Spain train diver facing charges

The driver of a speeding train that crashed in Spain has refused to respond to police questioning. Source: AAP

THE driver of a train that hurtled off the rails killing 78 people in Spain faces possible charges as doctors work to identify the last three victims of the country's worst rail disaster in decades.

As Spain mourned on Saturday, the city of Santiago de Compostela where the crash occurred is preparing a funeral for Monday in its cathedral, a destination for Catholic pilgrims from around the world.

Police have accused the driver, identified by media as Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, 52, of "recklessness" in Wednesday night's devastating crash.

They said late on Friday that he refused to answer their questions in his hospital bed and the case has been passed to the courts.

The train was said to have been travelling at more than twice the speed limit when it hurtled off the rails and slammed into a concrete wall, with one carriage leaping up onto a siding.

Smoke billowed from the gutted cars as bodies were strewn across the tracks. Locals said they came running from their houses to drag passengers from the wreckage.

The grey-haired driver, who reportedly boasted of his love for speed online, was under police surveillance in hospital, said Jaime Iglesias, police chief in the northwestern Galicia region.

The driver faces criminal accusations including "recklessness", Iglesias told a news conference, but has not yet been charged.

A police spokesman later said the driver had refused to respond to police questioning on Friday and the courts would now decide on judicial action.

Spanish media published photographs of the man they identified as Garzon after the crash, with blood covering the right side of his face.

Leading Spanish newspaper El Pais said the driver of the train had been unable to brake in time.

Seventy-eight passengers perished, three of whom have yet to be identified, and 178 were injured, regional authorities said.

Following the crash, weeping relatives waited in a conference centre in the city for news of their loved ones, attended by counsellors.

At least seven foreigners are among the dead - a US citizen, an Algerian, a Mexican, a Brazilian, a Venezuelan, an Italian and a national of the Dominican Republic, a judicial source said.

Most of the injured are Spanish, but at least eight were foreigners from Argentina, Britain, Colombia, the US and Peru.

The number of people still in hospital dropped to 81, including 28 adults and three children who were in critical condition, Galician Health Minister Rocio Mosquera said.

The driver, while still trapped in his cab, told railway officials by radio that the train had taken the curve at 190 kilometres an hour, more than double the 80 km/h speed limit on that section of track, El Pais said, citing unidentified sources in the investigation.

"I was going at 190! I hope no one died because it will weigh on my conscience," he was quoted as saying.

He has reportedly been with state rail company Renfe for 30 years, including 13 years of experience as a driver.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

1267 boat people arrived since PNG deal

More than 1000 asylum seekers are waiting on Christmas Island to be transferred to PNG. Source: AAP

THE number of asylum seekers arriving by boat since the government announced its hardline resettlement policy more than a week ago has climbed to 1267.

Home affairs Minister Jason Clare released two statements on Saturday evening revealing details of two more boats intercepted on Friday.

One had 94 passengers and two crew on board, while the other was carrying 123 passengers and two crew.

People on both vessels have been taken to Christmas Island for initial identity and health checks before they are transferred to Papua New Guinea.

A spokesman for Mr Clare confirmed a total of 1267 arrivals on 16 boats since the government introduced the new PNG policy on July 19.

Under the federal government's deal with PNG, people arriving by boat will be denied resettlement in Australia, taken to Manus Island for processing and if their refugee status is approved, resettled in PNG.

More than 1000 asylum seekers are already waiting on Christmas Island to be transferred to PNG.

Meanwhile, an independent investigation into riots that burnt down accommodation at the Nauru detention centre and allegations of asylum seekers being raped on Manus Island will be set up this week.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syrian forces make gains in Homs

REGIME forces backed by Hezbollah now control half of the Khaldiyeh district of Homs after ousting rebels in fierce fighting in the central Syrian city, a watchdog says.

"Loyalist forces backed by fighters from Hezbollah have advanced over the last 24 hours and now control 50 per cent of Khaldiyeh," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

Its chief, Rami Abdel Rahman, said "there was continuous heavy mortar and artillery fire" and the rebel district was still being pounded.

He said rebels were putting up "fierce resistance" amid "very intense clashes".

Militant network the Syrian Revolution General Commission also reported heavy fighting in the district that has been besieged by regime forces for more than a year.

"Khaldiyeh is being targeted by an uninterrupted heavy bombardment, and on the ground there is fierce fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and regime forces backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah trying to take the district," an SRGC statement said.

It and the observatory both said the Old City district of Homs - dubbed the "capital of the revolution" against President Bashar al-Assad - was being pummelled too.

The latest regime offensive on besieged rebel-held neighbourhoods of Homs is now in its fourth week.

Government forces are seeking to secure another victory like the one in Qusayr near the border with Lebanon in June, when Hezbollah was key in retaking the strategic town.

Hezbollah, the most powerful military force in Lebanon and a staunch ally of the Assad regime in Syria, has had its military wing blacklisted by the European Union as a terrorist group.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Funeral for Tunisian opposition leader

Tunisia has marked a day of mourning after gunmen killed a leading opposition figure. Source: AAP

THOUSANDS of Tunisians have taken to the streets for the funeral of an assassinated opposition leader, as tensions soar after anti-government protests.

Draped in the red and white Tunisian flag, Mohamed Brahmi's coffin was saluted by soldiers as the cortege left his home in the Tunis neighbourhood of Ariana for El-Jellaz cemetery on Saturday.

Emotions were high as supporters of Brahmi, who included members of his family, lifted the coffin to their shoulders before carrying it away under armed escort.

A military helicopter overflew the capital as a sea of flags fluttered among the crowd waiting for the funeral procession along Mohamed V Avenue, an AFP correspondent reported.

"For our soul, with our blood, we will avenge the martyr," the crowd shouted in unison.

Brahmi, 58, was shot dead outside his home on Thursday with the same weapon used to gun down fellow opposition politician Chokri Belaid in February, Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou said.

He will be buried next to the grave of Belaid, in line with a wish he had expressed before his death.

Brahmi's state funeral was being held in the absence of any representatives of the government led by the Islamist Ennahda party.

Hours before the funeral got under way, a bomb exploded near a police post in the port of Tunis on Saturday, damaging a police jeep, the interior ministry said.

A resident said the blast, the first known attack of its kind against a military vehicle in Tunisia, slightly wounded a policeman and caused panic among some residents of La Goulette district.

The ministry said nobody was hurt.

The bombing comes a day after a general strike and an anti-government demonstration during which one person was killed.

Brahmi was an MP with the leftist and nationalist Popular Movement, but on July 7 quit the party he founded, saying it had been infiltrated by Islamists.

His widow Mbarka told AFP he would be buried next to Belaid, the leftist politician assassinated in February whose funeral was attended by tens of thousands and turned into an anti-Ennahda protest.

The families of both men have accused Ennahda of being implicated in the deaths, but the authorities said on Friday the investigation pointed to extremists with links to al-Qaeda.

The powerful General Union of Tunisian Labour, or UGTT, called Friday's general strike in protest at "terrorism, violence and murders", while national airline Tunisair and some European carriers cancelled flights to Tunis.

The state prosecutor's office said an autopsy found Brahmi had been hit by 14 bullets.

Balkis Brahmi, 19, one of Brahmi's five children, told AFP her father had been killed by two men in black on a motorbike.

"At around midday, we heard gunfire and my father crying with pain. We rushed out - my brother, mother and I - to find his body riddled with bullets at the wheel of his car parked in front of the house," she said.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spain train driver detained over crash

The driver of a train that derailed in Spain is being questioned after admitting to speeding. Source: AAP

SPANISH police say they have formally detained the driver of a fast-moving train that flew off the tracks, killing dozens of people, while they revised down the death toll.

"He has been detained since 8pm (on Thursday). He is accused of crimes related to the accident," said Jaime Iglesias, the chief of police in the northwestern region of Galicia where the accident happened, on Friday.

Police also said on Friday they had found 78 bodies and have been able to identify 72 of the victims.

Government officials in Galicia in northwestern Spain had earlier put the death toll from Wednesday's accident at 80.

The driver, identified by local media as Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, 52, is in hospital after the train hurtled off the tracks late on Wednesday while apparently going at twice the legal speed limit in one of Spain's worst rail disasters ever.

He was still being treated for light injuries sustained in the crash on the outskirts of the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela, a police source said.

State train company Renfe said the driver was a 30-year veteran of the firm with more than a decade of train driving experience.

The train's data recording "black box" and other documents were passed over to the judge in charge of the investigation on Thursday.

Attention has so far centred on Garzon Amo, one of two drivers on the train, after media reports described him as a speed freak who once gleefully posted a picture on his Facebook page of a train speedometer showing it was travelling at 200km/h.

Below the photo he wrote the caption: "I am on the edge, I can't go faster or else I will be fined."

His Facebook page has since been taken down, but Spanish newspapers quoted another of his posts as saying: "What fun it would be to race the Guardia Civil (police) and pass them, causing their radar to blow up hehehe. What a huge fine that would be for Renfe."

The El Pais newspaper, citing sources close to the investigation, said the driver stated immediately after the crash that he had been travelling at 190km/h on a curve with a speed limit of 80km/h.

"I am going at 190! I hope no one died because it will weigh on my conscience," he reportedly told supervisors over the radio while trapped inside the cab after the eight-carriage train flew off the tracks on a curve at 8.42pm.

Dramatic video footage from a security camera showed the fast-moving train, which was travelling from Madrid to the port of Ferrol, slamming into a concrete wall at the side of the track as the engine overturned.

On Friday, the paper reported the driver was unable to brake in time.

"The railway warning systems detected that Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, the driver of the Alvia train that departed Madrid, was travelling at 190 kilometres an hour when it should not exceed 80," El Pais wrote.

"The driver acknowledged that the alarm went off in the control panel and he tried to brake but was not able to avert the tragedy," the newspaper added.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a native of the city, declared three days of national mourning after visiting the scene of the accident.

Renfe president Julio Gomez-Pomar Rodriguez told Cadena Cope radio station that it was too early to speculate about the cause of the disaster, but the Spanish secretary of state for transport, Rafael Catala, said excessive speed appeared to be the culprit.

"The tragedy that happened in Santiago de Compostela seems to be linked to excessive speed, but we are still waiting on the judicial investigation," he told radio station Cadena Ser.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hong Kong shares end 0.31% higher

HONG Kong shares have closed up 0.31 per cent following small gains on Wall Street and with China unveiling measures to help boost the mainland economy.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 67.99 points on Friday to 21,968.95 on turnover of HK$44.43 billion ($A6.24 billion).

Extending a week of quiet trade in the Chinese city, volume totalled HK$44.43, down from HK$45.33 billion on Thursday.

At the start of the week turnover was just HK$38.49 billion, the market's lowest point since September.

The slow trade has meant hope the market might push the 22,000 points barrier this week prove elusive.

"We still believe 22,000 is a kind of resistance," Steven Leung, head of institutional sales at UOB Kay Hian, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Investors, he added, were still in profit-taking mode after the index rallied more than 2 per cent on Tuesday.

Financial shares were one of the few areas that saw some gains.

Mainland bank shares closed mostly higher. China Construction Bank rose 0.4 per cent to HK$5.78 and Bank of China gained 0.3 per cent to HK$3.28.

Shares of Hong Kong insurer and index heavy AIA rose 0.4 per cent to HK$35.85 after reporting first-half results that comfortably beat expectations.

The company reported a 26 per cent jump in the value of new business, topping the 22 per cent growth expected by analysts.

Chinese shares ended down 0.51 per cent on Friday due to persistent worries over the health of the domestic economy, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 10.32 points to 2,010.85 on turnover of 65.5 billion yuan ($10.7 billion).

The index rose 0.91 per cent for the week on hopes for policies to boost economic growth.

"The market will likely be stuck in consolidation mode before there are signs of an economic recovery," Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing told AFP.

A government plan to cut excess production capacity in 19 sectors hit coal producers and steel firms.

Qinghai Jinrui Mineral Development lost 4.29 per cent to 7.81 yuan while Yanzhou Coal Mining fell 2.28 per cent to 9.87 yuan.

Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union dropped 2.03 per cent to 3.87 yuan and Chongqing Iron & Steel shed 1.06 per cent to 2.79 yuan.

Heavyweight financial shares also fell.

Industrial Securities lost 2.01 per cent to 9.26 yuan, Agricultural Bank of China fell 1.20 per cent to 2.48 yuan and China Life Insurance slid 0.61 per cent to 13.13 yuan.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aussie getaways cheaper despite $A fall

Domestic travel and hotel prices have become cheaper despite a fall in the currency. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN holidays have become cheaper despite a sharp fall in the local currency.

Domestic travel and hotel prices dropped by four per cent during the June quarter, even as the Australian dollar fell from a peak of 105 US cents to below 92 US cents.

A weaker currency potentially encourages more overseas and local tourists to holiday within Australia, which in theory drives up accommodation costs.

Despite this, local holiday expenses posted the biggest decrease in three years, Tourism Research Australia figures show.

Meanwhile, international travel costs rose by half a per cent.

Tourism Australia (TA) managing director Andrew McEvoy says cheaper flights are stimulating competitive.

"Campaigns and offers being run by the airlines and travel operators are helping to drive down prices and offer domestic travellers great value for money," he said.

TA has launched a campaign to encourage families considering an overseas trip to instead stay in Australia.

A recent survey of 1000 people by TA found Australians preferred local beach holidays to overseas getaways.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Coalition would delay schools funding

The coalition says it won't change new school funding arrangements for at least a year if elected. Source: AAP

A COALITION government will let Labor's Gonski-based funding system stand for a year if it can't get legislation repealing it through parliament.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has written to school principals across the country explaining he has "deep reservations" over the government's new Better Schools funding model.

He said a coalition government would use the year to figure out how to "get the model right" as leaders in Western Australia and the Northern Territory continued to criticise the $15 billion plan.

WA Premier Colin Barnett emerged from a one-hour meeting with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday without a breakthrough and said the legislation was "inadequate".

He has consistently said the state would not become part of the program until concerns about control were addressed, claiming other states had been "bullied" into it.

Mr Rudd dismissed Mr Barnett's concerns as "nonsense" as he urged WA to sign up.

NT Chief Minister Adam Giles announced he had rejected the plan, which he said was "con".

He said the federal government continued to release misleading calculations based on false assumptions about how much funding Territory schools currently received.

Victoria was expected to sign up on Friday after Premier Denis Napthine revealed on Wednesday he was willing to be flexible.

But no agreement was announced.

In the letter to school principals, Mr Abbott and opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said if there was no national agreement on school funding in place if the coalition was elected, they would move to delay the start of the proposed model by one year.

"If Labor and the Greens use the parliament to stop our plan to delay the new model, the coalition will allow it to operate for one year (until 2015) while we work out how to get the model right," the letter states.

Though previously they have been inconsistent on the conditions under which they would keep the plan.

Mr Abbott has said all jurisdictions would have to sign up, while Mr Pyne said it needed an overwhelming majority.

But the commitment has been slammed as cruel and worthless by the union representing Australia's public school teachers.

Australian Education Union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos says the coalition's continually shifting position makes the latest commitment worthless.

"Let's be clear what this letter actually means - at best it merely delays the massive funding cuts of ripping up Gonski to 2015 instead of 2014," he said on Friday.

"What a cruel thing it would be for additional Gonski funding to flow to schools for just one year, before being ripped away from students."

So far only NSW, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania have signed up to the $15 billion better schools plan.

Independent and Catholic schools have also endorsed it.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abbott lands in Tassie classroom

OPPOSITION leader Tony Abbott has been forced to defend his approach to school reforms after a Q&A with Tasmanian voters turned into a virtual classroom.

Around a third of the questions asked at the Launceston session came from teachers keen to know the fate of what were previously known as the Gonski reforms.

Mr Abbott repeated his mantra that no school would be worse off under a coalition government but expressed serious concerns about funding the renamed Better Schools Plan.

Tasmanians, teachers or not, are keen to know the fate of the extra $380 million the state recently signed up to.

"We think that there is a rather more sophisticated way forward than simply more money," Mr Abbott told the audience of around 100 in the marginal seat of Bass.

"More money is important but a lot of money has been thrown at schools over the last few years and if you look at the academic results, the international comparisons, our performance if anything has gone backwards."

Mr Abbott said $6.5 billion was needed annually to "do Gonski properly".

"I just don't know where that money is going to come from," he said.

NSW is the only Liberal state to have signed onto the reforms, which were the baby of former prime minister Julia Gillard.

Speculation has Victoria close to becoming the second coalition state to sign on but Mr Abbott is not committing to the scheme if that occurs.

"Let's wait and see what Gonski turns out to be," he said.

"At the moment there are four or five Gonskis."

A measured performance from Mr Abbott over an hour of questioning didn't stop him pointing out that more than one teacher had not not done their homework.

One accused him of remaining a climate sceptic, which he dismissed, while another said she had read about his plans for spending cuts.

"I think you've been reading the wrong material," Mr Abbott said.

Little was revealed personally, although Mr Abbott lamented the number of his daughters' parent/teacher nights and sport he had missed by being a politician.

The session did include a spirited defence of politicians - even Greens - who Mr Abbott said in the main acted in good faith and were "patriots" despite the parties' "enormous disagreements".

The forum completed northern Tasmania's day of heavyweight political battle after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd earlier visited Launceston and Devonport.

19.54 | 0 komentar | Read More

Govt keeps mum on budget cuts

The government is not revealing budget cuts ahead of Treasurer Chris Bowen's economic statement. Source: AAP

THE federal government has refused to come clean on what areas of the budget could face the chop as Treasurer Chris Bowen puts together an economic statement ahead of the looming election.

Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said the government's expenditure review committee was looking at a "range of options" to pay for its asylum seeker resettlement plan in Papua New Guinea.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said there were suggestions the government was planning to abolish its school kids bonus - the cash payment of up to $820 to parents to help pay for school related expenses, to help fund the resettlement program.

There's also speculation the government may consider further changes to superannuation arrangements, he said.

"The Labor party is made up from A to Z of hypocrites," Mr Hockey told reporters in Sydney.

"You cannot run a budget and you cannot run an economy like this."

But Finance Minister Penny Wong said the school kids bonus is a "very important policy area".

"But I am certainly not going to be drawn ahead of the economic statement on ruling things in, or ruling things out," she told reporters in Melbourne.

Instead she launched a stinging attack on her opposition counterpart Andrew Robb.

He's questioned the relevance of Australia's top level triple-A credit rating because Lehman Brothers had the same when it succumbed to the global financial crisis in 2008.

She accused the shadow finance minister of warning investors off Australia.

"It's irresponsible, dishonest, it's damaging to confidence," she said.

Australia is one of only eight countries in the world with a triple-A rating from all three global agencies - Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service.

However, Mr Hockey believes the triple-A rating is important because since the GFC it has become more closely linked to the standing of financial institutions and directly affects the cost of borrowing.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Australia's rating was due to the sustained reforms of the former Howard government and those of the Bob Hawke and Paul Keating governments.

He says it owes nothing to the spending spree of the current government.

He labelled Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Australia's "world champion, gold medal fiscal vandal".

"We cannot have a strong economy without strong and profitable private businesses and that means getting taxes down, getting regulation down and means having a government that lives within its means," he told reporters in Brisbane.

He told a small business conference he would install people with small business experience on the Board of Taxation, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Fair Work Commission.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said Mr Abbott had offered a practical solution to one problem.

"It's a good plan," he said in a statement.

But he said issues such as red tape reduction, simplifying tax compliance, making it easier to employ and building better infrastructure also have to be acted upon.

19.54 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spanish train crash kills 78, injures 140

Officials in Spain say 60 people have died in a train derailment in the country's northwest. Source: AAP

A TRAIN has hurtled off the tracks in northwest Spain, killing at least 78 passengers and injuring more than 140, with the driver reportedly going at twice the speed limit.

Carriages piled into each other and overturned in the smash late on Wednesday, smoke billowing from the wreckage, as bodies were laid out under blankets along the tracks in the country's deadliest rail disaster in more than 40 years.

Several media outlets said the train was speeding at the time of the accident, but a spokesman for state railway company Renfe said it was too soon to say what caused the accident.

"There is an investigation under way and we have to wait. We will know what the speed is very soon when we consult the train's black box," a Renfe spokesman said.

The driver became trapped in one of the carriages and he told railway officials by radio that he took the bend at 190km/h in an urban zone with a speed limit of 80km/h, daily El Pais reported.

"I was going at 190! I hope no one died because it will weigh on my conscience," he said, according to the online edition of the newspaper which cited unidentified investigation sources.

The accident happened at 8.42pm on Wednesday (0442 AEST Thursday) as the train carrying 218 passengers and four staff was about to enter Santiago de Compostela station in the northwestern region of Galicia.

The train derailed on a stretch of high-speed track about four kilometres from the train station in the city, the destination of the famous El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage which has been followed by Christians since the Middle Ages.

The train was the Alvia model which is able to adapt between high-speed and normal tracks.

It had left Madrid and was heading for the ship-building coastal town of Ferrol as the Galicia region was preparing celebrations in honour of its patron saint James.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a native of Santiago de Compostela, arrived at the scene of the accident before visiting victims in hospital later on Thursday.

Rajoy declared three days of national mourning.

Spain's King Juan Carlos and Crown Prince Felipe called off their public engagements out of respect for the victims.

Several witnesses spoke of a loud explosion at the time of the accident.

"I was at home and I heard something like a clap of thunder, It was very loud and there was lots of smoke," said 62-year-old Maria Teresa Ramos, who lived just metres from where the accident happened.

"It's a disaster, people are crying out. Nobody has ever seen anything like this," she added.

Rescue workers recovered 73 bodies from the train's wreckage and five more victims died later in hospital, a spokesman for the Galicia high court said.

A total of 143 people were said to have various injuries.

It marks the worst rail accident in Spain since 77 people were killed in 1972 in a derailment in Andalusia in the south.

Renfe said the train had no technical problems and had just passed an inspection.

Renfe said the train had no technical problems and had just passed an inspection on the morning of the accident.

"To put it in another way, the maintenance record and control of the train was perfect," Renfe head Julio Gomez-Pomar Rodriguez told Cadena Cope radio.

The cause was unknown, Renfe said.

"There is an investigation underway and we have to wait. We will know what the speed is very soon when we consult the train's black box," a Renfe

spokesman said.

Francisco Otero, 39, who was inside his parents' home just beside the section of the track where the accident happened, said he "heard a huge bang".

"The first thing I saw was the body of a woman. I had never seen a corpse before. But above all what caught my attention was that there was a lot of silence, some smoke and a small fire," he told AFP.

"My neighbours tried to pull out people who were trapped inside the carriages with the help of pickaxes and sledgehammers and they eventually got them out with a hand saw. It was unreal."

Emergency services workers in red jackets tended to injured passengers lying on a patch of grass as ambulance sirens wailed in the background.

"There are bodies laying on the railway track. It's a Dante-esque scene," Alberto Nunez Feijoo, president of the regional government, told news radio Cadena Ser.

Pope Francis called for prayers for the victims.

The town hall of Santiago de Compostela called off concerts and firework displays that had been planned as part of the festivities in honour of its patron saint.

19.54 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gunmen kill 14 truck drivers in Iraq

DOZENS of Sunni militants set up a roadblock on a highway north of Baghdad, stopped trucks, checked IDs and then summarily executed 14 Shi'ite drivers, officials say.

The attack early on Thursday was reminiscent of the darkest days of the Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian bloodshed in Iraq in 2006-07, when thousands of people were killed due to their religious affiliation or forced to abandon their homes under threat of death.

Lingering tensions between Sunnis and Shi'ites have been inflamed by persistent violence in Iraq and the civil war in neighbouring Syria, and there are growing fears that Iraq is slipping back toward all-out sectarian conflict.

Two local officials said some 150 militants carried out a coordinated operation during the night that included the highway killings, in the area of Sulaiman Bek, a town north of Baghdad.

The militants began by attacking the town itself with mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons late on Wednesday.

That attack drew security forces away from the highway connecting Baghdad with north Iraq, after which a group of around 40 militants broke off and set up the checkpoint.

They only maintained it for about half an hour but were able to stop dozens of truck drivers, killing 14 execution-style who were Shi'ites.

"These criminals belong to what is called the Islamic State of Iraq, and they targeted Shi'ite drivers and left the Sunnis," local official Shalal Abdul Baban told AFP, referring to an Al-Qaeda front group.

"It was killing by ID," he said.

Iraqi identification cards list a person's name and place of birth, from which their religious affiliation can be surmised.

The entire operation including the attack on the town, in which at least one person was wounded, lasted for about three hours, after which the militants withdrew.

19.54 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rowling unhappy alter ego was revealed

Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling says she was unhappy her identity as Robert Galbraith was exposed. Source: AAP

AUTHOR J.K. Rowling has revealed she had offers from two television firms to bring the crime novel she wrote under a pseudonym to the screen even before she was "outed".

The Harry Potter creator was exposed last week after publishing a detective tale, The Cuckoo's Calling, under the name of Robert Galbraith earlier this year.

Her unmasking left her angered, particularly when it emerged that her cover was blown by a senior figure at a legal firm which has represented her in the past.

Rowling has now pointed out the book was already gathering interest for adaptations and had sold a respectable number of copies. But she said it was becoming "increasingly complicated" to keep the charade going.

She said: "At the point I was 'outed', Robert had sold 8500 English language copies across all formats (hardback, eBook, library and audiobook) and received two offers from television production companies.

"The situation was becoming increasingly complicated, largely because Robert was doing rather better than we had expected him to but we all still hoped to keep the secret a little longer.

"Yet Robert's success during his first three months as a published writer (discounting sales made after I was found out) actually compares favourably with JK Rowling's success over the equivalent period of her career."

Rowling reiterated that her exposure was not part of a clever marketing campaign to boost sales and she had gone to great lengths to continue under the guise.

Writing on a website set up for Galbraith, she said: "If anyone had seen the labyrinthine plans I laid to conceal my identity - or indeed my expression when I realised that the game was up - they would realise how little I wanted to be discovered.

"I hoped to keep the secret as long as possible. I'm grateful for all the feedback from publishers and readers and for some great reviews. Being Robert Galbraith has been all about the work, which is my favourite part of being a writer."

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

European stocks rise on EU growth hopes

EUROPEAN stock markets have climbed thanks to upbeat eurozone data and company earnings, though gains were capped by more disappointing Chinese economic data, analysts say.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares on Wednesday rose 0.56 per cent to stand at 6,634.60 points approaching midday in the British capital.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.59 per cent to 8,363.60 points and in the Paris the CAC 40 won 0.75 per cent to 3,952.48 compared with Tuesday's closing values.

In foreign exchange, the European single currency rose to $US1.3240 from $US1.3224 in New York late on Tuesday. The US dollar increased to Y100.06 from Y99.43.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold climbed to $US1,340.89 an ounce from $US1,333.50 on Tuesday.

"The biggest news today is that Europe is finally showing signs of growth," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com trading group.

"Perhaps the most interesting development in the eurozone is the pick-up in France. While it's good news that there are signs of stabilisation in Spain and even Italy of late, France has been the weakest link for some time."

Private business across the eurozone returned to growth in July for the first time in 18 months, a key survey indicated on Wednesday, possibly signalling an end to recession, analysts said.

The Markit Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers Index logged 50.4 points, above the 50-mark signalling growth, and a bigger-than-expected rise according to analysts after posting 48.7 points in June.

In company activity, shares in EasyJet soared 7.61 per cent to 437.72 pence after the British no-frills airline said revenues jumped in the group's third quarter on rising passenger numbers and fares.

Revenue climbed 10.5 per cent to STG1.142 billion ($A1.90 billion) in the three months to the end of June compared with a year earlier, the airline said in a statement.

Passenger numbers grew 2.6 per cent to 16.4 million and seat capacity by 3.6 per cent.

EasyJet added that it expected profit before tax for the 12 months to the end of September of between STG450 million and STG480 million, up from STG317 million in 2011/12.

Asian stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday as data showing that Chinese manufacturing activity shrank further in July added to mounting concerns about the world's second biggest economy.

Tokyo slipped 0.32 per cent, Shanghai was down 0.52 per cent and Hong Kong added 0.24 per cent.

HSBC's preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of Chinese manufacturing activity fell to 47.7 in July - an 11-month low - from a final reading of 48.2 in June.

A figure above 50 points to growth while anything below shows a contraction.

"Weaker Chinese numbers ... were quickly pushed out of the way by eurozone PMIs that give the smallest hint that, just maybe, things aren't quite as bad," said IG sales trader Yusuf Heusen.

"Particularly heartening was a welcome return to form by the German economy, which saw its august manufacturing sector move back into expansion territory."

On Wall Street, the Dow gained 0.14 per cent on Tuesday, setting yet another record high points level, but the S&P 500 gave up 0.19 per cent and the Nasdaq slid 0.59 per cent.

US shares were hit by a mixed bag of corporate earnings, although a surprisingly downbeat US manufacturing report reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve would hold off winding down its stimulus anytime soon, traders said.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Russia gives Snowden pass to leave airport

RUSSIA'S migration service has provided fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden with a document that allows him to leave the Moscow airport transit zone where he has been holed up for the past month, the RIA Novosti news agency says.

The document confirms that his application for asylum is being considered, but allows Snowden to cross the Russian border so long as border guards do not object, it said on Wednesday.

The Interfax news agency said Snowden could leave the airport in the "next hours".

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Egypt army chief calls for rallies

Clashes in Egypt have left 10 people dead as pressure grows to release Mohamed Morsi from detention. Source: AAP

EGYPT'S army chief has called for mass rallies to back a crackdown on "terrorism and violence", in comments quickly slammed as a "threat" by a senior Islamist who vowed to continue protests.

With tensions already running high following the army's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi on July 3, the call by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday for protests raises the prospect of further violent showdowns between the pro- and anti-Morsi camps.

"Next Friday, all honourable Egyptians must take to the street to give me a mandate and command to end terrorism and violence," said Sisi, wearing dark sunglasses as he took to the podium to address a graduation ceremony of military cadets near Alexandria.

The general said that before he announced Morsi's ouster, he had warned the Islamist president he must either resign or hold a referendum.

Huge crowds of Egyptians protested against Morsi on June 30, after just a single turbulent year of his presidency.

Presidential aides "told me if there is any problem there will be lots of violence because of armed groups, to scare me," Sisi said.

Senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam al-Erian in a statement on his Facebook page said Morsi loyalists would not be intimidated by the army chief's call for mass rallies.

"Your threat will not prevent millions from continuously protesting," Erian said, referring to demonstrations by Morsi's supporters which have continued non-stop since the Islamist leader was pushed aside by Sisi.

Nearly 170 people have died in political unrest in Egypt since the end of June, according to an AFP tally, many of them in clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents.

Sisi's address came just hours after blast in front of a police station in Mansura in the Nile Delta, which Mohamed Sultan, head of the emergency services, told AFP left "28 wounded and one dead".

The interior ministry said in a statement that a conscript was killed in the blast.

The Islamist Anti-Coup Alliance, which has been pressing demonstrations calling for Morsi's return, said on Wednesday that it "strenuously condemns the criminal bombing that hit Mansura city".

It added that it "adheres to peacefulness of protests and denounces all acts of violence that contradict this principle".

Clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi, have killed at least 13 people across Egypt since Monday.

Faced with the deadly clashes, interim president Adly Mansour appealed in a speech delivered for a "new page in the book of the history of the nation, without rancour, hatred and confrontation".

Presidential spokesman Ahmed Al-Muslimani also decried the violence.

"Egypt is not a second Syria and anyone who pushes in that direction is a traitor," he said.

But Morsi's detention, and subsequent arrests of senior Brotherhood leaders, have hardened his supporters against dealing with the new regime.

His daughter Shaimaa Mohamed Morsi told reporters on Monday that the family would sue army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and also take legal action outside Egypt.

Senior aides held with the president have asked their families for prison clothes, signalling possible charges, relatives said.

Khaled El-Qazzaz, the former president's secretary for foreign relations, and top adviser Essam El-Haddad made the request in telephone conversations last Friday, asking for white clothes, their relatives told AFP.

Prisoners awaiting trials or verdicts in Egypt wear white clothes, which may be provided by family members.

In addition to clashes between rival protests on streets across the country, Egypt's caretaker government is facing a low-level insurgency in the Sinai.

Militants in the restive peninsula have launched almost daily attacks on police and army checkpoints since July 3, killing 20 security services personnel and 10 civilians.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Four suspected NSW armed robbers charged

Police have charged four men suspected over a string of armed robberies in Sydney's south. Source: AAP

FOUR young men suspected of a series of armed robberies in Sydney's south have been charged.

Drugs, a firearm part and ammunition were also seized during searches of the men and a car, police say.

Officers from tactical operations and the dog squad arrested three of the men, 32, 23 and 20, on a main road at Merrylands on Tuesday afternoon.

The fourth man, 19, was arrested inside a club on the same road shortly after.

The men were charged with a raft of offences, including robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon, aggravated break and enter and supplying and possessing drugs.

Three men appeared at Fairfield Local Court on Tuesday and the 19-year-old is due before the same court in August.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic close to call on schools plan: Shorten

The Catholic education sector has backed the government's national schools improvement plan. Source: AAP

THE federal government expects to know within days whether Victoria will sign up to Labor's schools funding plan.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Education Minister Bill Shorten on Tuesday met with Victorian Premier Denis Napthine in a bid to convince him to get on board the Better Schools Plan.

Mr Shorten said the talks were "constructive" and "positive" but there were more intensive discussions to come in following days.

He was focused on achieving a "mutual win-win" for children in Victoria's state schools, not on setting a deadline for Victoria.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we'll know in the next few days," he told reporters in Melbourne after the meeting.

Victoria stands to gain $4 billion in additional funding for its school system under the arrangement.

Mr Napthine described the talks as "fruitful", but said keeping school administration in local hands was also an important priority for the state's future.

"We want assurances from the federal government with regard to the management of our schools," he said.

"It's absolutely vital for us that our schools are managed by local school councils, local school principals and local school committees, rather than faceless bureaucrats in Canberra."

Earlier, the Catholic schools sector announced it was backing the government's national plan for schools improvement.

They join the independent schools sector in supporting Labor's funding offer, along with the state governments of NSW, ACT, South Australia and Tasmania.

Catholic schools stand to gain about $1.6 billion of the $15-plus billion in extra funding pledged by the government for the national schools system over six years.

Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory remain unconvinced, and although negotiations continue it's highly unlikely Western Australia will reverse its staunch opposition.

Getting Victoria across the line would be a major coup for the Rudd government as it prepares for an election as soon as August 31.

The coalition has vowed to scrap the government's schools plan unless an "overwhelming majority" of states sign on, and with Victoria on side Labor could argue it has the numbers.

Mr Rudd said if NSW could see the benefits of signing on, he was sure Victoria could too.

"I'm not sure that any mum and dad, or person in charge of a local parent community in a school in the state system in Victoria, would want to say goodbye to that," he said.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA prison farm escapee captured nearby

A dangerous escapee from Karnet Prison Farm south of Perth has been recaptured by police. Source: AAP

A DANGEROUS escapee from Karnet Prison Farm south of Perth has been recaptured by police.

Bradley Edmund Wilcott, a 54-year-old sex offender, left the grounds of the minimum security facility around noon (WST) on Monday.

Police warned he was unpredictable and should not be approached.

On Tuesday evening, police said he had been found and captured without incident in the general vicinity of the prison around 4pm.

He has been charged with escaping legal custody and will appear in Armadale Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

430 Qld govt IT jobs earmarked to go

ABOUT 430 Queensland government IT jobs could go next financial year and the minister won't guarantee work will stay onshore.

The state government is divesting its technology services provider, Centre for Information Technology and Communications (CITEC), within two years as part of a cost cutting drive.

The government's Information Communications Technology deputy director-general, Andrew Spina, told a budget estimates hearing on Tuesday job losses were expected to be finalised after a review was handed down in two months time.

"If you look at the service delivery statement, we've identified a reduction of staff for next financial year, which represents a movement of corporate resources and a movement of resources from the chief technology office to a number of 430," he said.

"Depending on what the outcomes of that review are, we would obviously be considering what other options there would be and what would need to occur with staff overall."

Information Technology Minister Ian Walker said he expects the government's IT needs to increase over the coming years but more of this work will be done by the private sector.

"This is good news for people in the IT game, the government isn't going to shut up and stop using IT," he said.

However when pressed by the opposition, Mr Walker couldn't promise jobs wouldn't be outsourced overseas.

"The key things for me will be value for money for Queenslanders and support of our local industry," he said.

Former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello's audit of the state's finances recommends the government divest itself of CITEC.

His report said CITEC was due to record an operating deficit of around $26.4 million in 2011-12, with further deficits expected in the following years.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Eurozone debt burden hits all-time high

OFFICIAL figures show that the debt burden of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro have hit all-time highs in the first quarter despite austerity measures designed to return public finances to health.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said on Monday that government debt as a proportion of the total annual gross domestic product of the eurozone pushed up to a record 92.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 from 90.6 per cent the previous quarter.

Though a number of countries are pushing through spending cuts and tax rises, many remain mired in recession - shrinking economies can make the debt dynamics look less favourable.

The highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the eurozone was Greece's 160.5 per cent, followed by Italy's 130.3 per cent.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hong Kong shares end 0.25% higher

HONG Kong shares ended 0.25 per cent higher on Monday, in line with an upturn on Shanghai's main index.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index climbed 54.08 points to 21,416.50 on turnover of HK$38.49 billion ($A5.44 billion).

The rise was welcome news for the market but trade volume nonetheless slumped to its lowest point since September.

Ben Kwong, chief operating officer at KGI Asia, told the Dow Jones Newswires that investors needed "some story to buy or sell".

"Right now, there is no story... the market as a whole is a non-event," he said.

Banking shares were particularly mixed after China's central bank on Saturday removed a lower limit on lending rates, leaving them free to set their own rates in a move analysts said could lead to narrower interest margins.

Smaller banks were hit the hardest on fears the move would spark a price war in the industry, with China Citic Bank falling three per cent to HK$3.51.

Jewellery retailer Luk Fook rose 2.3 per cent to HK$9.70, following a two per cent jump in gold prices.

China Resources Power, meanwhile, climbed 5.22 per cent following an announcement that the energy giant had scrapped a plan to combine with a sister company after shareholders rejected the proposal.

Chinese shares closed up 0.61 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 12.11 points to 2,004.76 on turnover of 69.6 billion yuan ($A12.37 billion).

"The fluctuation in share prices was caused by funds seeking short-term investment opportunities in smaller firms," Haitong Securities analyst Zhang Qi told AFP.

Media shares and environmental stocks led the gains. Liaoning Publishing & Media surged 6.51 per cent to 7.04 yuan while Shanghai Xinhua Media gained 4.98 per cent to 5.69 yuan.

Tianjin Capital Environmental Protection Group jumped 6.00 per cent to 7.77 yuan.

Bank of Nanjing rose 0.76 per cent to 7.95 yuan, while Bank of Communications fell 1.30 per cent to 3.79 yuan.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

UBS settles US mortgage lawsuit

SWISS banking giant UBS says it has settled a lawsuit linked to US subprime housing mortgages which sparked the 2008 global financial crisis.

The bank did not specify how much the settlement amounted to, but said it has set aside 865 million Swiss francs ($A1.01 billion),in the second quarter to meet litigation costs including the case.

"The full cost of the settlement is covered by litigation provisions established by UBS during the second quarter of 2013 and in prior periods," Switzerland's biggest bank said.

UBS and 17 other financial institutions were sued by the US Federal Housing Finance Agency in September 2011 for violating federal securities laws when selling residential mortgage-backed securities to government-backed lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The agency accused the 18 firms of misleading Fannie and Freddie about the credit-worthiness of the assets.

"UBS has reached an agreement in principle with the Federal Housing Finance Agency," UBS said.

The bank added that the deal, which still requires a final go-ahead from the different parties, would settle claims connected to the securities between 2004 and 2007.

Despite setting aside massive provisions, the bank, which is due to announce its second quarter results on July 30, said it would post a net profit of around 690 million francs for the three months ending June.

That is a jump of 62.5 per cent from a year ago and a stark improvement over the first quarter, when net profit slid 4.5 per cent. In the fourth quarter of 2012, UBS posted a loss of 1.9-billion francs.

The bank said its operating profit before tax would reach about 1.02 billion francs, an increase of 7.3 per cent over the second quarter in 2012.

Analysts hailed the better-than-expected results and the settlement of the mortgage securities suit, with Panagiotis Spiliopoulos of Vontobel predicting "juicy dividend payouts in the years to come".

Following the announcements, the bank's stocks jumped 3.4 per cent to 18.21 francs in midday trading, outperforming the Swiss stock exchange's main index, which gained just 0.12 per cent.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Plain packs reduces allure of cigs: study

SCIENTISTS say they have evidence that plain packaging for cigarettes diminishes the appeal of smoking, as anti-tobacco campaigners suggest.

European countries are considering whether to follow Australia, which last year became the first country in the world to sell cigarettes in plain packets.

Cigarettes are now sold in identical olive-brown packets bearing the same typeface, in addition to health warnings.

Researchers questioned 536 smokers in Victoria during the transition phase, when both branded and plain-pack products were on sale.

Nearly three-quarters of those interviewed were smoking from plain packets, and the others from branded packets.

Plain-pack smokers were 66 per cent likelier to think their cigarettes were of poorer quality compared with a year earlier, and were 70 per cent likelier to say they found them less satisfying.

They were also 81 per cent likelier to have thought about quitting at least once a day during the previous week and to rate quitting as a higher priority in their lives compared to smokers using brand packs.

The study, published on BMJ Open by the British Medical Journal, did not follow up these smokers, to see what they thought or did after the transition period.

But, it says, the "early indication" is that drab packaging takes the gloss off cigarette brands.

"Plain packaging is associated with lower smoking appeal, more support for the policy and more urgency to quit among adult smokers," it says.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Asylum boat detected with 60 on board

A suspected asylum seeker vessel was detected in waters near Christmas Island. Source: AAP

THE navy is escorting an asylum seeker boat with about 60 passengers on board to Christmas Island.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) received a call from the vessel on Sunday morning, and asked the navy to assist.

A navy ship arrived in the early afternoon, and after boarding the asylum vessel began escorting it toward Christmas Island, an AMSA spokesman told AAP.

Under the Rudd government's tough new asylum seeker deal, any asylum seekers arriving by boat without a visa after last Friday will be sent to Papua New Guinea for processing.

If they're found to be genuine refugees, they may be resettled in PNG but not in Australia.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Philippe ascends throne of divided Belgium

Belgium's King Albert II has officially abdicated in a solemn ceremony at the royal palace. Source: AAP

PHILIPPE has ascended the throne of Belgium as its seventh king amid National Day celebrations marked by hopes the fragile nation can remain united.

"I swear to abide by the constitution and the laws of the Belgian people," Philippe, 53, and dressed in full military uniform, said on Sunday in the country's three languages - French, Flemish and German.

"I am aware of the responsibilities weighing on my shoulders," he added, after the abdication of his father Albert II after 20 years at the helm of the linguistically-split country at the heart of Europe.

Albert, 79, abdicated in favour of his eldest son at a solemn ceremony in the royal palace's chandelier-laden throne room after saying he felt too old and too fragile to continue to reign.

In his last speech, Albert reiterated a call to the country's leaders "to work tirelessly in favour of Belgium's cohesion".

His voice breaking with emotion, Albert turned to his wife of 54 years, Queen Paola, to say: "As for the queen who constantly supported me in my task I would simply like to tell her 'thank you'.

"A big kiss", he added as she shed a tear and the audience of political leaders and other dignitaries broke into a long round of applause.

Under sunny skies and a light summer breeze, flags fluttered across Brussels as the day of pageantry began with a thanksgiving mass in the cathedral and crowds lined outside shouted "Long Live the King".

The medieval cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula was packed with Belgian government and other dignitaries, but there were no foreign guests in attendance.

But worries persist that the shy and often awkward prince Philippe may lack the political skills of his father to maintain unity in a nation deeply divided between its Flemish and French-speaking halves.

Mathilde, an outgoing 40-year-old who will be Belgium's first home-grown queen, is seen as his best asset in the couple's campaign to win the hearts of their 11.5 million people.

"Philippe, you have the heart and the intelligence to serve our country very well," Albert said in his abdication speech. "You and your dear wife Mathilde have all our confidence."

The monarchy more often than not is viewed as a rare symbol of Belgium's unity - along with its iconic fries and the national football team.

In the last decades, severe tensions across the linguistic divide have seen it morph progressively into a federal state that devolves increasing powers to its language-based regions.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Japan PM Abe's coalition wins upper house

THE coalition of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a resounding victory in upper house elections, broadcasters' exit polls showed.

The Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner New Komeito claimed at least 71 of the 121 seats that were being contested, NHK projected, handing them control over both chambers of parliament.

Citing its own polling and interviews with voters, the state broadcaster said the governing coalition could have won as many as 80 of the seats that were up for grabs.

There are 242 seats in the upper house, half of which are elected every three years on six-year terms.

Other television stations predicted a similar margin of victory.

The projected win means Abe will face few legislative obstacles in his drive to push through painful economic reforms, including liberalising trade and raising consumption tax to begin slowing the growth of Japan's runaway national debt.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abu Qatada denied bail in Jordan

A MILITARY court has rejected a bail application by Islamist cleric Abu Qatada, who faces terror charges in Jordan following his deportation from Britain, his lawyer says.

"The state security court today refused to release Abu Qatada on bail," Taysir Diab said on Sunday.

"The court gave no reason for its decision. I will meet with Abu Qatada on Wednesday to look into the issue and decide future steps."

Abu Qatada, 53, was charged on July 7 with "conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts", just hours after his deportation from Britain. He pleaded not guilty.

The next day, Diab asked the military tribunal to release on bail the Palestinian-born preacher.

He is currently in the Muwaqqar prison, a maximum security facility that houses more than 1000 inmates, most of them Islamists convicted of terror offences.

Abu Qatada was condemned to death in absentia in 1999 for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks, including on the American school in Amman.

But the sentence was immediately commuted to life imprisonment with hard labour.

In 2000, he was sentenced in his absence to 15 years for plotting to attack tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations.

Britain's expulsion of Abu Qatada came after Amman and London last month ratified a treaty guaranteeing that evidence obtained by torture would not be used in his retrial.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More