Fan tells inquest of Hillsborough 'hell'

THE son of the oldest fan killed in the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster has told an inquest jury how he and his father battled desperately for their lives after witnessing "hell before our eyes".

Gerard Baron Jr recalled how he tried to reassure 67-year-old war veteran Gerard Baron Sr as they were caught in the crush that killed 96 Liverpool supporters.

In a tribute to Mr Baron Sr, who lived in Preston, his son told how they travelled together to the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

In evidence to fresh inquests into the events at Hillsborough on April 15, 1989, Mr Baron said: "What transpired that day changed my life forever.

"Neither of us envisaged witnessing hell before our eyes, nor did we expect to be fighting so desperately for our lives, as were so many others.

"The very last words I said to my father were, 'You will be okay'. How wrong I was."

Mr Baron had flown to the UK from his home in South Australia to give evidence to the inquest court in Warrington, Cheshire.

In his evidence he described Mr Baron Sr, a retired postal inspector, as a doting father to seven children, a supportive husband, a loving grandparent and a dear friend to many.

Mr Baron added that his father - whose brother played for Liverpool in the 1950 FA Cup Final - had a phenomenal football knowledge and was a "sportsman, serviceman and worthy citizen".

Nine other family members read tributes to their loved ones during the sixth day of the fresh inquests, including Sara Williams, whose late mother Anne Williams played a leading role in the campaign for the original inquest verdicts to be quashed.

The campaigner, whose 15-year-old son Kevin was among Hillsborough's victims, died from bowel cancer in April last year.

"I make this statement on behalf of all our family and friends, who all loved Kevin, but in particular for my mum Anne, who would have loved to have been standing here telling you all about Kevin and his cheeky ways," her daughter told the inquest jury of seven women and four men.

Ms Williams said Kevin, from Formby, Merseyside, was "mad about football, but crazy about Liverpool Football Club".

Her voice breaking with emotion, she told the inquest: "Kev was really close to mum - it would be absolutely no surprise to me if the word 'mum' was his last.

"My mum fought hard over the years to get the truth uncovered about what happened at Hillsborough.

"It is only now that I have children of my own that I understand the relentless determination that came so naturally to her, because of the love that she had for Kevin."

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Aussie tenor Skelton wins top opera award

AUSTRALIAN heroic tenor Stuart Skelton has been named male singer of the year at the second International Opera Awards in London.

The 45-year-old singer from Sydney gave a surprise performance at the awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

Skelton was given the top gong for his performance in Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes at the English National Opera (ENO).

The Australian beat rivals from Germany, France, Italy, the United States and Sweden.

Skelton considers the ENO his home company. His house debut was as Laca in the 2006 production of Jenufa.

"I was born in Australia, I live in the United States, but ENO is the company that has always been there," the tenor said.

"It takes risks, and when you take big risks sometimes they don't pay off, but when they do, they pay off in a way other people cant re-produce."

Skelton said opera was an art form "worth shouting and screaming for".

The female singer of the year award went to German soprano Diana Damrau.

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PM continues trade tour of north Asia

A FREE trade deal between Australia and South Korea will be formally signed when Prime Minister Tony Abbott arrives in Seoul for the next leg of his regional visit.

Mr Abbott and South Korean President Park Geun-hye will on Tuesday discuss trade and security in bilateral talks before witnessing the signing of the trade agreement struck in December.

The prime minister is also expected to address a business forum before sitting down for an official dinner with President Park later that evening.

The prime minister arrives in South Korea after two days in Tokyo, where he finalised a free trade agreement with Japan and elevated the defence and security relationship.

Mr Abbott is expected to spend around a day in South Korea, Australia's fourth-largest trading partner, before departing for China.

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Fatty food fires up body's defences: study

HIGH-FAT food provokes the same defence reaction in the body as a bacterial invasion.

The airways become inflamed as protective cells are deployed, says Associate Professor Lisa Wood, a speaker at a meeting of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand.

She studied how people responded to a meal of two breakfast burgers and two hash browns, in what she calls an acute fat challenge.

"The fat activates the same defence mechanism that responds to bacteria," says Prof Wood, a nutrition expert at the University of Newcastle's Centre for Asthma and Respiratory Diseases.

"The fat in the blood peaks after about four hours. If this inflammation happens after every meal it becomes a chronic problem."

Prof Wood's acute fat challenge shows people with asthma should avoid fatty food before using ventolin, a drug that increases air flow to the lungs.

They get the same initial benefit as other people, but the effectiveness wears off as the fat content of the blood increases.

"By four hours we've got this inflammation occurring and lung function returns to pre-treatment levels.

"That's pretty important. It suggests that if people are eating these types of meals their bronchodilator is not going to work effectively."

Another study by Prof Wood shows significant benefits for asthmatic people who eat lots of vegetables and fruit.

The three-month study shows people on a diet that includes five serves of vegetables and two of fruit a day have fewer asthma attacks than those who eat two serves of fruit and one of vegetables.

There is increasing evidence that diet is important for asthma management, she says.

"Low fruit and vegetable intake increases inflammation and increases your risk having an attack."

Prof Wood presented research at the meeting that shows poor quality diets could be contributing to increased asthma prevalence.

Her team studied 99 people with stable asthma and 61 healthy controls.

They found those with asthma were more likely to eat higher volumes of processed food, fat and refined sugar than the controls.

"The usual diet consumed by asthmatics in this study was pro-inflammatory relative to the diet consumed by the healthy controls."

This could contribute to an increased incidence of asthma.

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Afghan bombings kill 18, injure 9

AT least 15 civilians and three policemen have been killed and nine others wounded in two separate attacks in Afghanistan, officials say.

"A roadside bomb struck a bus at 6pm (0030 AEST) in Maiwand district, in which 13 people - all civilians - were killed and five others injured," Zia ul Rahman Durrani, a police spokesman for Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, said.

"Locals were travelling from one village to another when the bomb hit their vehicle," Durrani said.

Officials in Kandahar hospital said two of the wounded later succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

In another attack in the western province of Herat, three police officers were killed and four others were injured after a roadside bomb hit their vehicle.

"The police were patrolling in Shindand district today when a bomb placed on a roadside hit their vehicle," said Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, a local police spokesman.

Also in Kandahar, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden mini-van in front of a convoy of coalition forces.

"The bomber exploded his mini-van targeting a US convoy in Maiwand district," an Afghan police spokesman said.

The bomber died but nobody was hurt in the attack.

"We can confirm an ISAF convoy was targeted by a vehicle-loaded today in southern Afghanistan, but no casualties were reported," a NATO spokesperson said.

The attacks came two days after around 7 million Afghans cast their ballots to choose a new president.

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Royals rest up for whirlwind NZ tour

THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their baby Prince George will have a day of rest after their long flight from Britain before their whirlwind tour of New Zealand begins in earnest.

The royal family have no public engagements planned and will spend Tuesday recuperating after their 27-hour trip at Government House in Wellington, where they were officially welcomed to the country on Monday.

They'll ease into their busy tour schedule with an informal Plunket meeting on Wednesday afternoon, where Kate and William will chat to other first-time parents while George plays with kids his own age.

Government House will act as a home base where George will stay while the duke and duchess travel around on mainly day trips.

The Edwardian two-storey building is surrounded by 12 hectares of grounds, and has a tennis court, squash court and swimming pool if the royal visitors want any exercise away from the public gaze.

The royals flew to Sydney on a commercial flight and switched to a VIP Royal New Zealand Air Force flight for the final leg to the capital.

The jet landed only 20 minutes late despite fog threatening to force it to land at Ohakea military base, a two-hour drive out of Wellington.

The wet weather that greeted the duke and duchess upon their arrival is expected to linger for the next few days.

The tour takes in eight locations around the country. It is Kate's first time in New Zealand.

It's also eight-month-old George's first official overseas trip. He's following in the tradition of his father who also visited the country as a baby.

The duke, duchess and George are due to fly out on April 16 for Sydney to begin their 10-day Australian leg.

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Nigerian economy becomes biggest in Africa

OFFICIALS say Nigeria's recalculated economy is worth $US510 billion ($A554 billion), by far the biggest in Africa and easily surpassing that of previous continental titleholder, South Africa, at $US353 billion.

Figures announced on Sunday are the first recount since 1990 of the GDP of Africa's biggest oil producer but do little for the 112 million Nigerians scrabbling to survive in poverty.

The International Monetary Fund had used the 1990 base to estimate Nigeria's GDP in 2013 at $US292 billion.

But that did not take into account new industries like telecommunications, information technology, music, airlines, burgeoning online retail outlets and Nollywood film production that didn't exist when the last GDP count was made in 1990.

Then, there were 300,000 landlines, while today, Nigeria has 100 million cell phone users.

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