has run the awards, which are based on 28,000 customer reviews.

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