Royals defend apartment spending

Renovations of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's apartment will cost UK taxpayers STG4 million. Source: AAP

THE British royal family has defended spending a seven-figure sum refurbishing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Kensington Palace apartment.

THE taxpayer will foot the bill for extensive work on the property, including installing a new roof, overhauling the electrics and carrying out significant plumbing works.

A royal spokesman said repairs and refurbishments - reported to cost in the region of STG4 million ($A7.30 million), though this figure was not confirmed by the royal household - would also see a "significant amount of internal building" to "return the residence to function as a living space".William and Kate's Kensington Palace apartment was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was the home of Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. Margaret remained there after their divorce and lived there until her death in 2002.The living space was last refurbished in 1963."This is the Duke and Duchess's one and only official residence. It is here that they plan to stay for many, many years to come," a royal spokesman said."We also had to take into account the fact that Kensington Palace is a scheduled ancient monument, and all elements of the refurbishment had to be agreed with English Heritage. Often this meant ensuring a high standard of work in line with the historical significance of the Christopher Wren building."He said William and Kate "paid privately" for all the internal furnishings, including carpets and curtains. They were also at pains to ensure that the specification is not extravagant."As with any other part of the estate, it was the royal household (TRH) who were responsible for the refurbishment of the residence - where they could in the course of the procurement process, TRH helped to bear down on cost," he added."The household oversaw the planning, tendering and project management of the refurbishment and were responsible for the budget and spend."

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Pregnant woman airlifted to hospital

A PREGNANT woman has suffered serious head injuries after a car crashed into a northwest Sydney house, also injuring a teenage girl and another woman.

THE 25-year-old, who is four months pregnant, has been airlifted to Westmead Hospital with serious head and leg injuries, police say.

The girl, 14, also suffered head and leg injuries and was taken to hospital along with a 48-year-old woman, who sustained pelvic injuries."All three remain in a stable condition," police said.They were hit while standing on the front veranda of a Windsor Downs home on Saturday afternoon.The male driver was treated by paramedics and has been taken for mandatory drug and alcohol testing.His male passenger wasn't hurt.Police have established a crime scene and are investigating.

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Another Tamil man sets himself on fire

ANOTHER Tamil man has set himself alight, the latest in a spate of self-immolation cases involving asylum seekers who fear being sent back to Sri Lanka.

THE 40-year-old man splashed himself with petrol and ignited it, but his housemates intervened and managed to put out the fire.

It happened late on Friday at a home in the Melbourne suburb of Noble Park, according to a statement from the Tamil Refugee Council.There were similar incidents in May, when Leo Seemanpillai burned to death outside his Geelong home, and also in April when a Sydney-based Tamil man also set himself alight but survived with burns to 75 per cent of his body.In the latest case, the man suffered burns to his legs and was taken by ambulance to Dandenong Hospital."We are very lucky on this occasion that the man's housemates were aware of what he was planning to do otherwise we may have had another death on our hands," council spokesperson Sri Samy said."I have had seven young men tell me in the past few weeks that they are thinking of doing this."They are fearful of being sent back to Sri Lanka and say they would prefer to die here than be sent back to torture, which is what the Australian government is doing to many Tamil asylum seekers."The man involved in this latest case came to Australia by boat in 2012, and he was on a bridging visa awaiting assessment of his asylum claim.He fled Sri Lanka, leaving his wife and daughter behind, after security police broke his legs.The council said last week he had learned his brother, held in a Sri Lankan prison for four years, had disappeared and was feared dead.The man feared the same fate if returned to Sri Lanka."The previous Labor government, and the current Coalition government, have sent back more than 1000 Tamil asylum-seekers under an enhanced screening process," Mrs Samy also said."That does not allow time for proper assessment of asylum claims."She called on Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to alleviate fear among Tamil asylum seekers by granting protection to genuine refugees.* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467

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Hendra virus kills NSW horse

Hendra virus has killed a horse in northern NSW, causing authorities to quarantine a property. Source: AAP

HENDRA virus has killed a horse in northern NSW, causing authorities to quarantine a property as they run tests on its stablemates and the five people who handled the animal.

IT'S the first case of Hendra discovered in NSW this year.

"The 31-year-old stockhorse gelding died overnight on Thursday after being found in a dam earlier that day and receiving treatment from a private veterinarian for very low body temperature," NSW deputy chief vet Therese Wright said in a statement."Three people who handled the horse plus the veterinarian and an assistant are being assessed and monitored by NSW Health."In recent weeks no horses have moved off the property, west of Murwillumbah, and there are no dogs or cats about, Ms Wright added.The paddock where the horse was kept "has regular flying fox activity," she said.Horses are believed to contract the Hendra virus from feed contaminated by urine, saliva or birthing fluids from flying foxes."Do not place feed and water under trees and cover feed and water containers with a shelter so they cannot be contaminated from above," Ms Wright said.Hendra virus was found in four horses and a dog across four separate mid-north coast properties last year."Winter is the season when horses have been infected with Hendra in NSW in the past so now is the time to get a vaccine booster for your horse," Ms Wright said.In Queensland four people have been killed by Hendra virus since 1994.And in December councils across the state were given permission to trim trees and use smoke, lights and loud noises to drive flying fox colonies away from urban areas without needing a permit."If a horse becomes sick, owners should contact their veterinarian immediately," Ms Wright warned.

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SUV carrying rapper ScHoolboy Q fired on

A gunman has fired on an SUV carrying rapper ScHoolboy Q after a concert in Colorado. Source: AAP

A GUNMAN with a rifle fired on an SUV carrying rapper ScHoolboy Q after a concert at the popular Red Rocks outdoor amphitheatre near Denver but he wasn't hurt.

THREE other people suffered non-life threatening injuries during the attack late on Thursday in a parking lot at Red Rocks.

Investigators speaking Friday did not release a possible motive for the shooting and said they do not know if ScHoolboy Q was targeted. No arrests have been made."We have a lot to learn," said Jacki Kelley, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.ScHoolboy Q, whose birth name is Quincy Matthew Hanley, is from Los Angeles. His most recent album, "Oxymoron," debuted at No. 1 earlier this year and reflects his life as a father and former gang member.He and Kendrick Lamar, who was nominated for seven Grammys this year, are members of Black Hippy.ScHoolboy Q said on Twitter Friday that he was OK."im str8...... dont trip," he wrote.Ray Alba, a representative for ScHoolboy Q, didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment.The rapper and at least four other people were in a white SUV that was fired on at the venue in the foothills west of Denver, authorities said.They drove themselves to a Denver intersection about 24 kilometres away, apparently in search of a hospital, before being stopped by Denver police and taken for medical attention, Kelley said.ScHoolboy Q and another uninjured person were briefly handcuffed while police assessed the situation, but no one in the vehicle was arrested. Kelley said ScHoolboy Q was not a suspect in the shooting.Nas and Flying Lotus also performed at the concert that benefited three groups, including the Gang Rescue and Support Project of Denver."We want to know what's going on so we can help out in any way," said Cisco Gallardo, director of the gang rescue group."There could have been (a) prior beef, prior problems."About 4500 people attended the concert at the amphitheatre, which seats as many as 9525 people.Promoters said the gang rescue group got five per cent of the profits. Two other groups also got five per cent each: Preserve the Rocks, which helps preserve the Red Rocks venue, and Helping Our People Excel, a Denver-area charity with a food pantry and other services.

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Pedophile poses risk out of prison: judge

A CONVICTED paedophile who sadistically tortured and chained one of his victims in a cupboard will be paroled in a matter of weeks.

IVAN Andrew Campbell, 48, was sentenced to 14 years' jail in 2001 for multiple sexual offences in Auckland, including the sexual violation of a 14-year-old boy who he kidnapped and kept chained up in a cupboard a year earlier.

A New Zealand High Court judgment this week shows the 48-year-old will be released on parole on July 9, which prompted the Department of Corrections to apply for a 10-year extended supervision order.Justice Graham Panckhurst granted the order because he found Campbell is highly likely to reoffend."I am in no doubt that you do pose a real and ongoing risk to adolescent boys. I am also satisfied you are likely to commit relevant offences on release," Justice Panckhurst told him.In outlining his reasons, the judge noted Campbell held his 14-year-old victim captive for seven days during which he was repeatedly beaten, raped, and forcibly tattooed and subjected to body piercings."Perhaps worst of all, he was also branded using a hot instrument and this caused burns to his lower back," Justice Panckhurst said.Campbell has been in prison since 2001, and has also served time for sexually abusing the 13-year-old son of a friend in 1991, for which he was not charged until he returned to New Zealand from Australia in 2000.He was paroled in 2012 after serving 11 years of his sentence to a temporary release program at the Salisbury Street Foundation, but absconded three weeks later.Police recaptured him and he returned to prison.Since his imprisonment, Campbell has been expelled from a sex offender treatment program because of his conduct towards younger prisoners.A prison report says Campbell has admitted he is likely to reoffend."I am desperate to have an extended supervision order granted, as at the time of this assessment I do not trust myself outside prison," the prisoner told a psychologist.Extended supervision orders are requested by Corrections and imposed by a court after offenders reach the end of their sentence.They allow special conditions to be placed on them, such as where they reside, what work they can do, who they can associate with and areas that they are excluded from.

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Man charged after Sydney explosion

A MAN has been charged following an explosion that brought peak-hour traffic to a standstill in Sydney's inner-west.

EMERGENCY services raced to Wentworth Park Road in Glebe just after 5pm on Wednesday (AEST) after reports of an explosion and fire at a public housing apartment block.

Specialist police units were called and a number of gas cylinders were safely removed.A 32-year-old man was arrested on Thursday at a cafe in Redfern and has been charged with a revocation of parole warrant and possession of a prohibited drug.He remains in custody to appear at Central local Court on Friday.

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BlackBerry results top expectations

BLACKBERRY has surprised Wall Street by posting results that beat analyst's expectations.

SHARES rose almost 12 per cent in pre-market trading as CEO John Chen cut expenses quicker than expected.

The embattled smartphone company reported net income of $US23 million ($A24.9 million), or 4 cents per share, for the three months ended May 31.It had reported a loss of $US84 million, or 16 cents per share, a year ago.Excluding unusual items, its adjusted loss was 11 cents per share in the latest period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of 35 cents per share.Revenue fell to $966 million compared with $3.07 billion a year ago. Analysts expected $961.7 million.Shares rose 99 cents, or 11.9 per cent, to $9.29 in pre-market trading an hour before US markets open."We are getting very close to making money, or at least break even on hardware. Not quite there yet, but close," Chen said on a conference call with analysts.It is the third quarterly results under Chen, who is de-emphasising the hardware business after last year's launch of the BlackBerry 10 failed to spark a turnaround.The BlackBerry has been hammered by competition from the iPhone as well as Android-based rival."He's doing exactly what John Chen should be doing. He's right sizing the business to fit demand. He is focused in the areas where he is still relevant. He's cut partnerships to shore up weaknesses," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners."If they can get this business where they are selling a million phones a month they'll be a nice little niche. It will be a nice little profitable business."BlackBerry sold 2.6 million phones in the quarter and reported cash and investments of $3.1 billion.

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FedEx Q4 profit rises to $US730m

FEDEX says its quarterly profit rose as growth in online shopping gave its ground-shipping business a lift.

THE earnings of $US2.46 per share beat Wall Street's forecast by a dime. Revenue also topped expectations.

Its shares rose 4 per cent in premarket dealings before the opening bell.The package-delivery company said on Wednesday that it earned $US730 million ($A789.83 million) in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended May 31, compared with $US303 million a year ago, when write-downs weighed on the results.Revenue rose 3.5 per cent to $US11.84 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $US11.66 billion.Revenue in the ground-shipping business grew 8 per cent, helped by gains in e-commerce. That helped offset slower growth in FedEx Express, which accounts for more than half the company's revenue.The Memphis-based company said that it would earn between $US8.50 and $US9 per share in the new fiscal year, which ends in May 2015. That is in line with analysts' average expectation of $US8.74.Last month, FedEx announced that it will start charging more for large but light packages that take up space in its delivery trucks and add to costs. That includes bulky products that consumers buy online instead of in stores. Rival United Parcel Service said on Tuesday that it would do the same by considering a bulky package's dimensions and not just its weight in setting prices for ground shipments.The results marked an improvement over FedEx's third quarter, when the company was slowed by winter storms that raised costs and cut into shipping volumes. They also indicated that that while e-commerce continues to boost the ground-shipping business, express-delivery remains virtually flat as customers shift to slower, cheaper services for international shipments.

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UK 'cancels' Assange working group

THE UK Government has cancelled a working group set up with Ecuador to find a way of resolving the future of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder has claimed.

FOREIGN Secretary William Hague agreed to the group after meeting Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino last year to discuss Assange, who has been living in refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London for the past two years.

On the eve of the second anniversary of Assange's dramatic arrival at the embassy, he revealed that the working group was not meeting.In a conference call from the embassy, the WikiLeaks publisher said a six-member team had been established during Patino's visit to London with the intention of studying legal and diplomatic issues.Assange said that following the granting of asylum last year by Russia to US whistleblower Edward Snowden, the UK Government had "unilaterally" cancelled the working group.Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador as he fights to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces sex allegations by two women.He fears that if he goes to Sweden he will be taken to the United States, where a long-running investigation is continuing into WikiLeaks and its involvement with former soldier Chelsea Manning, who has been jailed for 35 years over the leaking of secret intelligence.Assange has offered to be interviewed by Swedish investigators inside the London embassy, but they have declined to travel to the UK to question him about the allegations.Jennifer Robinson, a legal adviser to WikiLeaks, said a fresh challenge will be made next week to the Swedish authorities after "new information" was received.Robinson added that a letter from more than 30 free speech organisations will be sent to the US lawyer general Eric Holder next week calling for him to "close down" the investigation into WikiLeaks.Assange said Holder should drop the four-year long investigation or resign, accusing the official of using "weasel words" when asked about the case.Asked how he was coping with living inside the embassy, housed in a small building close to Harrods in Knightsbridge, Assange said other people were in far more difficult positions, including Chelsea Manning

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Nine dead after boat sinks off Malaysia

AT least nine people have drowned and 26 others are missing after a boat carrying Indonesian migrants sank off Malaysia, officials said.

FISHERMEN recovered the bodies of a man and a woman, believed to be from the boat, floating near the mouth of the Sungai Langat river in the town of Kuala Langat, 45 kilometres west of Kuala Lumpur, said Jazlizad Jalil, from a local fire and rescue department.

More bodies - six male and one female - were recovered by rescuers at sea, according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).Sixty-two people were rescued after the accident, which occurred before dawn about three kilometres from the coast, the agency added.MMEA official Ibrahim Mohamed said the wooden fishing boat was believed to be heading for the Indonesian province of Aceh, whose nearest point is about 400 kilometres from the coast of Kuala Langat."A survivor said the boat was overloaded and began taking in water after it was battered by huge waves, causing it to sink," Ibrahim said."It's difficult to speculate on the fate of the missing since the accident happened near the shore, so some of them could have swum to safety."We will just continue our search and hope to recover more survivors."The Indonesian workers were returning home to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a source at the MMEA said.An Interior Ministry official says of the estimated 1.5 million undocumented migrant workers in Malaysia, more than half are from Indonesia and many make the journey between the two countries on rickety wooden boats in search of employment."Most of these illegal Indonesian workers are working as maids, helpers in restaurants, or in palm oil and rubber plantations," he said.Malaysia has a high demand for Indonesian labour migrants, the International Office of Migration said, "and is highly dependent on their contribution to its development and industrialisation".

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Knox defence turns to Italy's last resort

AMANDA Knox's lawyers have formally asked Italy's court of last resort to review the US student's appeals court conviction for the 2007 murder of her British room mate.

DEFENCE lawyer Luciano Ghirga said the paperwork was submitted last Thursday to the Rome-based Court of Cassation.

Knox's lawyers had pledged to turn to Italy's top criminal court after a Florence appeals court in January reinstated a lower court's murder convictions of Knox and her Italian former boyfriend in the slaying of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, where all three were studying.The defence filed its case after studying the appeals court's written rationale, issued in April, for the convictions.Cassation judges can either uphold the convictions if they find the appeals trial was properly conducted or order yet another appellate trial.

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Scientist gets World Food Prize for wheat

A CROP scientist credited with developing hundreds of varieties of disease-resistant wheat adaptable to many climates has been awarded the 2014 World Food Prize.

SANJAYA Rajaram, who was born in India and is a citizen of Mexico, wins the $US250,000 ($A270,489) prize founded in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, who was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for boosting agricultural production in what has become known as the "Green Revolution".

Rajaram worked with Borlaug and continued his work developing 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries on six continents.The announcement was made in Washington by Kenneth Quinn, the head of World Food Prize. Rajaram will receive the award in an October 16 ceremony in Des Moines, where the World Food Prize is based.

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Complaints about data fees on the rise

MORE mobile users are complaining of being hit with up to thousands of dollars in fees for exceeding data limits.

THE Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman says overall mobile and network complaints dropped by almost a fifth in the first three months of the year, compared to early 2013.

But while complaints about faults such as slow data speeds dropped 67 per cent, disputes over excess data charges rose by nearly a third.Ombudsman Simon Cohen says mobile plan customers have been shocked to discover huge charges for exceeding their data cap."Commonly we are seeing consumers come to us with complaints in the hundreds to thousands of dollars," he told AAP."It might be the case where the consumer has a low cost service but the amount charged for excessive data use is at a very high rate, and as a result the charge they received is many times the regular monthly bill they were expecting."Many consumers felt the charges weren't properly explained to them from the beginning, and that they couldn't get the telecommunications provider to properly hear their complaint."A great deal of clarity of how customers are being charged is critical to reducing problems down the track," Mr Cohen said."Many Australians have finely balanced budgets and they don't have the flexibility to have significant variations in charges for basic utilities like mobile phones."One in three internet disputes were over billing issues, with many complaints related to faulty services or late connections.The ombudsman received 36,256 new complaints in the three months to the end of March.

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US home building declines 6.5% in May

THE pace of US home construction has slipped in May, with many Americans still struggling to afford new houses.

THE Commerce Department says builders started work at a seasonally adjusted annual rate on 1.01 million homes.

That was down 6.5 per cent from 1.07 million in April.Construction firms began work on fewer single-family houses, condominiums and apartments last month.Building tailed off in the Northeast, Midwest and West.Only the South experienced greater construction activity in May.Housing starts have risen 9.4 per cent over the past 12 months.But apartments account for most of the gains, suggesting that more Americans will be renting instead of owning homes.Applications for building permits, a gauge of future activity, fell 6.4 per cent in May to an annual rate of 991,000.

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Liberia links seven more deaths to Ebola

A HEALTH official says seven people believed to have the Ebola virus have died in recent days in the Liberian capital, in the first reported deaths in Monrovia.

DEPUTY Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said on Tuesday that brings to 16 the number of people believed to have died from the virus in the West African country since the outbreak began.

The deaths are worrying because no new cases had been confirmed in Liberia in more than two months.The outbreak appears to have begun in neighbouring Guinea and has also spread to Sierra Leone. In all, the World Health Organisation says nearly 250 people have died of the virus, which causes severe bleeding and high fever.

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Walmart tech lab buys Stylr app

WALMART Stores' innovation lab is diving deeper into mobile apps with another acquisition.

THE latest purchase for WalmartLabs is Stylr, a mobile app that allows shoppers to find clothes in nearby stores.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Stylr is WalmartLabs' 13th acquisition in the past three years. The purchase is the latest effort by Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, to develop new digital tools to help create a seamless shopping experience for shoppers who are increasingly jumping back and forth from stores and their mobile phones.Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon, who took the helm in February, vowed Walmart would pick up the pace in technology in his address earlier this month at the company's annual shareholders meeting."It is important that we all understand the shift that has happened in technology and retail, what it means for us, and what we're doing to win," said McMillon."People now spend more time on digital devices than they do watching TV. A lot of times, they're doing both at the same time."Walmart has a ripe audience: 65 per cent of its customers have smartphones, while 80 per cent of shoppers under age 35 do. Half of Walmart smartphone users have used the device in its stores to assist with shopping, company officials say.Stylr will be removed from the app store by the end of the month, said Ravi Jariwala, a spokesman for WalmartLabs. Walmart's own mobile app won't run Stylr, but its technology will be used to develop future mobile innovations.WalmartLabs technology enables Walmart's mobile app to guide shoppers to products and tracks customers' spending as they shop.New York-based Stylr's founders Eytan Daniyalzade and Berk Atikoglu will be joining WalmartLabs in San Bruno, California, as part of the deal.

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'Smart glasses' hope for blind

BRITISH-DESIGNED "smart glasses" that provide a new set of eyes for the visually impaired are being tested in public for the first time.

THE devices, which use a pair of video cameras to enhance residual vision, have the potential to transform the lives of thousands of registered blind people in the UK.

The glasses are being trialled by 30 visually impaired volunteers at testing venues in Oxford and Cambridge.Dr Stephen Hicks, of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Oxford University, who led development of the glasses, said: "The idea of the smart glasses is to give people with poor vision an aid that boosts their awareness of what's around them - allowing greater freedom, independence and confidence to get about, and a much improved quality of life."We eventually want to have a product that will look like a regular pair of glasses and cost no more than a few hundred pounds - about the same as a smart phone."The device consists of a pair of video cameras mounted in a headset, a pocket-sized computer processor, and software that projects images of close-by objects onto displays in the see-through eye pieces.The software interprets nearby surroundings to make important objects such as kerbs, tables, chairs or groups of people stand out more clearly.In some cases, details such as facial features can become easier to see.Of the more than 300,000 severely sight impaired people in the UK, it is believed about a third could benefit from the technology.Twenty volunteers with a range of eye conditions and levels of vision took part in preliminary tests of an earlier version of the glasses conducted last year by the Oxford team.The new trials are being conducted with support from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

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US factory output rebounded in May

US manufacturing output rose in May after shrinking in April, led by greater production of vehicles, computers and furniture.

THE Federal Reserve on Monday said factory output rose 0.6 per cent in May after dipping 0.1 per cent the previous month. April's figure was revised upward from an initial estimate of a 0.4 per cent decline.

Americans are buying more cars, and businesses are ordering more machinery and other goods. Those trends are fueling factory production. Car sales reached a nine-year high in May.Overall industrial production, which includes manufacturing, mining and utilities, also rose 0.6 per cent in May. It had fallen 0.3 per cent in April.Mining output, which includes oil and gas production, jumped 1.3 per cent, while utility output declined 0.8 per cent, its fourth straight drop.

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D-day trip veteran marks 90th birthday

A WAR veteran who turned up in Normandy after he was reported missing from his care home in England says he is overwhelmed by the number of cards and gifts he has received for his 90th birthday.

BERNARD Jordan, whose birthday is on Monday, made headlines around the world when he disappeared from The Pines care home in Hove, East Sussex, embarking on a cross-channel trip for the 70th anniversary of D-Day wearing his war medals underneath his grey mac.

But the former Royal Navy officer decided his birthday should be more low-key and is celebrating it quietly with friends and his wife Irene, a spokesman for the veteran said.The Candy Girls, who met Mr Jordan on his way to France, will also be singing to him, the spokesman said.The former mayor of Hove said he wanted to thank everyone for their good wishes after being inundated with at least 2500 birthday cards from around the world following his Normandy adventure."I just can't believe it. It's quite overwhelming to be honest," Jordan said."I want to thank everyone who sent me a card or a gift. Sadly I can't thank everyone in person so I hope they get this message."I'm just one man and I'm nothing special. Anyone would think I'd defeated Hitler on my own."There were a lot of other people on the beaches of Normandy that day, this lovely attention is for them really, not me."Jordan's disappearance on June 5 sparked a police search and his whereabouts was only uncovered when a younger veteran from Brighton phoned later that night to say he had met the veteran on a coach on the way to France, and that they were safe and well in a hotel in Ouistreham.

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Indian students charged over PM in mag

NINE students at a southern Indian college have been arrested for using "objectionable and unsavoury language" about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a crossword puzzle in their college magazine, according to news reports.

THE nine students from Sree Krishna College in Kerala's Guruvayur town were charged with various offences, including defamation, the NDTV news channel reported, citing local police.

They were arrested and released on bail, police said.The students included the editor, subeditors and members of the editorial advisory committee of the magazine, which is an annual publication.The Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple-managing committee, which runs the college, asked its principal for an explanation, NDTV reported.This is the second such case reported from Kerala.The principal and some students of a state-run polytechnic college in Thrissur town were arrested and released on bail last week after the college magazine featured Modi in a list of "negative faces" along with Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, George W Bush and Indian sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party were voted into power in recent elections in India. He took office May 26.Modi, who campaigned on reviving the economy and bringing development, has been criticised in the past for failing to control some of India's worst Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002 while he was chief minister.More than 1000 people died in the month-long riots, most of them Muslims.

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