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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Roof collapse in Latvia kills at least 45

RESCUE workers have retrieved 45 bodies from the rubble of a supermarket in the Latvian capital Riga a day after a large section of its roof collapsed.

The Maxima supermarket in central Riga was full of shoppers when the roof caved in Thursday evening.

Latvian media reported that dozens more victims might be found, with officials saying that the number of people missing was unclear.

By 1pm on Friday, just 900 of 1500 square metres of the affected area had been cleared, fire brigade spokesman Normunds Plegermanis told the BNS news agency.

Thirty-five people were injured and hospitals were calling for more blood donations.

Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis said it was "a tragic and black day" in the history of Latvia.

Among the dead were also three firemen, who were killed when additional sections of the roof collapsed as they worked.

Witnesses said that they heard an alarm before the roof caved in.

Gintaras Jasinskas, a board member of supermarket operator Maxima Latvia, said that nobody had been evacuated because there were "no obvious signs of fire," BNS reported.

Police are investigating the operator for failure to react to warnings.

Latvian media reported that the roof had been undergoing reconstruction. The building was only completed in 2011.

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UK 'slavery' suspects arrested before

THE two suspects bailed after three women were alleged to have been held as slaves in London for 30 years were previously arrested in the 1970s.

They have been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences as well as in connection with the investigation into slavery and domestic servitude, Scotland Yard said.

The case came to light after one victim told a charity she had been held against her will in a house in London for more than 30 years.

The victims - a 30-year-old British woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 69-year-old Malaysian woman - are being looked after in a safe location.

Police said the two suspects have been in the country for "many years", and said the case "so far is unique to us".

It was described as a "complicated and disturbing picture of emotional control over many years".

Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland said the whole of the human trafficking unit - 37 officers - are now working on this investigation.

Specially-trained officers are working with the women to try to understand their lives over the last 30 years or more, he said.

Hyland said the women are in the care of a specialist non-governmental organisation.

"Whilst we do not believe that they have been subjected to sexual abuse, we know that there has been physical abuse, described as beatings.

"However there is nothing to suggest that the suspects were violent to others outside of the address," he said.

Hyland said the two suspects have also been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences.

He was not prepared to disclose the nationalities of the two people arrested, but said they have been in the country for "many years".

Police do not believe the victims were trafficked into the UK, he said.

Hyland said the police search of the address in south London took 12 hours, and said they seized 55 bags of evidence amounting to in excess of 2500 exhibits.

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Cyclone warning issued for southern India

A TROPICAL cyclone over the Bay of Bengal is likely to hit coastal areas of India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh over the next 24 hours, with evacuations set to begin soon, officials said on Thursday.

Cyclone Helen is predicted to bring winds of up to 120km/h, as well as heavy rainfall.

Storm surges of up to 1.5 metres at the time of landfall are expected near the city of Machillipatnam on Friday afternoon, India's Meteorological Department said.

The storm was expected to cause "extensive damage to thatched roofs and huts. Minor damage to power and communication lines due to uprooting of large trees", the IMD said in a statement.

Fishermen have been warned not to venture out to sea.

State disaster management official VK Ekbote said the storm was changing course, and evacuations would begin on Friday once officials were able to confirm precisely where it would make land.

The storm is expected to be significantly less intense than Cyclone Phailin, which hit India's Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states last month, with wind speeds of over 200km/h, claiming 40 lives.

Cyclones often form over the Bay of Bengal, bringing widespread destruction and flooding to India's southern and eastern coasts.

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