Unidentified child found wandering alone

POLICE are searching for parents of a young child who was found wandering alone in the streets of Perth's east more than 24 hours ago.

The boy, who is about three-years-old, was found on Belgravia Street in Belmont at about midday on Friday.

He has not been able to provide his name or details of his parents or guardians, and is currently being cared for by the Department for Child Protection (DCP).

Neither the DCP nor police have received any reports of a missing child.

Police have now released a picture of the boy, who has short brown hair, brown eyes and a light olive complexion.

He has limited speech.

Anyone able to identify the boy should contact the Department's Crisis Care Unit on 9223 1111.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tunisia ruling Islamists call for rally

MEMBERS of Tunisia's main ruling Islamist party are calling for a rally in the capital on Saturday, a day after police clashed with protesters at the funeral of murdered opposition figure Chokri Belaid.

The Ennahda party demonstration was to take place in the centre of Tunis on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, where the latest violence has taken place, the party said in a statement.

The protest would "defend the legitimacy of the national constituent assembly," where the Ennahda-dominated coalition holds a majority, and would "fight against (the political) violence" it said the opposition is using.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets on Friday for the funeral procession of Belaid, who was killed by a lone gunman on Wednesday, and clashes with police led to 132 arrests, said the interior ministry.

The opposition blames Ennahda for the murder of the outspoken government critic, but the ruling party vehemently denies any involvement.

The unrest comes amid tension and division within Ennahda itself, after the recent sacking of the party's leader and as Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali attempts to form a new government of technocrats, which hardliners oppose.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Domestic violence tracking set for WA

SERIOUS domestic violence offenders in Western Australia will almost certainly find themselves being monitored electronically, with both main political parties pushing the plan.

If WA Labor wins the March 9 election, Opposition Leader Mark McGowan says the party will start a $4.5 million electronic monitoring trial of domestic violence offenders who breach restraining orders - a plan he mooted in March last year.

But Corrective Services Minister Murray Cowper said the Liberal-led government had already approved the drafting of legislation to create a new category of a serious, violent offender to enable courts to order them to wear GPS tracking devices.

This would initially target repeat domestic violence offenders, Mr Cowper said, after the Liberals announced their GPS tracking policy last month.

The government had also passed legislation that meant a mandatory one-year jail term for anyone who tampered with the device, he said.

"Will Mr McGowan commit to mandatory sentencing for tampering with a device?" Mr Cowper said.

Mr McGowan said domestic violence was on the rise and victims were not being adequately protected.

He pointed to Saori Jones, who was murdered in front of her two children by her ex-husband Bradley Wayne Jones.

Jones received a five-year prison sentence in 2011, moving WA Labor to introduce a private member's bill, known as Saori's Law, to parliament last year, but it was voted down by the Barnett government.

The bill sought the near-automation of restraining orders in domestic assault cases and would have cleared the way for victims to remain in their homes even if the properties were registered in the offenders' names.

Mr McGowan also took a swipe at Premier Colin Barnett's announcement on Saturday - Chinese New Year's Eve - to promise $2 million to improve Chinatown in Northbridge.

Sticking with one of his key campaign themes of transforming the CBD, Mr Barnett said he wanted to turn the area into a vibrant laneway precinct, building on the Perth City Link project currently under way.

This involves sinking the Fremantle rail line to make the border between the city and the entertainment district more pedestrian-friendly.

Two new street connections would be created, the premier said, including linking the high-end King Street - home of Perth's most expensive retail rentals - to Lake Street, one of Northbridge's most bustling roads.

But Mr McGowan said the announcement confirmed the Premier's priorities were wrong and out-of-touch, and came as the WA government racked up record debt levels.

Instead, Mr McGowan said he was focused on traffic congestion, which the opposition planned to solve with its Metronet rail plan to connect outer suburbs to the city and airport, and easing high costs of living.

The Australian newspaper's Newspoll figures on Friday pointed to a landslide win for the WA Liberals, who lead 57 per cent to 43 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

But Mr McGowan is romping it in as preferred premier, jumping 11 points to 40 per cent. On the same basis, Mr Barnett has slipped to 44 per cent, down four points.

The poll has a three per cent margin of error.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Behemoth storm dumps snow on US northeast

Airlines are grounding their planes in New York City in response to an intensifying blizzard. Source: AAP

A BEHEMOTH storm packing hurricane-force winds and blizzard conditions has swept through the US Northeast, dumping more than half a metre of snow on New England and knocking out power to 650,000 homes and businesses.

More than 70 centimetres of snow had fallen on central Connecticut by early on Saturday, and areas of southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire notched 0.6 metres or more of snow - with more falling. Airlines scratched more than 5,300 flights through Saturday, and New York City's three major airports and Boston's Logan Airport closed.

The wind-whipped snowstorm mercifully arrived at the start of a weekend, which meant fewer cars on the road and extra time for sanitation crews to clear the mess before commuters in the New York-to-Boston region of roughly 25 million people have to go back to work. But it could also mean a weekend cooped up indoors.

For a group of stranded European business travellers, it meant making the best of downtime in a hotel restaurant Friday night in downtown Boston, where snow blew outside and drifted several inches deep on the footpaths.

The six Santander bank employees found their flights back to Spain cancelled, and they gave up on seeing the city or having dinner out.

"We are not believing it," said Tommaso Memeghini, 29, an Italian who lives in Barcelona. "We were told it may be the biggest snowstorm in the last 20 years."

The National Weather Service says up to 3 feet of snow is expected in Boston, threatening the city's 2003 record of 27.6 inches. A wind gust of 76 mph was recorded at Logan Airport.

In heavily Catholic Boston, the archdiocese urged parishioners to be prudent about attending Sunday Mass and reminded them that, under church law, the obligation "does not apply when there is grave difficulty in fulfilling this obligation."

Halfway through what had been a mild winter across the Northeast, blizzard warnings were posted from parts of New Jersey to Maine. The National Weather Service said Boston could get close to 3 feet of snow by Saturday evening, while most of Rhode Island could receive more than 2 feet, most of it falling overnight Friday into Saturday. Connecticut was bracing for 2 feet, and New York City was expecting as much as 14 inches.

Early snowfall was blamed for a 19-car pileup in Cumberland, Maine, that caused minor injuries. In New York, hundreds of cars began getting stuck on the Long Island Expressway on Friday afternoon at the beginning of the snowstorm and dozens of motorists remained disabled early Saturday as police worked to free them.

About 650,000 customers in the Northeast lost power during the height of the snowstorm, most of them in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Mass., lost electricity and shut down Friday night during the storm. Authorities say there's no threat to public safety.

At least four deaths were being blamed on the storm, three in Canada and one in New York. In southern Ontario, an 80-year-old woman collapsed while shovelling her driveway and two men were killed in car crashes. In New York, a 74-year-old man died after being struck by a car in Poughkeepsie; the driver said she lost control in the snowy conditions, police said.

Forecasters said wind gusts exceeding 75 mph could cause more widespread power outages and whip the snow into fearsome drifts. Flooding was expected along coastal areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy, which hit New York and New Jersey the hardest and is considered Jersey's worst natural disaster.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Emergency alert for Hotham heights

HOMES are under threat as a large, fast moving bushfire burns in Victoria's alpine region.

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) has issued an emergency alert for Hotham Heights in the state's northeast, with the fire expected to impact the area within the next two hours.

Authorities advise residents to leave now if it is safe or take shelter nearby.

The out-of-control bushfire is 11,000 hectares and creating spot-fires approximately one to 2km ahead.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iran frees Slovak man arrested for spying

A SLOVAK man arrested in Iran and accused of spying for the United States has been released and returned home.

Iranian authorities claimed in January that 26-year-old Matej Valuch was involved in Central Intelligence Agency activities in Iran.

Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said on Friday that Valuch was released after "difficult and complicated" bilateral negotiations.

Lajcak gave no details.

Valuch, who was standing next to the minister at a news conference, denied he worked for the US intelligence, saying "I am not a spy".

He declined to take questions.

Lajcak said Valuch would not talk about his Iranian experience in the future.

In a documentary broadcast in Iran, Valuch said he was recruited by a CIA agent and ran a job recruitment agency in Tehran as a front.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iraq car bombs target markets, kill 29

A SPATE of car bombs in Shi'ite areas of Iraq, including two blasts minutes apart at a popular bird market, killed at least 29 people on Friday, the latest in a spike in violence amid a political crisis.

The attacks, which left nearly 70 others wounded, primarily targeted marketplaces that are often crowded on Fridays, the weekly holiday in Iraq, and took the death toll from a week of violence to more than 100.

Twin explosions that struck at a bird market in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah, site of the shrine of a revered figure in Shi'ite Islam, killed at least 16 people and wounded 43 others, security and medical officials said.

The two car bombs were set off just after 9am (1700 AEDT) in the market, which is typically packed with people on a Friday.

Militants have targeted Baghdad's crowded bird markets in the past.

On February 1, 2008 - also a Friday - 100 people were killed by two explosions in such markets in central and east Baghdad.

The explosives were strapped to two mentally impaired women and then triggered by remote control in coordinated blasts, a top Iraqi security official said at the time.

And in the predominantly-Shi'ite Iraqi province of Babil on Friday, two car bombs in the town of Shomali, south of Baghdad, killed 13 people and wounded 47 others, according to security and medical officials.

The first explosion went off on the town's outskirts, while the second was detonated in a market.

Women and children were among the casualties in both attacks, medics said.

Sunni militants, including Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, often target Shi'ite neighbourhoods with deadly attacks in a bid to push the country back to the sectarian bloodshed that blighted it from 2005 to 2008.

The violence is the latest in a spike in unrest in Iraq, which has been struck by waves of car bombs and suicide attacks amid a political crisis and weeks of rallies in Sunni-majority areas calling for the ouster of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Renewed demonstrations took place on Friday in Sunni areas of Baghdad, as well as the northern and western cities of Mosul, Samarra and Ramadi.

The protests have largely railed against alleged targeting of minority Sunnis by the Shi'ite-led authorities, but have more recently focused on demands for the resignation of the premier.

A total of 102 people have been killed in violence nationwide in the past week, and January was the deadliest month in Iraq since September according to an AFP tally.

Among the attacks since Saturday was a string of three suicide bombings in as many days.

The violence comes with less than three months to go before provincial polls in April, Iraq's first vote since March 2010 and a barometer to gauge the popularity of Maliki and his opponents.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Suicide bomber' attacks Mali troops

A SUICIDE bomber has blown himself up near a group of Malian soldiers in the northern city of Gao, a local military officer says.

The suicide bomber "approached us on a motorbike, he was a Tamashek (Tuareg), and as he came closer he set off his belt," said Mali First Sergeant Mamadou Keita.

"He died immediately and among us, one was injured."

The act marked the first suicide attack in the embattled west African country since the start of a French-led offensive to oust the Islamists from Mali's north, where they had controlled key towns for 10 months.

It comes a day after one of the militant groups, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), said in a message on Thursday that it had "created a new combat zone" by organising attacks on military convoys and placing landmines.

A landmine blast on Wednesday between the northern towns of Douentza and Gao killed four civilians returning from market, an officer with Mali's paramilitary police said.

That explosion came after a similar blast in the same area on January 31 claimed the lives of two Malian soldiers.

"MUJAO is behind the explosion of two Malian army cars," the group's spokesman Abu Walid Sahraoui said in a text message to Agence France-Presse.

A month after the French launched a lightning offensive to chase out the rebels, Paris has warned of "residual jihadist groups" who were still fighting.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Child moons China's premier-to-be on TV

STATE media coverage of a routine visit to a home by China's incoming premier Li Keqiang has become a colourful internet sensation after a boy appeared on camera half-naked.

Internet users were on Thursday circulating the CCTV state television footage from the northern city of Baotou, Inner Mongolia, cheering the rare unplanned blip in usually staid government-controlled coverage of officials' tightly scripted trips.

Li - who is set to be promoted to national premier next month - was speaking with the man of the house in a modest bedroom when the boy popped out of a wardrobe behind them not wearing any underwear.

He quickly ducked under the blanket of a bed, exposing his buttocks to the cameras as he did so.

"The kid was having fun as if there was nothing special going on in front of him, it was amusing," said one internet user going by the name Hongtailang.

"It is rare to see this kind of image on TV."

State television regularly reports on the public appearances of senior leaders as part of a vast propaganda effort controlled by the ruling Communist Party.

"It's so nice when things are spontaneous and true!" said another user.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

HIV education campaign launched in Sydney

A NEW campaign to educate gay men in NSW about transmission of HIV will be launched on the same day as the start of this year's Mardi Gras festival.

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner will launch the education campaign in Sydney on Friday, which will focus on teaching homosexual men how they can reduce the risk of HIV transmission.

The launch will coincide with the first day of the 35th Sydney Mardi Gras festival.

Produced by community-based HIV health organisation ACON, the campaign aims to educate gay men about advances of testing technologies and HIV treatments, with an overall goal of eliminating HIV transmission in the state by 2020.

Homosexual men are the population group at most risk from HIV in NSW.

Olympic trampoline champion and HIV advocate Ji Wallace will also be at the launch on Friday.

The Sydney Mardi Gras is a three-week festival that celebrates homosexuality and includes the Sydney Mardi Gras parade down Sydney's Oxford Street.

AAP ejs

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two men die in Vic light plane crash

TWO men have died in a light plane crash in Victoria's northwest.

The men were found dead after their plane crashed at Walpeup Lake road at Timberoo, police said.

Emergency services were called to the scene about 8pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

Police say they will be preparing a report for the coroner and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate the crash.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two Russian fighters enter airspace: Japan

JAPAN'S Defence Ministry says two Russian fighters briefly intruded into Japanese airspace off the northern tip of the island of Hokkaido.

Ministry official Yoshihide Yoshida said the intrusion on Thursday, which lasted less than a minute, caused Japan's air force to scramble.

Yoshida said it was not immediately known whether the airspace violation was intentional or accidental, but that it was "extremely problematic".

He says the last intrusion by Russian jets in Japanese airspace was on February 9, 2008.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Phone battery burns in man's pocket

SOUTH Korean fire officials say a man has been burned by a Samsung smartphone battery that caught fire in his trouser pocket.

Officials at Bupyeong Fire Station in Incheon city said on Wednesday the lithium-ion battery was not in the phone when it caught fire. Such batteries are quick to charge but prone to overheating.

The man suffered second-degree burns and a small wound on his thigh from Saturday's incident.

Officials declined to identify the man. Samsung said no investigation was planned.

It is the second known time in a year in South Korea that a Samsung smartphone battery has caught fire.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pirates free French tanker and crew

A FRENCH tanker seized by pirates off the Ivory Coast and its crew of 17 sailors have been released.

The ship's owner said on Wednesday two crew were injured.

SEA Tankers, a shipping firm based in Merignac, France, issued a statement saying the M/T Gascogne is now under the control of its crew and is travelling safely away.

The company did not give the ship's location or describe how the ship was freed. A spokeswoman also declined to offer further details.

The two injured sailors are receiving medical care, SEA Tankers said.

The ship was hijacked by pirates Sunday off Abidjan, the largest city in Ivory Coast. Government officials there had said the crew included seven sailors from Togo, four from Benin, two from Ivory Coast, two from Senegal and one apiece from China and South Korea. The company had been working for a South Korean firm at the time of the attack, according to Ivory Coast's Transportation Ministry.

There has been a series of escalating assaults in the Gulf of Guinea, which follows the African continent's southward curve from Liberia to Gabon.

Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has escalated from low-level armed robberies to hijackings and cargo thefts. Last year, London-based Lloyd's Market Association - an umbrella group of insurers - listed Nigeria, neighbouring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia, where two decades of war and anarchy allowed piracy to flourish. But as piracy has dropped in recent months off Somalia's coast, it's only risen in the Gulf of Guinea.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Most Asian markets rise, Tokyo soars

MOST Asian markets have closed higher following big losses in the previous session, with Tokyo surging as the yen tumbled after Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Masaaki Shirakawa said he would step down early.

Traders also took a lead from Wall Street and Europe, where encouraging economic data offset concerns over political uncertainty in Spain and Italy.

Tokyo soared 3.37 per cent, or 416.83 points, to 11,463.75 - its highest close since September 2008 after the collapse of US bank Lehman Brothers at the height of the global financial crisis.

Sydney climbed 0.78 per cent, or 38.3 points, to 4,921.0 and Hong Kong added 0.47 per cent, or 108.40 points, to 23,256.93, while Shanghai ended flat, edging up 1.35 points to 2,434.48. But Seoul lost 1.99 points to close at 1,936.19.

Wellington was closed for a public holiday.

Japanese foreign exchange traders welcomed Shirakawa's announcement that he would step down on March 19, about three weeks before the end of his term.

It fuelled expectations that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely fill the post with someone who shares his ideas on aggressive monetary easing that would see more yen pumped into the economy.

The Japanese currency tumbled in New York. By the end of trade on Tuesday the dollar bought Y93.61 and the euro was at Y127.13, compared with Y92.28 and Y124.67 earlier in the day in Tokyo.

In afternoon Tokyo trade on Wednesday the US dollar bought Y93.70 and the euro fetched Y126.90.

Yen "weakness has resumed with a vengeance", National Australia Bank said.

The euro was also at $US1.3522, compared with $US1.3582 in New York and much stronger than the $US1.3489 on Tuesday in Tokyo.

Major Japanese exporters have been raising their earnings outlooks thanks to recent weakness in the yen, heartening investors.

"Global markets continue to normalise, allowing risk-on trading to resume," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.

"This is partially reflected in the fall of the yen," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Regional markets resumed their upward trend after suffering a heavy jolt on Tuesday after Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was forced to deny corruption claims.

A surge in the polls for the party of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has said he would roll back recent austerity measures, spooked markets ahead of an election this month.

However, encouraging data showed US services sector activity rising and the contraction in eurozone business activity decelerating.

Wall Street rebounded after diving on Tuesday as the Dow sits close to record highs. The Dow ended 0.71 per cent higher, the S&P 500 climbed 1.04 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 1.29 per cent.

In Europe markets on Tuesday recovered some of the huge losses suffered in the previous session.

Oil prices fell, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, down 28 cents to $US96.38 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for March delivery losing five cents to $US116.47.

Gold was at $1,670.27 at 1035 GMT (2135 AEDT) compared with $US1,678.01 late on Tuesday.

In other markets:

- Mumbai's Sensex index fell 0.10 per cent, or 20.10 points, to 19,639.72.

The world's biggest miner, Coal India, fell 2.03 per cent to 342.4 rupees and engineering giant Bharat Heavy Electricals fell 1.72 per cent to 208.55 rupees.

- Kuala Lumpur shares lost 1.18 per cent, or 19.21 points, to close at 1,614.14.

Axiata Group dipped 2.1 per cent to 6.16 ringgit, while CIMB Group Holdings fell 0.6 per cent to 7.15. UMW Holdings gained 0.2 per cent to 12.20 ringgit.

- Jakarta ended up 0.44 per cent, or 19.54 points, at 4,498.98.

Asia Pacific Fibers rose 1.04 per cent to 194 rupiah, Indofood Sukses Makmur climbed 4.96 per cent to 6,350 rupiah, while carmaker Astra International slumped 0.66 per cent to 7,550 rupiah.

- Singapore's Straits Times Index closed up 0.12 per cent, or 3.87 points, to 3,276.53.

DBS Group shed 1.58 per cent to Sg$14.96 and Wilmar International dipped 2.90 per cent to Sg$3.68.

- Bangkok lost 0.36 per cent, or 5.37 points, to 1,500.35.

Kiatnakin Bank added 2.64 per cent to 58.25 baht, while oil company PTT dropped 1.63 per cent to 361.00 baht.

- Taipei rose 0.25 per cent, or 19.71 points, at 7,906.65.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. gained 1.94 per cent to Tw$105.0 while Hon Hai Precision was 0.60 per cent higher at Tw$83.6.

- Manila closed 0.60 per cent lower, shedding 39.14 points to 6,431.35.

SM Prime Holdings lost 3.85 per cent to 17.46 pesos, Alliance Global fell 0.24 per cent to 20.45 pesos and Ayala Land gave up 2.31 per cent to 29.60 pesos.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Symbolic meeting for Serb, Kosovo leaders

SERB and Kosovo leaders are set to meet in a highly symbolic encounter that marks an important step in EU-sponsored efforts to improve relations between the former foes.

The meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, chaired by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, comes nearly 14 years after the end of the 1998-1999 conflict between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian separatist guerrillas and Belgrade security forces.

Following a three-month-long NATO bombing campaign launched to halt Serbia's crackdown on Kosovo's independence-seeking rebels, Belgrade troops were expelled from the Serbian province, a move that paved the way for Pristina to unilaterally declare independence in 2008.

Brussels sees the talks between Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and his Kosovo counterpart Atifete Jahjaga as a way to normalise relations, despite Belgrade's refusal to recognise the independence of the breakaway territory.

"We are dedicated to this process and firmly determined not to pass all the animosities of the past to younger generations," Jahjaga has said.

Analysts say the meeting is more important for ultranationalist-turned-conservative Nikolic who, before his election in May 2012, was a fierce opponent of dialogue with Pristina.

"I think Nikolic is not very happy to go to Brussels, but the EU and the United States are determined to see this meeting take place," said Belgrade political analyst Dusan Janjic.

The Serbian and Kosovo presidents both have a largely ceremonial role in domestic politics where executive powers reside in the hands of their prime ministers.

The two premiers, Serbia's Ivica Dacic and Kosovo's Hashim Thaci, have already met four times in Brussels since October, with Ashton as mediator.

Brussels has pushed the two sides to establish proper relations in order to ease daily life of their people, hinting to Belgrade that it might grant it a date to start EU membership talks. It is also holding out the carrot to Pristina of an accelerated path towards the bloc.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Japan protests over naval radar action

TOKYO has lodged a protest with Beijing after a Chinese warship directed radar against a Japanese military vessel near a group of disputed islets in the East China Sea.

Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said the Chinese ship's fire-control radar was directed at the Japanese ship on January 31.

He said the government also suspected a Chinese ship had directed radar at a Japanese military helicopter on January 19.

He called the incidents "extremely unusual" and said "they could have led to a dangerous situation".

Japan also issued a protest earlier in the day as two Chinese surveillance vessels entered what Tokyo calls its territorial waters around the disputed islets for more than 14 hours on Monday.

"It is extremely regrettable and totally unacceptable that the ships remained in Japanese waters for a long period of time," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

The government's purchase of three of the islets in mid-September sparked anti-Japan protests in dozens of Chinese cities and a boycott of Japanese products.

The Senkaku islands are also claimed by China and Taiwan, where they are called the Diaoyu and the Tiaoyutai, respectively.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Somali court jails alleged rape victim

A WOMAN who said she was raped by soldiers has been sentenced to one year in prison, according to a court official in Mogadishu.

The official, Ahmed Aden Farah, said the court based Tuesday's sentence on medical evidence that the woman was not raped.

A journalist who reported on the case was also jailed for a year.

Rights groups have decried the case as politically motivated because the woman had accused security forces of the sexual assault.

Farah said the woman's prison term would be delayed by one year so she could care for her young child.

The woman was charged with insulting a government body, inducing false evidence, simulating a criminal offence and making a false accusation.

Journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur was charged with insulting a government body and inducing the woman to give false evidence.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Australia set to rejoin UN aid agency

AUSTRALIA is likely to rejoin the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) despite the federal opposition's objections to the move.

Australia was a founding member of the United Nations aid agency but pulled out in 2004 because of governance concerns.

The federal government last year announced it would rejoin IFAD, which is dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries after it had implemented major reforms.

It has pledged $126.4 million over four years from 2012/13.

Deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop said there was no disputing more had to be done to address future food security issues, with increasing demand for protein rich food and cereals.

The coalition supports efforts to improve international food security but there was a duty to ensure taxpayer money was directed to organisations which were accountable.

"My concerns focus solely on the organisation, IFAD, its history with organisational shortcomings and its strategic fit within the Australia aid program," Ms Bishop said.

At the time of the withdrawal from IFAD, AusAid had raised concerns about a lack of funding directed to South-East Asia and the Pacific and shortcomings in its management and donor relationships.

The Australian government must satisfy itself that all of IFAD's shortcomings had been addressed, Ms Bishop said.

"We must also be assured that the millions of dollars that will be required to support Australia's own membership of IFAD are not better applied elsewhere," she said.

The federal government should delay the bill until all concerns about IFAD's governance are addressed and the impact of the reform process assessed, Ms Bishop said.

Labor MP Nick Champion said AusAid had recommended Australia rejoin the fund after new governance arrangements had been put in place.

The United States and UK governments were contributing.

"It seems just sensible to rejoin again," Mr Champion told parliament.

Mr Champion said IFAD was more focused on the Asia Pacific and on corruption issues.

"The organisation, while not perfect, conceptually it is a good one," he said.

Despite the objections of coalition MPs, Mr Champion said if they were to form government after the 2013 election they would likely continue on the same path Labor had set.

Debate on the International Fund for Agricultural Development Amendment Bill 2012 was adjourned.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nurse likens Nauru to concentration camp

A VETERAN nurse has likened conditions in the asylum seeker detention centre on Nauru to a concentration camp.

Marianne Evers worked at the centre for three weeks late last year and says the conditions were completely appalling.

"I actually liken it to a concentration camp," Ms Evers, who has more than 40 years nursing experience, told ABC Television on Tuesday.

"But the Australians don't have the guts to kill these people and put them out of their misery. Because miserable it is."

The Dutch-born Australian citizen, who broke a confidentiality agreement by coming forward, said she saw numerous attempted suicides and other instances of self-harm during her brief stay on the tiny Pacific island.

She says she also heard allegations of sexual assault from other staff members but did not herself witness anything.

Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman Sandi Logan questioned why it took so long for Ms Evers to come forward.

"I think invoking concentration camps is a disgrace to be quite honest," he said.

"I don't think anyone should be throwing terms like concentration camp around with such abandon."

More than 400 male asylum seekers are living in the Nauru facility.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Scientists confirm King Richard III find

Scientists will reveal the result of tests to determine if a skeleton belongs to King Richard III. Source: AAP

SCIENTISTS have confirmed that 500-year-old remains found under a car park in the city of Leicester are those of England's King Richard III.

University of Leicester researchers say tests on a battle-scarred skeleton unearthed last year prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that it is the king, who died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and whose remains have been missing for centuries.

"Richard III, the last Plantaganet King of England, has been found," said the university's deputy registrar, Richard Taylor.

Osteologist Jo Appleby said on Monday that the study of the bones provided "a highly convincing case for identification of Richard III".

And DNA from the skeleton matches a sample taken from a distant living relative of Richard's sister.

The last English monarch to die in battle, Richard was depicted in a play by William Shakespeare as a hunchbacked usurper who left a trail of bodies - including those of his two princely nephews, murdered in the Tower of London - on his way to the throne.

Many historians say that image is unfair, and argue Richard's reputation was smeared by his Tudor successors.

That's an argument taken up by the Richard III Society, set up to re-evaluate the reputation of a reviled monarch.

"It will be a whole new era for Richard III," society spokeswoman Lynda Pidgeon said.

"It's certainly going to spark a lot more interest. Hopefully people will have a more open mind toward Richard."

Richard III ruled England between 1483 and 1485, during the decades-long tussle over the throne known as the Wars of the Roses.

His brief reign saw liberal reforms, including introduction of the right to bail and the lifting of restrictions on books and printing presses.

His rule was challenged, and he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field by the army of Henry Tudor, who took the throne as King Henry VII.

For centuries, the location of Richard's body has been unknown.

Records say he was buried by the Franciscan monks of Grey Friars at their church in Leicester, 160km north of London. The church was closed and dismantled after King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, and its location eventually was forgotten.

Then, last September, archaeologists searching for Richard dug up the skeleton of an adult male who appeared to have died in battle.

There were signs of trauma to the skull, perhaps from a bladed instrument, and a barbed metal arrowhead was found between vertebrae of the upper back.

The remains also displayed signs of scoliosis, which is a form of spinal curvature, consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance, though not with Shakespeare's description of him as "deform'd, unfinished" hunchback.

Researchers conducted a battery of scientific tests, including radiocarbon dating to determine the skeleton's age. They also compared its DNA with samples taken from a London cabinet-maker identified as a 17th great-grand-nephew of the king's older sister.

The mayor of Leicester, Peter Soulsby, said the monarch would be interred in the city's cathedral.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Asia shares mixed after profit taking

ASIAN markets have closed mixed as late profit-taking offset a rally on Wall Street that was fuelled by upbeat jobs data out of the US.

The euro and dollar were mixed against the yen on Monday after racking up healthy gains in New York on Friday.

Tokyo closed 0.62 per cent higher, adding 69.01 points to a 33-month high of 11,260.35, while Seoul slipped 0.23 per cent, or 4.58 points, to 1,953.21, and Sydney fell 0.28 per cent, or 13.6 points, to 4,907.5.

Hong Kong fell 0.16 per cent as dealers cashed in profits after the index spent most of the day in positive territory and around 21-month highs. The Hang Seng Index fell 36.83 points to end at 23,685.01, while Shanghai rose 0.38 per cent, or 9.13 points, to 2,428.15.

US traders sent the Dow to a more than five-year high on Friday on the back of the latest jobs data.

The labour department report showed employers added 157,000 jobs in January, fewer than expected, and the jobless rate inched up to 7.9 per cent.

However, revised data for all of 2012 showed net job growth at an average of 181,000 a month, up from a prior estimate of 153,000.

The Dow rallied 1.08 per cent to 14,009.79, above 14,000 points for the first time since October 2007. The index is just shy of the record high 14,164.53 seen on October 9, 2007.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 1.01 per cent and the Nasdaq jumped 1.18 per cent.

"The economic momentum in the US is quite good," Khiem Do, head of Asian multi-asset at Baring Asset Management in Hong Kong, told Dow Jones Newswires.

"The US is basking in good news at the moment because the debt negotiations have kicked the can down the road," he added, referring to a delay until May to negotiations on raising the country's debt ceiling.

And UniCredit's Harm Bandholz in the US said the updates to the 2012 data "highlight even more how remarkably resilient the US labour market has been over the last two quarters".

The jobs figures sent the US dollar and euro higher against the yen on Friday, and the units were mixed in early European trade on Monday.

The dollar bought Y92.90 against Y92.80 yen in New York late on Friday, while the euro was at Y126.35 yen and $US1.3600, compared with Y126.60 yen and $US1.3637.

Eyes will turn later in the week to China, which is due to release key data on inflation and trade ahead of the Chinese New Year public holiday.

Australia's central bank will announce the outcome of its policy setting meeting, with analysts expecting it to keep interest rates on hold.

Oil prices fell, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, dropping 49 cents to $US97.28 a barrel while Brent North Sea crude for March also shed 50 cents to $US116.26.

Gold was at $US1,665.40 at 1045 GMT (2145 AEDT) compared with $1,665.35 late Friday.

In other markets:

- Singapore's Straits Times Index closed up 0.19 per cent, or 6.23 points, to 3,297.37.

United Overseas Bank gained 2.12 per cent to Sg$19.27 and Singapore Airlines advanced 1.80 per cent to Sg$11.30.

- Kuala Lumpur shares gained seven points, or 0.43 per cent, to close at 1,634.55.

IHH Healthcare inched up 0.3 per cent to 3.30 ringgit, while Malayan Banking added 1.0 per cent to 8.97. AirAsia fell 1.1 per cent to 2.75 ringgit.

- Jakarta ended up 8.93 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 4490,565.

Carmaker Astra International rose rose 2.01 per cent to 7,600 rupiah, food manufacturer Indofood Sukses Makmur jumped 1.68 per cent to 6,050 rupiah, and Telekomunikasi Indonesia increased 0.52 per cent to 9,700 rupiah.

- Bangkok added 0.48 per cent or 7.15 points to 1,506.37.

Telecoms company True Corp. lost 2.94 per cent to 6.60 baht, while Kiatnakin Bank jumped 7.21 per cent to 55.75 baht.

- Taipei rose 0.86 per cent, or 67.19 points, to 7,923.16.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 1.48 per cent higher at Tw$103.0 while Fubon Financial Holding rallied 3.56 per cent to Tw$39.3.

- Mumbai's Sensex index slid 0.15 per cent, or 30.0 points, to 19,751.19, its third straight day of declines, on weak earnings data from local firms.

India's engineering giant Bharat Heavy Electricals fell 2.73 per cent to 219.2 rupees while commercial bank State Bank of India fell 2.41 per cent to 2,351.85.

- Manila rose 1.86 per cent, or 117.37 points, to 6,435.98, a new record.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co added 2.13 per cent to 2,880 pesos and Ayala Corp gained 4.8 per cent to 574 pesos.

- Wellington ended flat, edging up 0.47 points to 4,246,40.

Air New Zealand was up 2.38 per cent at NZ$1.29 and Fletcher Building slipped 2.23 per cent to NZ$9.19.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Armed robbers threaten Sydney mother, son

POLICE are hunting for three men who broke into a home in the NSW's central west and threatened a mother and her son with knives, a mattock and a baseball bat.

Police said the men invaded the home on Maxwell Street at Wellington armed with the weapons about 4pm on Sunday.

They threatened the residents of the home, a 43-year-old woman and her 19-year-old son, before holding knives to their throats and demanding money.

They then assaulted the pair and fled with cash and personal items.

In a statement, police said they believe the attack was targeted.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lebanon wants top Syrian official arrested

LEBANESE judicial officials say prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for a top Syrian intelligence official for his alleged involvement in a bombing plot in Lebanon.

The officials say Brigadier General Ali Mamlouk is accused of being involved with Lebanon's former information minister, who is accused of plotting a wave of attacks in Lebanon at the behest of Syria.

The former information minister, Michel Samaha, has been in custody since August. His arrest was an embarrassing blow to Syria, which has long acted with impunity in Lebanon.

Mamlouk, head of Syria's national security council, was indicted in absentia along with Samaha in the summer.

The officials said another arrest warrant has been issued for a Syrian colonel identified as Adnan.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kuwait jails third tweeter for emir insult

KUWAIT'S lower court sentenced a third opposition youth activist to five years in jail "with immediate effect" for insulting the emir on Twitter, a rights group said.

"The court passed the maximum jail term against Mohammad Eid al-Ajmi for insulting the emir on Twitter," said the director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, Mohammad al-Humaidi on Sunday.

The ruling is not final as it will be appealed, but Ajmi will begin serving the sentence immediately, Humaidi said.

Ajmi is the third opposition youth activist to be convicted for insulting the emir on Twitter. Last month the same court sentenced two tweeters to two years each in jail each on the same charge.

Ayyad al-Harbi and Rashed al-Enezi are both in prison as they await appeals court rulings on their cases.

Humaidi said a large number of youth activists are on trial on similar charges, with verdicts expected in the coming weeks.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iran non-committal over nuclear talks

IRAN'S foreign minister welcomed the United States' willingness to hold direct talks with Tehran in the standoff over its nuclear program but didn't commit to accepting the offer - insisting that Washington must show "fair and real" intentions to resolve the issue and complaining about "threatening rhetoric."

Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday insisted that no Iranian "red line" is getting in the way of direct negotiations with Washington, but also pointed to deep mistrust between the two countries.

Salehi was speaking at the Munich Security Conference where US Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday said the United States was prepared talk directly to Iran.

Biden insisted that Tehran must show it is serious and that Washington won't engage in such talks merely "for the exercise".

Washington has indicated in the past that it's prepared to talk directly with Iran on the nuclear issue, but so far nothing has come of it.

Salehi also welcomed Syrian opposition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib's readiness to hold talks under conditions with the Syrian regime.

"It's a good step forward," Salehi said, adding he had held a "very good meeting" with Khatib.

Meanwhile, talks involving all five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have made little headway, while several rounds of international sanctions have cut into Iran's oil sales and financial transactions.

The next round of talks with the six powers will be held on February 25 in Kazakhstan, Salehi told the Munich Security Conference.

He said Biden's comments marked "a step forward," but indicated getting the US and Iran together for one-to-one talks will be no easy task.

"We have no red line for bilateral negotiations when it comes to negotiating over a particular subject," Salehi said.

"If the subject is the nuclear file, yes, we are ready for negotiations but we have to make sure ... that the other side this time comes with authentic intention, with a fair and real intention to resolve the issue."

Salehi said it was "contradictory" if the US voices willingness to hold direct talks "but on the other side you use this threatening rhetoric that everything is on the table ... these are not compatible with each other."

"We are ready for engagement only when it is on equal footing," he said.

Iran insists it does not want nuclear arms and argues it has a right to enrich uranium for a civilian nuclear power program, but suspicion persists that the real aim is to build an atomic bomb.

Last month Iran, in a defiant move, announced plans to vastly increase its pace of uranium enrichment. That can be used to make both reactor fuel and the fissile core of warheads.

Earlier in the conference, Biden called for a bolstering in transatlantic ties, insisting Europe is still "the cornerstone" of US international engagement.

Addressing high-ranking officials, ministers and top military brass on the second day of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Biden sought to dispel fears that the US had moved its focus away from Europe.

"President (Barack) Obama and I continue to believe that Europe is the cornerstone of our engagement with the rest of the world and is the catalyst for our global co-operation," he said.

"It's that basic. Nothing has changed."

But Biden urged Europe to step up its co-operation with the US in the Asia-Pacific region.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iraq mobile firm debuts on Baghdad bourse

IRAQ'S second largest mobile operator debuted on the Baghdad bourse on Sunday, in the country's first major stock flotation and after pressure from the media regulator for it to be publicly listed.

Asiacell, which is majority-owned by Qatar Telecom, offered 67.503 billion shares, representing 25 per cent of the total share capital, according to a statement on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX).

It said in a January 24 statement that "demand for its shares... is high amongst ordinary Iraqis and professional investors alike" and claimed at the time that its initial public offering was the biggest ever in Iraq, and the largest in the Middle East since 2008.

The firm and Iraq's two other mobile phone companies - Kuwait's Zain and Korek, in which France Telecom and Kuwait's Agility Logistics have stakes - were fined for failing to issue IPOs on the ISX, Zain said in July.

Asiacell is the second biggest cell phone firm in Iraq by subscribers, with 9.9 million, after Zain which says it has more than 12 million customers.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More