French tax protests rumble on

THOUSANDS of trucks blocked highways and roads across France in ongoing protests over an environmental tax that continue to smoulder, despite the government putting the levy on ice.

The Interior Ministry said around 2200 trucks were taking part in the protest over the proposed tax on trucks of over 3.5 tonnes - slightly more than the last protest by transporters two weeks ago. A transport union put the figure at 4500 trucks.

Tens of thousands of small business owners and workers have demonstrated over the tax in the past month, calling it the last straw after a string of punishing tax increases, particularly on business.

Further protests were planned later on Saturday in Brittany, where the revolt was started in October by a group of farmers and food producers known as the Bonnets Rouges (Red Caps).

To defuse tensions the government has suspended the implementation of the tax, which had been due to come into effect in 2014.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said on Friday it would not take effect until at least 2015.

The OTRE transport union and Brittany's Bonnet Rouges are demanding that the tax be scrapped altogether.

The protests are seen as the expression of deep frustration with the Socialist government's economic policy.

Faced with a bloated budget deficit, the government's response has mainly been to raise taxes, avoiding the deep spending cuts seen elsewhere in Europe.

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Tibetan campaigner arrives in Dharmsala

A 42-YEAR-OLD Tibetan has arrived at the headquarters of the government-in-exile in India after cycling through Europe and Asia in a campaign protesting China's heavy-handed rule in the Himalayan region.

Scores of people lined the streets of northern Indian town of Dharmsala on Saturday waving Tibetan flags and ceremonial silk scarves as they greeted Rinpo Yak.

He reached India cycling through Nepal.

Beginning in March, he moved through 14 European countries before flying to Japan for the Asian leg. His journey has covered over 8000 kilometres.

He lives in the US and he has spread his message across 40 states since 2000.

He's due to meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama soon.

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Militants attack polio team in Pakistan

MILITANTS have attacked police protecting an anti-polio team in Pakistan's troubled northwest, killing one policeman and injuring another.

The policeman was part of polio eradication campaign in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Naseeb Gul from the district police office confirmed the casualties. He says the polio workers are safe.

No one has taken responsibility for the attack so far. However, it's believed that Islamists carry out such attacks as they consider immunisation a conspiracy by the West to reduce fertility in Muslims.

Last Saturday, militants linked with the Lashkar-e-Islam militant group kidnapped four teachers from the Khyber tribal district near Peshawar for administering polio vaccines to school children.

Pakistan is one of only a few countries, such as Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the crippling polio virus can still be found.

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Sri Lanka starts counting civil war dead

SRI Lanka's government has started counting the dead, wounded and missing in its quarter-century civil war amid international pressure to conduct a credible investigation into war crimes allegations.

It comes two years after a local war commission recommended a census to determine the number of civilian deaths in the civil war that ended in 2009.

Tens of thousands are said to have perished in just the last few months of the fighting.

Government census official A J Satharasinghe said some 15,000 workers will go house-to-house asking about war victims for the count to be completed on December 20.

Sri Lanka is under pressure over its delay to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, which includes a local inquiry into allegations of war abuse.

Countries including the US and Britain have warned that Sri Lanka could face an international war crimes investigation if it fails to conduct its own inquiry.

The UN Human Rights Council has passed two successive resolutions calling for an inquiry, and human rights chief Navi Pillay is expected to submit her findings from a visit to Sri Lanka at the council's session next March.

Sri Lankan troops in May 2009 defeated Tamil Tiger rebels who had fought since 1983 to create an independent state for the country's ethnic minority Tamils.

The government expelled international aid workers and UN staff from the war zone in the last stages of the fighting and blocked independent journalists, making it impossible for outsiders to know the extent of civilian deaths.

According to a UN report, as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians may have died in the last few months of the fighting, which the government disputes.

Sri Lanka's government insisted that not a single civilian was killed, until 2011 when it acknowledged some deaths.

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Syrian troops retake rebel-held town

THE Syrian army has retaken a mainly Christian town near the capital Damascus, a week after Islamist rebels seized it.

The army regained full control of Deir Attiyeh in the Damascus countryside "after eliminating the last dens of terrorists there", the state-run news agency SANA reported on Thursday.

The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the seizure.

Deir Attiyeh, with a population of about 25,000 people, is situated on a strategic route linking Damascus to Homs in central Syria.

The area was captured by al-Qaeda-linked groups of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Al-Nusra Front last week, reported the Britain-based Observatory.

Troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have claimed advances into rebel-held areas near Damascus in recent months.

Further north, at least six people were killed and more than 35 wounded when a surface-to-surface missile fell overnight in the city of al-Raqqa, according to the Observatory.

The Syrian Co-ordination Committees, a group of activists reporting violence on the ground, said a Scud missile had landed in a market in the jihadist-controlled city, leaving at least 40 people dead and 220 injured.

There was no official comment.

Syria's crisis started in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests, which soon developed into a devastating war after al-Assad's regime attempted to quell the demonstrations.

The UN estimates that more than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

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Britain scales back loan program

THE Bank of England has scaled back a loan program meant to spur economic recovery, amid fears that cheap mortgages could inflate a housing bubble.

The Fund for Lending program was launched in June last year by the bank together with the Treasury to help homes and businesses emerge from the crisis.

But starting in January, the plan, which offers cheap finance to banks to encourage lending, will only be available to small- and medium-sized businesses.

House prices have gathered momentum since the plan was announced, with average prices rising 6.8 per cent in the year to October.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says that acting now reduces the likelihood of larger interventions later.

While he didn't see any immediate threat, he says the "concern is where this could go".

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Deposit outflows from Cypriot banks slow

CYPRUS' central bank says deposit outflows from the bailed-out country's banks have slowed to their lowest level in 10 months.

Figures released on Thursday show overall deposits at the end of October to be at 47.3 billion euros ($A71.2 billion), just 163 million euros less than the previous month.

Another encouraging sign was that deposits from non-EU country residents increased to 12.1 billion euros, up by 406.6 million euros from a month earlier.

That's the first such increase since March, when Cyprus agreed on a painful rescue deal with other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

The agreement sanctioned a grab from the savings of uninsured depositors in Cyprus' top two banks.

To prevent a run, authorities imposed capital controls that have since been partially relaxed.

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UK police probe Peaches Geldof tweet

PEACHES Geldof could face a criminal investigation after she named two women who allowed their babies to be abused by disgraced rock star Ian Watkins.

The daughter of Boomtown Rats star Bob Geldof posted the names of two women involved in the case on Twitter after reportedly reading them on a US-based website - but has since removed them.

Lostprophets singer Watkins was branded a "determined and committed paedophile" after he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a string of sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby.

The 36-year-old, from south Wales, plotted the abuse with two mothers in a series of text and internet messages.

The attorney-general's office has warned that sex offence victims have automatic lifetime anonymity and publishing details that can lead to their identification is a criminal offence.

"We understand that the names of the co-defendants in the Ian Watkins case were posted online but have now been removed," a spokeswoman for said.

"As has been previously reported, the co-defendants were the mothers of the victims.

"Victims of sexual offences have automatic lifetime anonymity and the publication of names or information which can lead to their being identified is a criminal offence. This is a police matter."

A spokeswoman for South Wales Police said the force was preparing a statement on the matter.

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Police want help with Laverton North grab

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a 14-year-old girl was grabbed by an unknown man in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Police say the teenager was walking along Fitzroy Street in Laverton North on at about 7.30am on November 7 when a man got out of a car and took hold of her arm.

She was able to break his hold and run away without suffering an injury, and the man drove off in his faded-red four-door vehicle.

Police say the is aged about 45 to 50, is Caucasian with fair skin, bald.

He is of a medium build and has a "scruffy appearance" including brown/grey long beard.

During the incident he was wearing black sunglasses, a black leather jacket with front pockets, and navy blue overalls with pockets on legs.

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US jobless claims drop as lay-offs slow

THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped 10,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 316,000, a sign that workers are in less danger of being laid off.

The Labor Department says the less volatile four-week average fell 7,500 to 331,750. Both the weekly jobless claims and the average have returned to pre-recession levels.

Weekly unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have fallen in six of the past seven weeks.

As layoffs have dwindled, hiring has picked up.

Employers added 204,000 jobs last month, indicating that companies were undeterred by the 16-day government shutdown. Private businesses added 212,000 new positions, the most since February.

The economy has added an average of 202,000 jobs a month from August through October, up from 146,000 in May through July.

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Man attempts to lure girl in Wollongong

POLICE are appealing for information after an unknown man attempted to lure a 13-year-old girl into his car in Wollongong.

Police say a green older-model sedan with light-blue number plates pulled up beside the girl at 4pm on Wednesday when she was walking on Pioneer Road in Bellambi.

When the girl declined the offer of a lift, police say the driver reached towards her and she ran away.

Officers want to speak with a man they describe as being aged 30-40, with olive skin, a large build, and a flat nose.

Police say the man was unshaven, wearing sunglasses and a black cap with a red logo on the front on Wednesday.

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UK detectives quiz 'slavery victims'

THREE women allegedly held as slaves in London are to be formally interviewed by police for the first time.

Officers have had indirect contact with the trio, who it is claimed were effectively brainwashed into remaining in a political collective for more than three decades, but have had to wait until trauma experts gave them the go-ahead to take their accounts in person.

Commander Steve Rodhouse police did not yet fully understand the "nature of the allegations".

"We are moving to a point where we will be able to interview the victims and our plan is actually to do so today," Rodhouse said on Wednesday.

He said there may have been "many and varied offences" against the women, who were allegedly held captive at various addresses in London, but that their ordeal may not be defined as modern day slavery.

"We need to maintain an open mind on what this particular incident is before we jump to those conclusions and labels," Rodhouse said.

"The crucial issue for us is that, on the basis of the information that we've had indirectly from victims, clearly criminal offences have been committed. What we need to do now is to understand that in much more detail."

A total of 47 officers are now working on the inquiry, launched after one of the women - a 30-year-old Briton, a 57-year-old Irishwoman and a 69-year-old Malaysian - contacted staff from the Freedom Charity last month, and eventually left the house in Brixton, south London, where they said they were being held.

Police agreed to wait until last week to arrest the suspected captors, said to be Maoist activists Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife, Chanda Pattni.

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McCann teams 'should become one'

BRITISH and Portuguese police should join together as one team in their investigations into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner says.

Currently Scotland Yard is running its own inquiry into what happened to the little girl, who vanished while holidaying with her parents in Praia da Luz in 2007, while the Portuguese authorities have their own investigation.

The Portuguese shelved their inquiry into her disappearance in 2008, but last month said that a review had uncovered enough new information to justify reopening the case.

"One thing we'd like to see in the future is a joint investigation team which comes under the European community," Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said on Wednesday.

"It is a possibility legally, and we're working together at a political level, and at a police and judicial level, to see how we can construct that.

"There are two separate inquiries with a different focus - we've got one particular set of lines of inquiry and they have a different one. But it's important that we work together on what is clearly a common problem.

"It's a formal arrangement, it allows officers from each country to work in the other country, it gives them powers associated with that, and it's an efficient way of doing it.

"If you're not careful, you end up doing things on an ad-hoc basis, and for us it would be better to have that type of arrangement. So that's what we're trying to get agreement between the two governments and the two police services."

British police received hundreds of calls and emails after recent renewed television appeals for information in the UK, Holland and Germany.

They appealed for help trying to trace a man who was seen carrying a child towards the sea, and a number of fair-haired men who were lurking around the holiday apartments where Madeleine was staying.

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BlackBerry shake-up continues

THE shake-up at Blackberry is continuing after the ouster of CEO Thorsten Heins earlier this month.

Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear and Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben, both hired by Heins, will leave the struggling smartphone maker.

And the company said on Monday that Brian Bidulka is being replaced by James Yersh as chief financial officer.

Yersh previously served as senior vice-president and controller.

Bidulka will remain with the company as an adviser for the remainder of the company's fiscal year.

Sybase CEO John Chen was brought in as the interim chief executive after negotiations to sell the Ontario company collapsed.

Chen also serves as chairman of the board.

Blackberry quickly lost dominance as the leading smartphone maker as the popularity of the iPhone surged.

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More spy revelations could be on way

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott could be constrained in responding to Indonesia over spying claims because of concerns there could be more damaging revelations still to be revealed, it's been suggested.

Josh Frydenberg, parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, said the Guardian newspaper had stated that just one per cent of the information from US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden was in the public arena.

Similarly, the head of the United States National Security Agency, where Snowden worked, suggested as many as 200,000 files could have gone missing, he said.

"This could be a very slow burn. Today it could be Indonesia," Mr Frydenberg told the ABC's Q and A program.

"I would be astounded if, with only one per cent of that information out there, if there will not be more damaging revelations for Australia and its allies in due course. I don't know."

Mr Frydenberg said as Snowden was now in Russia, the intelligence files he took could now be in the possession of the Russians.

"This may be part of a bigger play out there," he said.

A week ago, the Guardian Australia and ABC reported that Australian intelligence had monitored the mobile phones of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and other leaders.

These revelations outraged Indonesia which suspended all co-operation with Australia in terms of strategic partnerships, including in combating people smuggling, intelligence gathering and anti-terrorism efforts and halted some joint defence activities.

Mr Frydenberg said it was a longstanding tradition of both sides of politics not to comment on on intelligence matters and Mr Abbott had adopted exactly the right approach in expressing regret but not an apology.

Former US assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell said this was the very beginning of a whole string of revelations.

"So you just don't know what to expect so you have to be very careful how you handle this," he said.

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Report warns of fishing in NSW sanctuaries

MORE than six months after the NSW government opened up marine sanctuaries to recreational fishing, a new report is warning the pastime can have as much damage as its commercial counterparts.

The Centre for Policy Development report by former World Bank economist Caroline Hoisington, released on Tuesday, said the state's six marine parks were already delivering economic benefits to local communities, bringing an estimated $2.4 million to places like Jervis Bay.

Meanwhile, in the Solitary Islands off Coffs Harbour there are "preliminary indications" that certain fish, such as red morwong, were appearing in greater numbers in sanctuary zones.

"European studies have shown that for each year a fully protected zone is in place, the number and/or size of commercially targeted fish within the park, compared to immediately adjacent areas, increased by around eight per cent," the report states.

Sanctuary zones are areas within marine parks where fishing has traditionally been off-limits.

But in March the government announced it would be granting an amnesty, allowing line fishing from ocean beaches and headlands in these zones.

The centre's report warns, however, that recreational fishing can have a "significant effect on fish stocks".

For some species, such as the bluespotted flathead, recreational catch is estimated to be well above that of its commercial counterparts.

Ms Hoisington's report argues that parks need to be at least 15 years old before they could be properly tested.

With the oldest NSW marine parks barely 11 years and the youngest only six, it was too early to judge.

"Let's hope that we will collectively give marine protected areas enough time to develop and to show the benefits they can bring," the report states.

It comes after Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan warned against the "winding back" of protections for sanctuaries in a report released last week.

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Man charged over fatal Sydney crash

A MAN has been charged over a fatal car crash during a street race in Sydney's southwest.

Police say the 23-year-old was racing a Mitsubishi Lancer on the Hume Highway at Greenacre last week.

The cars crashed and spun into two other vehicles coming in the opposite direction.

An 18-year-old man, who was a passenger in the Lancer, died at the scene, while four people in the other vehicles suffered various injuries.

The 18-year-old driver of the Lancer suffered serious head injuries and remains in hospital.

The 23-year-old man was charged with several offences on Monday, including dangerous driving occasioning death and possession of a prohibited drug.

He was given bail and will appear in Bankstown Local Court on December 18.

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