NIGERIAN security forces have stormed the hideout of kidnappers of a Turkish national in oil-rich Rivers State and killed 14 of them in a shootout.
"The hoodlums were shot dead during a gun battle with the security agents in their camp in Kaani community in Ogoni land," state police spokesman Ben Ugwuegbulam told AFP of the incident.
SONIA Gandhi, chief of India's ruling Congress party, and Premier Manmohan Singh were set to speak at a massive rally to whip up support for the scandal-tainted government ahead of 2014 elections.
Italian-born Ms Gandhi, India's political grand matriarch who led Congress to back-to-back wins in 2004 and 2009, is moving into high gear as she seeks to persuade voters to elect the party for a third straight term, analysts say.
At the rally in the Indian capital, leaders will defend the government's blitz of controversial reforms to allow wider foreign investment in the retail, insurance and aviation sectors aimed at spurring a sharply slowing economy.
"We want to tell people that these are people-friendly measures - these are for the betterment of the common man," a senior Congress party official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
The left-leaning government is deeply wary of a voter backlash in the elections due within 18 months over the reforms that have drawn strong political opposition in the still heavily poor country of 1.2 billion people.
Also due to speak along with Gandhi and Singh at the rally in the capital New Delhi will be Sonia's 42-year-old son Rahul Gandhi, expected to be the party's candidate for prime minister in the polls, the party official said.
"All three of them are scheduled to give speeches," he said.
The rally is being staged a week after 80-year-old Singh overhauled his cabinet to give it a more youthful face with the inclusion of younger ministers to appeal to the country's vast youth population.
Congress is struggling to restore its credibility as a force fit to govern in the face of a drumroll of corruption charges that have put it on the defensive almost since the last elections in 2009.
The Congress party official said the party was hoping Sunday's rally would be attended by over 100,000 people.
PRESIDENT Barack Obama is heading toward election day with an apparent lead over Republican Mitt Romney among early voters in key states.
But Mr Obama's advantage isn't as big as the one he had over John McCain four years ago, and that gives Mr Romney's campaign hope that the former Massachusetts governor can erase the gap in Tuesday's election.
About 25 million people already have voted in 34 states and the District of Columbia. No votes will be counted until election day but several battleground states are releasing the party affiliation of people who have voted early.
So far, Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio. Republicans have the edge in Colorado.
A TALIBAN suicide bomber blew himself up and five others near a vehicle carrying the head of a government-allied militia in northwest Pakistan.
Senior police officer Akhtar Hayyat said several people were also wounded in the blast near a gas station in the district of Buner in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He said Fateh Khan, the head of the local anti-Taliban militia, was killed along with three guards and two passers-by.
Mr Khan was also a prominent leader of the secular Awami National Party, which rules the coalition government in the province, and which has angered the Taliban by supporting several military offensives in tribal districts and in the towns.
Shortly after the attack, Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility by telephone for the killing of Khan.
Buner is believed to be a hiding place for the Pakistani Taliban. It is located near the Swat Valley, where the insurgent group shot and wounded 15-year-old education activist Malala Yousufzai last month for criticizing its behavior when it seized the isolated region in 2008.
An offensive by the military broke the Taliban's control over the area in 2009, but attacks have continued.
REPUBLICAN Mitt Romney has millionaire backers, a huge staff and years of campaign experience but President Barack Obama has Bill Clinton.
The former president is sprinting through battleground states, delivering more speeches than Mr Obama himself and, arguably, carrying much of the president's re-election hopes on his 66-year-old shoulders.
There's nothing secret about this campaign weapon. If it's a competitive state, Mr Clinton is there - and there and there - picking apart Romney's proposals in the folksy yet detailed style he unleashed at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Many party activists left there wondering why Mr Obama can't make his own case as compellingly.
Friday was typical for Mr Clinton. He made five stops in Florida, stretching from Palm Beach in the southeast to Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast to Tallahassee in the panhandle.
Mr Romney had hoped to lock down the mega-swing state long ago. But he will return Monday because of its uncertainty.
Mr Clinton, his raspy voice hoarser than usual, mixed nostalgia with lawyerly dissections when criticising Mr Romney's tax-cut plans in Palm Bay, the day's second stop, south of Cape Canaveral.
"I don't understand how people like me could sleep at night taking another tax cut, and taking it away from you," he said to cheers from several hundred people, who clearly did not resent his post-presidential wealth.
After shucking his suit jacket and loosening his orange tie under a brilliant midday sun, Clinton rattled off statistics about recent slowdowns in the growth of health care costs, and benefits of Obama's health law. "That is what Mr Romney wants to repeal," he said.
"Bring it home, Bill" a woman shouted.
At every stop, Mr Clinton praises Mr Obama effusively, but he also reminds voters of his own days in office.
"I am the only living former president that ever gave you a budget surplus," he said in Palm Bay. Obama's policies, he adds, are much more in line with his than are Mr Romney's.
Mr Obama amplifies Mr Clinton's boasts, knowing they give credence to the endorsements. In one Ohio stop Friday, Mr Obama named Mr Clinton four times.
"For eight years we had a president who shared our beliefs, and his name was Bill Clinton," Mr Obama said. "His economic plan asked the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more so we could reduce our deficit and invest in the skills and ideas of our people." Mr Romney opposed that plan, Mr Obama said, and his math "was just as bad back then as it was today."
The white-haired Mr Clinton looks drawn and tired at times, and he makes a few flubs. He apologised this week for saluting Pennsylvania when he happened to be in Ohio.
Mr Clinton still runs late, even at morning events. Former Vice President Walter Mondale had to spin political yarns to kill time this week as voters waited in Minneapolis.
But the man who once headlined nine events in one day for his wife in the 2008 North Carolina primary - when Hillary Rodham Clinton was battling Mr Obama - still feeds off crowds' energy and affection.
In Green Bay, Wisconsin, Mr Clinton gave a 57-minute dissertation on why the economy is better than many think. The only reason the Obama-Romney race is close, he said, "is because Americans are impatient on things not made before yesterday, and they don't understand why the economy is not totally hunky-dory again."
Mr Clinton campaigned for Mr Obama on Thursday in Wisconsin and Ohio. Earlier in the week he was in Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota and New Hampshire.
He will join Mr Obama on Saturday for a rally in Virginia and on Sunday morning for an event in New Hampshire. Clinton also will campaign Sunday in North Carolina and Minnesota. And on Monday, the Obama camp hopes Mr Clinton will snuff out any possible Romney eruption in Pennsylvania, scheduling stops for him in Pittsburgh and Scranton, plus two in Philadelphia.
No state underscores Mr Clinton's value more than Florida, where the Republican Bush family looms large. While Mr Obama makes every possible use of his party's most recent president, Romney can hardly mention George W. Bush, who left office amid an economic collapse and an unpopular war in Iraq.
Mr Romney campaigned Thursday in Tampa, however, with Bush's brother Jeb, a former Florida governor who remains widely popular.
Much has been made of Mr Clinton's once-frosty relationship with Mr Obama. Mr Clinton, among other things, in 2008 called Mr Obama's history of opposing the Iraq war a "fairy tale."
The two men may never be chums. But Mr Clinton's endorsements now seem full-throated. It delights Democratic loyalists.
"The Republicans have nothing to match the personal appeal and persuasive power of President Clinton," said Doug Hattaway, a consultant with close ties to the Clintons. "He can energize Democrats and close the deal with moderate swing voters."
Bruce Marvin, who attended Clinton's event in Chillicothe, Ohio, said the ex-president explains Mr Obama's plans even more understandably than does the nominee.
"I think it's backing up what Obama may not have been able to get across," Mr Marvin said.
A CENTRAL England airport has started playing Tina Turner songs at high volume after discovering the distinctive sound of the powerful diva effectively deters birds from the runway.
The songs, including Simply The Best and What's Love Got To Do With It, blare from a loudspeaker mounted on a van which is driven up and down the airstrip at Gloucestershire Airport.
"Normally we use the speakers to play bird-distress calls. But when they stopped working properly we found we could use Tina Turner just as effectively," head of airport operations Darren Lewington told British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
Without deterrents, it is feared aircraft could be hit by crows or gulls.
EDS: Not for use before 0001 AEDT on Saturday, November 3
CANBERRA, Nov 3 AAP - Australia's Climate Commission says superstorm Sandy was made worse by climate change.
The death toll in the United States has passed 80, bringing to more than 140 the number killed by Sandy since it swept across the Caribbean, including Haiti and Cuba.
"The evidence suggests that climate change exacerbated the severity of Hurricane Sandy," the chairman of the Climate Commission's science advisory panel, Professor Matthew England, said in a new report.
"The shifts in climate towards higher temperatures and more moisture in the air are becoming the new normal, which is influencing the nature and intensity of weather patterns around the world."
Prof England said storm surges had a particularly devastating impact on areas of the US coast and a warmer world, with higher sea levels, would make such surges worse.
Before reaching land, Sandy was feeding off exceptionally warm surface waters in the Atlantic Ocean.
The temperature of the surface waters from which Sandy was drawing energy was three to five degrees warmer than average, the commission reported.
Also, the base sea level had risen by about 20cm over the past century.
"A rise of 20cm may seem modest, but even small rises like this lead to a large increase in the probability of damaging floods," the commission reported.
"The primary reason for rising sea levels around the world is climate change, which warms and thus expands the oceans and adds more water to the ocean by melting glaciers and ice caps."
The commission brings together internationally renowned climate scientists with policy and business leaders.
US energy giant ExxonMobil has reported a smaller-than-expected dip in profit for the third quarter on falling production and sales.
Net income for the July-September quarter dropped 7.0 per cent from a year earlier to $US9.6 billion ($A9.3 billion), Exxon Mobil Corporation said.
Earnings of $US2.09 per share were down 2.0 per cent from the 2011 third quarter, solidly topping Wall Street forecasts of $US1.96.
Revenue fell 7.7 per cent to $US115.7 billion as oil equivalent production declined 7.5 per cent in the quarter, the Irving, Texas-based company said.
ExxonMobil increased capital and exploration spending by 7.0 per cent to $US9.2 billion, the bulk of it outside the United States.
The quarter included a $US5.1 billion share buyback.
"Third-quarter results reflect our ongoing commitment to help deliver the energy needed to underpin economic recovery and growth while maintaining our strong focus on safety and environmental performance," said chairman Rex Tillerson.
THE federal government is to provide a funding boost to catapult more women to board positions on superannuation funds.
Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten is to announce on Friday that $150,000 will be directed towards the Super Springboard Program to improve the gender ratio.
Mr Shorten said the scholarship program would accelerate the acquisition of superannuation specific knowledge and board related skills and provide mentoring support.
"I am an absolute believer in the march of women through Australia's workforce, our institutions and our boardrooms. Our country can only get better the more women participate at its highest levels, be it in politics, business, sports, our universities, our military," Mr Shorten is to say on Friday.
The program will be run by the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) in conjunction with Women in Super.
Women are now 21.8 per cent of members of superannuation trustee boards, according to the 2012 Women on Boards Boardroom Diversity Index.
This is in contrast to 13.9 per cent of director positions on Australia's ASX 200 companies.
The AIST has set a target to have 40 per cent of board positions held by women by 2017.
"A number of funds have already joined this '40 per cent club', including AGEST Super, HESTA, Australian Catholic Super and Retirement Fund, the NT Government Public Authorities' Superannuation, Super SA, Tasplan, Telstra Super, Health Industry Plan and IAG and NRMA Superannuation Plan," Mr Shorten said.
"I encourage more funds to make a pledge to join the 40 per cent club."
POLITICIANS take note: Australian voters think improved hospitals and health care should be the federal government's number one priority.
They also think the government should pay for it.
Health care was clearly placed by Australians ahead of other key policy areas, including keeping the national economy strong, employment and infrastructure, new consumer research released on Friday by Research Australia says.
Ninety-one per cent of 1000 people surveyed said improving hospitals and the health care system was the number one priority of federal government action.
They also ranked more funding for health and medical research, and for preventative health care, in the top ten priorities at 9th and 10th respectively.
These ranked ahead of crime and apprenticeships, border control, immigration policies and the war on terrorism.
Fifty-seven per cent of the people surveyed placed the primary responsibility for funding health and medical research on the federal government.
Elizabeth Foley, chief executive of Research Australia, says it is important the federal government fosters health and medical research, as well as hospitals and health care.
"By fostering research ... governments can help deliver on both," she said.
Research Australia's analysis of the study concluded that Australians have a good overall awareness of the role of the federal government and donations in funding health and medical research.
But they were less clear on the role of state and territory governments and private investment.
While 52 per cent think that at least some funding comes from donations and grants from individuals, community groups and trusts, only three per cent believe that individuals and groups have the primary responsibility for funding.
MICROSOFT chief executive Steve Ballmer on Tuesday said the Windows 8 operating system was off to a "stunning" start with four million upgrades downloaded since its release on October 26.
"In just the last three days, we have sold four million Windows 8 upgrades," Ballmer said while kicking off a BUILD Conference for developers at the software giant's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
"The level of embrace from enthusiasts is very, very high."
Ballmer added that tens of millions of businesses have also switched to the latest version of Windows.
Analysts have depicted Windows 8 as a bold bet for Microsoft since it dramatically changed the long-familiar user interface to adapt to touch-screen mobile devices increasingly popular in modern lifestyles.
"The level of enthusiasm seen for the new products has really been stunning," Ballmer told the thousands of developers at the sold-out event.
Globally popular one-to-many text messaging service Twitter and online file sharing hit Dropbox are among applications being tailored to Windows 8, Ballmer told third-party software developers at the gathering.
Microsoft kicked off sales of its revamped Windows 8 system and Surface tablet Friday as it ramped up efforts to compete in a market shifting rapidly from PCs to mobile devices.
Microsoft on Monday set out to win over iPhone and Android gadget devotees with Windows 8 smartphones, new devices that emphasise individualism and unify digital lives in the Internet cloud.
The global rollout of Windows 8 phones, set to begin in Europe this weekend, is the final piece in a Microsoft operating system transformation aimed at harmonising the technology titan's software and hardware for mobile lifestyles.
The operating system has a user interfaced based on "tiles" that can be personalised with people's pictures, applications, games, music and more.
Microsoft corporate vice president Joe Belfiore said that Microsoft was out to "re-invent" a smartphone experience that has for years basically consisted of a locked screen that opens to rows of icons.
"We decided not use that tired old metaphor and came up with our own way that puts people at the center of the experience," Belfiore said with a slight jab at iPhone.
The BUILD conference was also intended to inspire developers to make fun, hip, or functional "apps" for devices powered by Windows 8 software.
Microsoft's online shop is stocked with more than 120,000 applications tailored for Windows 8 phones and the number is growing, according to Belfiore.
Analysts have long contended that desirable "apps" are crucial to the success of smartphones.
Analysts said Microsoft is trying to walk a fine line by keeping hundreds of millions of Windows users worldwide while accelerating efforts to compete in the mobile world dominated by Apple and Google.
Microsoft planned a massive advertising campaign for Windows 8.
AUSTRALIANS will be able to vaccinate their horses against the deadly Hendra virus for the first time and stop it from spreading to people.
A horse vaccine is now commercially available, in a major breakthrough in the fight against the bat-borne virus, which jumps from horses to humans.
Horses are believed to contract the virus from feed contaminated by flying foxes' urine, saliva or birthing fluids.
There's no known cure for Hendra, but the Equivac HeV vaccine breaks the cycle of transmission and will prevent human deaths, scientists say.
The project leader is the CSIRO's veterinary pathologist Deborah Middleton, who says the vaccine is the result of extensive research conducted over the past 18 years since the virus was first detected.
"For the first time, we have a specific control measure against a terrible virus which can make a healthy horse or healthy human mortality ill within 48 hours," Dr Middleton told AAP.
"Because so far all human infections have resulted from sick or dead horses, this will break that cycle of transmission."
Dr Middleton said that while Hendra was not easily transmitted, its mortality rate of 75 per cent in horses and 70 per cent in humans, ranking it with the ebola virus as the world's most severe biosecurity threats.
Four out of seven infected people have died from the virus, all in Queensland, since it was identified in 1994.
Batches of the vaccine are to be rolled out from Thursday.
Priority will be given to Queensland and northern NSW, considered high-risk areas because of previous Hendra outbreaks.
Horses will be given a shot followed by a booster within three weeks.
"Vaccinated horses that encounter live Hendra virus will have a very rapid immune memory response which will kill the virus before it has a chance to infect the animal," Dr Middleton said.
What scientists are not clear about is how long the vaccine lasts before a horse will need another booster shot.
Dr Middleton said further research was being conducted in that area.
Another unknown is if the vaccine will be effective on a horse that's unknowingly incubating the virus.
"You would have to be very unlucky for this to happen," she said.
"I do recommend all horses be vaccinated as soon as it becomes available."
Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) president Ben Gardiner is also urging horse owners across Australia to have their animals inoculated.
"This vaccine significantly decreases the risk of exposure to Hendra for horse owners, handlers and vets," Dr Gardiner told AAP.
"Horses travel over great distances for events and it would be wise for all horse owners to have their horses vaccinated."
Dr Gardiner said the virus was tricky to detect because symptoms were varied and could be mistaken for anything from mild colic to influenza.
The vaccine did not mean horse owners relax their guard and stop preventative measures, he said.
The AVA is still recommending that water and feed troughs be moved away from flying-fox roosts and that protective gear be worn, including overalls, goggles and masks, when handling sick horses.
Australia's largest animal health company, Pfizer Animal Health, will oversee the training and accreditation of vets working with the vaccine.
Vets will be required to record details of horses vaccinated for a national register to be managed and distributed by Pfizer.
Pfizer, CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong and US organisations, the Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences (USU), and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation were the major players in developing the vaccine.
The vaccine has been released a year earlier than originally expected after a boost from commonwealth and state funding.
The virus was discovered after an outbreak of a mystery illness in a large racing stable in the Brisbane suburb of Hendra in 1994.
It resulted in the death of horse trainer Vic Rail and deaths of dozens of horses.
THE Star Wars saga, set to be revived from 2015 under new owners Disney, is one of the most lucrative franchises in cinema history, with more than $US4.4 billion ($A4.26 billion) in global takings.
Only James Bond and Harry Potter can claim bigger box office success: JK Rowling's schoolboy wizard has conjured up nearly $US7.7 billion ($A7.46 billion), although that was over eight movies, as opposed to the sci-fi classic's six, so far.
Bursting from the imagination of George Lucas, the original Star Wars movie in 1977 marked the birth of a new era of blockbuster cinema, helped along by an equally young Steven Spielberg.
The two were part of the same new generation of filmmakers influenced more by televisual technique than traditional cinema, and went on to collaborate notably on another global hit series: the four Indiana Jones films.
After directing the first Star Wars movie, which helped launch the career of Harrison Ford, Lucas brought in other filmmakers for the two sequels which completed the first triology.
"The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) was helmed by fellow Californian director Irvin Kershner, while Briton Richard Marquand took charge for 1983's The Return of the Jedi.
It was only in the late 1990s that Lucas decided to add a new trilogy of "prequels," directing himself this time to tell the story leading up to the action of the original movie.
The Phantom Menace came out in 1999, followed by Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Revenge of the Sith in 2005. Actors Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen starred in all three.
Last February Lucas succumbed to the temptation of 3D, releasing The Phantom Menace in the new format, having its latest attempt at becoming mainstream in the digital age.
Under the $4 billion dollar deal announced Tuesday for Walt Disney Co to take over Lucasfilm, a new trilogy will be launched with Star Wars 7 in 2015, followed by two more to complete the trilogy.
After that Disney plans to produce a new Star Wars movie every two to three years, hoping to cash in on the franchise for years, and maybe decades, to come.
TOURISM Australia's biggest ever campaign aims to draw young people and backpackers from around the world to our shores.
Its multi-million dollar marketing push has a strong focus on the working holiday visa program.
Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said the visa program was an excellent platform to build a campaign aimed at enticing young people to Australia.
The move comes after a federal government decision to increase application charges for working visas by working holidaymakers.
Mr McEvoy told AAP he did not believe an $80 price hike would deter young people planning to travel for extended periods to Australia.
"The youth market contributes more than a quarter of all Australia's international arrivals and these visitors tend to stay longer and disperse widely," Mr McEvoy said ahead of the Australian Tourism Directions Conference in Canberra on Thursday.
"For many young people, the working holiday maker visa program provides the economic means to fund travel plans, and this will be the inspiration behind our future new campaign."
Nearly 1.6 million visitors aged between 15 and 29 visited Australia in the 12 months to June 2012.
New research into how global consumers view Australia and the triggers for motivating them to come here are to be revealed at the conference.
The research, commissioned by Tourism Australia and carried out by BDA Marketing Planning in 11 key international markets, identified Australia's best assets as its coastal, aquatic and wildlife experience.
Better marketing for Australia's quality food and wine offerings was needed, it said.
Mr McEvoy said the research helped identify Australia's real strengths and fine-tune its overseas promotion.
The findings suggest a lot is being done right when it comes to prioritising resources and marketing activities.
"It's encouraging, for example, that the highest levels of intention to visit are amongst Chinese and Indians, two of the markets we are most aggressively targeting," Mr McEvoy said.
Tourism Australia chairman Geoff Dixon said the industry was on track to achieve its 2020 goals, with a resurgence in domestic tourism and China's relentless economic.
"Tourism Australia has deliberately and significantly accelerated its strategies to pursue growth in Asia," Mr Dixon said.
While the Australian industry was fast transitioning, with international focus shifting from western to eastern markets, Tourism Australia was committed to keeping a balanced approach to global marketing.
"There is also a seismic shift from marketing through traditional mediums to digital and social media platforms," Mr Dixon said.
"It is my view that our industry's ability to capitalise on this shift will be vital to our future success."
A MOTORCYCLE bomb attack near a Shi'ite Muslim shrine southeast of Damascus has killed at least eight people and injured dozens, a watchdog says.
State television has confirmed the blast, but puts the toll at six dead and 13 injured.
"At least eight people were killed and dozens were injured when a bomb planted in a motorcycle exploded outside the Yasser hotel, near the Shi'ite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday.
"A police source in Damascus province said an armed terrorist group set off an explosive device hidden in a rubbish bag ... in the Sayyida Zeinab area," state news agency SANA said.
The Sayyida Zeinab area has seen frequent violence in recent months, including a suicide bomb attack on June 14 that injured 14, according to state media.
The neighbourhood is disputed between rebels and the army.
It is home to the mausoleum of Sayyida Zeinab, the granddaughter of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed and is considered holy by Shi'ite Muslims.
On August 5, rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad's regime posted a video online saying they had kidnapped 48 Iranians from the area, claiming they were elite Revolutionary Guards.
They said three of them died a day later in government shelling.
GERMAN drug and chemical maker Bayer AG says it is buying US vitamin and supplement maker Schiff Nutrition International Inc for $US1.2 billion euros ($A1.17 billion) in a cash deal it hopes will bolster the offerings of its consumer health division.
The announcement came as the Leverkusen-based company reported net income fell 17.8 per cent to 528 million euro in the third quarter due to one-off items - including 205 million euro related to costs associated with litigation over the birth control pills marketed as Yasmin or Yaz, which are claimed to cause blood clots. Bayer said it also took a special charge of 134 million euro in restructuring expenses.
Group sales were up 11.4 per cent to 9.665 billion euro, and board chairman Marijn Dekkers said the company had made good progress from a strategic perspective in the third quarter, strengthening its life sciences business through acquisitions and making progress on innovations.
"We remain on a successful path and we confirm our guidance for 2012," he said.
In acquiring Schiff, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has offices in Emeryville, California, Bayer said it would be paying 34 euro per share - well above the $23.2 Schiff closed at on Friday, it's most recent day of trading.
The sale is expected to close by the end of the year, Bayer said.
Bayer said Schiff's portfolio includes brands in three of the largest health supplement segments - joint care, cardiovascular health and immune support. Products include Tiger's Milk nutrition bars, Omega 3 supplement MegaRed, and the probiotic supplement Digestive Advantage.
"This transaction represents an excellent strategic fit for our HealthCare business," Dekkers said. "The Schiff business significantly enhances our presence and position in the United States, which accounts for more over-the-counter and nutritional product sales than any other country in the world."
Bayer shares were up 0.6 per cent in morning European trading to 66.88 euro.
BREAST cancer screening for women over 50 saves lives, an independent panel in Britain has concluded, confirming findings in US and other studies.
But that screening comes with a cost: The review found that for every life saved, roughly three other women were overdiagnosed, meaning they were unnecessarily treated for a cancer that would never have threatened their lives.
The expert panel was commissioned by Cancer Research UK and Britain's department of health and analysed evidence from 11 trials in Canada, Sweden, the UK and the US.
In Britain, mammograms are usually offered to women aged 50 to 70 every three years as part of the state-funded breast cancer screening program.
Scientists said the British program saves about 1,300 women every year from dying of breast cancer while about 4,000 women are overdiagnosed. By that term, experts mean women treated for cancers that grow too slowly to ever put their lives at risk. This is different from another screening problem: false alarms, which occur when suspicious mammograms lead to biopsies and follow-up tests to rule out cancers that were not present. The study did not look at the false alarm rate.
"It's clear that screening saves lives," said Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK "But some cancers will be treated that would never have caused any harm and unfortunately, we can't yet tell which cancers are harmful and which are not."
Each year, more than 300,000 women aged 50 to 52 are offered a mammogram through the British program. During the next 20 years of screening every three years, 1 percent of them will get unnecessary treatment such as chemotherapy, surgery or radiation for a breast cancer that wouldn't ever be dangerous. The review was published online Tuesday in the Lancet journal.
Some critics said the review was a step in the right direction.
"Cancer charities and public health authorities have been misleading women for the past two decades by giving too rosy a picture of the benefits," said Karsten Jorgensen, a researcher at the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen who has previously published papers on overdiagnosis.
"It's important they have at least acknowledged screening causes substantial harms," he said, adding that countries should now re-evaluate their own breast cancer programs.
In the U.S., a government-appointed task force of experts recommends women at average risk of cancer get mammograms every two years starting at age 50. But the American Cancer Society and other groups advise women to get annual mammograms starting at age 40.
In recent years, the British breast screening program has been slammed for focusing on the benefits of mammograms and downplaying the risks.
Maggie Wilcox, a breast cancer survivor and member of the expert panel, said the current information on mammograms given to British women was inadequate.
"I went into (screening) blindly without knowing about the possibility of overdiagnosis," said Wilcox, 70, who had a mastectomy several years ago. "I just thought, 'it's good for you, so you do it."'
Knowing what she knows now about the problem of overtreatment, Wilcox says she still would have chosen to get screened. "But I would have wanted to know enough to make an informed choice for myself."
AN elderly man remains unaccounted for after his home was completely destroyed by a fire in Sydney's west.
Emergency services were called to the house on Jersey Road, Bringelly, at about 8.15pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, where they found the premises well alight.
Around 10 Rural Fire Service (RFS) firefighters and three trucks battled the blaze but the house was completely destroyed by the fire.
The fire was extinguished just before 11pm, an RFS spokeswoman said.
"Unfortunately we were unable to save the house and the elderly male occupant sadly remains unaccounted for at this time," she told AAP.
"The fire has completely destroyed the house."
The home is now a crime scene, and police from Camden Local Area Command will carry out a full investigation.
AMERICANS increased their spending in September at twice the rate their income rose, a sign of confidence in the economy.
The Commerce Department says consumer spending increased 0.8 per cent in September, the best showing since February.
Personal income rose 0.4 per cent, an improvement from a slight 0.1 per cent gain in August and the best gain since March.
A pickup in consumer spending helped lift economic growth in the July-September quarter to a still-modest 2.0 per cent annual rate.
The economy had grown at a 1.3 per cent rate in the April-June period.
The slight acceleration in growth is seen as encouraging, but economists are still worried the economy is stuck in a slow-growth rut.
MARITIME workers are set to rally at ports across Australia to protest against industry inaction on safety issues following the death of a NSW wharfie.
Members of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) will demonstrate on Tuesday calling for the introduction of a national safety code.
It comes after Greg Fitzgibbon, 56, was crushed by 20 tonnes of aluminium he was lifting while working for Newcastle Stevedores on the Chinese-owned, Bahamas-registered Weaver Arrow on September 23.
A day later, major employers such as Patricks, Qube and DP World blocked a stevedoring code of practice, which the MUA says would have improved safety standards.
"Tragically, we saw the reality of the danger of working on Australian wharves just last month," MUA assistant national secretary Warren Smith said.
"Despite the tragic death of Greg Fitzgibbon, Qube, Patricks and DP World seem to think it's acceptable to drag their heels on workplace safety."
Mr Smith said working on the Australian waterfront was dangerous, but "these companies simply refuse to behave reasonably".
Mr Smith said the union would continue to campaign until Australian wharfies received "the highest possible standard of safety".
As part of the coordinated national protest, MUA members from Newcastle, Port Kembla and Sydney will march through Sydney CBD to Shipping Australia from 11.30am (AEDT).
Mr Fitzgibbon's death was the second at Newcastle's docks in ten days.
A 55-year-old man suffered a cardiac arrest and died on board the Sage Sagittarius cargo ship, docked at Newcastle Port, on September 14.
ELECTION observers say democracy in Ukraine has suffered a setback in legislative polls marked by the absence of the jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
"Considering the abuse of power, and the excessive role of money in this election, democratic progress appears to have reversed in Ukraine," said OSCE special co-ordinator Walburga Habsburg Douglas. "One should not have to visit a prison to hear from leading political figures in the country."
President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party led Sunday's ballot with 35 per cent of the vote against the 22 per cent collected by the Tymoshenko alliance, partial results said based on half the precincts reporting.
The 2004 Orange Revolution leader missed the polls because of a seven-year jail sentence she was given last October on abuse of office charges that both Tymoshenko and Western governments view as a vendetta by the president.
An unusually firmly phrased OSCE report noted that the Verkhovna Rada vote was "characterised by the lack of a level playing field, caused primarily by the abuse of administrative resources, lack of transparency of campaign and party financing, and lack of balanced media coverage".
"Certain aspects of the pre-election period constituted a step backwards compared with recent national elections," the OSCE report said.
The report also remarked on a voting process that "was not always transparent" and cases where ballot tabulation could not be fairly monitored - the case in about a third of the polling stations visited by observers.
"Ukrainians deserved better from these elections. The 'oligarchisation' of the whole process meant that citizens lost their ownership of the election, as well as their trust in it," said Andreas Gross of the accompanying Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) delegation.
EDUCATION and personal links and flexible leadership will boost relationships between Australian and Asia, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.
Mr Swan will tell a delegation of China's up and coming leaders in Canberra on Tuesday that Australia's Asian century white paper is a major planning document that lays down an "ambitious roadmap" for the nation's engagement with Asia over the coming decade and beyond.
"It also provides a set of pathways to ensure we have the domestic policy settings and skills we need to advance our strong links with Asia and, of course, with China," the treasurer says.
Mr Swan's talk to the China Advance Leadership program is the first time the federal government has had the chance to sell its message directly to foreign counterparts since the paper was released on Sunday.
He will tell the group the immense scale and pace of China's transformation, along with the rise of other countries in the region, is going to see Asia achieve some incredible milestones in the years ahead.
Mr Swan talks up Australia's economic growth, low unemployment, contained inflation, low interest rates, sound public finances and very large investment pipeline.
But he says for Australia to harness the opportunities that are emerging in the Asian region, it will need to build on capabilities and improve links with Asia across government, business and the broader community.
"Education and people-to-people links are an integral part to gaining deeper connections, be they economic, political, social or cultural," he says.
"More Australian students will be exposed to studies of Asia across the curriculum, and have opportunities to study overseas as part of their studies."
Mr Swan says the white paper has many pathways for government action, but also proposes action for the private sector and for the broader Australian community.
"Because the Asian century will depend as much on the private sector and the broader community's willingness to adapt and transform as it will on governments," he says.
"Education can help us here. But establishing robust people-to-people links will also play a large role.
"In many ways, the China Advanced Leadership Program is exactly the kind of pathway the white paper is describing."
Mr Swan says the leadership of their respective countries have built a firm foundation for strengthening that relationship well into this century and beyond.
"The Asian century is the time for our countries - China, New Zealand and Australia - to build prosperity and spread opportunities together," he says.
PAKISTAN'S interior minister and the foreign ministers of Britain and the UAE have visited the English hospital treating shot Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, Britain's Foreign Office says.
The ministry says the trio also met with the father of 15-year-old Malala, who was shot in the head by the Taliban earlier this month as punishment for campaigning for girls' education in an attack that shocked the world.
She was flown from Pakistan on October 15 for treatment at a specialist hospital in Birmingham, central England, in an air ambulance provided by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"I visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham today to inquire after the health of Malala and to convey messages of good health and best wishes on behalf of the government and the whole Pakistani nation," Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday.
"We are grateful to the hospital authorities, especially the doctors treating Malala, for taking care of her in a most professional manner. As a result, she has made very good recovery in the past few days."
He expressed gratitude to Britain and the UAE for their support for Malala, who needs reconstructive surgery after a bullet grazed her brain, coming within centimetres of killing her.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "Malala's swift and full recovery is our absolute priority. But we are also determined to do all we can to champion education for women and girls in Pakistan.
"The people of Pakistan have paid a high price from terrorism and extremism. We will stand by all those who, like Malala, are courageously defending the rights of women, in Pakistan and around the world."
The UAE's foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, said his government had provided assistance because its citizens were "appalled" by the attack on Malala.
"She is in our prayers," he said. "Malala's courage inspires us to reinforce our commitment to rejecting ideologies rooted in intolerance and extremism."
A BRITISH woman has changed her name by deed poll to become officially known by the combined monikers of 14 Bond girls.
The barmaid, formerly Emma-Louise Hodges, 28, is now "Miss Pussy Galore Honey Rider Solitaire Plenty O'Toole May Day Xenia Onatopp Holly Goodhead Tiffany Case Kissy Suzuki Mary Goodnight Jinx Johnson Octopussy Domino Moneypenny".
Quite a mouthful, reports British tabloid The Sun.
As the latest James Bond film, Skyfall, is released in Britain, the brunette love interest wannabe spoke of her decision to change names.
"I've always thought how great it would be to be a Bond girl - and now I am," Miss Moneypenny said.
"I've always admired actresses like Honor Blackman and Ursula Andress - and the innuendo of some names has always made me giggle.
"I'm hoping it can mean I can find my own suave James Bond."
AUSTRALIAN women are being encouraged to sign up for regular text message reminders to screen for warning signs of cervical cancer.
The Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation is launching an SMS messaging service to remind women to have a pap smear test every two years.
Ninety per cent of women who die from cervical cancer have not had regular pap tests, the foundation's chief executive Joe Tooma said.
He said about 43 per cent of women do not have the recommended two-yearly pap test.
GPs send regular postal reminders to women but Mr Tooma said a text messaging service could be more reliable for women who move house or change doctors.
"Anecdotally, we know people tend to keep their mobile phone number for a long time, so we believe sending them an SMS reminder will be a powerful tool in the fight against cervical cancer," he said.
The foundation will also encourage women to wear orange and get together with their sisters and female friends for the inaugural Sister's Day on November 8, which will be held every year on the same day as the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival's Oaks Day.
A MILD tsunami has hit Hawaii after a powerful earthquake off the west coast of Canada, forcing a state-wide evacuation but apparently failing to cause major damage.
Television images from the island of Oahu showed relatively small waves peacefully rolling toward shore.
Shortly after, forecasters lifted a tsunami warning issued in the wake of the quake.
"Based on all available data the tsunami threat has decreased and is now at the advisory level and not expected to increase," the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center announced.
The centre warned, however, that sea level changes and strong currents could still occur and present a hazard for swimmers and boaters.
"The threat may continue for several hours," the centre cautioned.
Highways and roads in coastal areas were reopened, allowing thousands of residents and hundreds of tourists to return to their homes and hotel rooms.
But the tsunami, set off by a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck off the west coast of Canada, succeeded in disrupting the weekend activities of many tourists and residents.
Countless Halloween parties were interrupted, restaurants, bars and movie theatres emptied, and highways quickly filled with cars heading away from beach areas.
Tourists from Waikiki to Turtle Bay in Honolulu were evacuated to higher floors in their hotels, and major tourist centres looked abandoned for several hours.
Governor Neil Abercrombie declared a state of emergency when the first alert was sounded and kept it in force.
"We are taking a wait-and-see approach - we want everyone to be safe," said the governor's spokesperson, Donalyn Dela Cruz.
Initially, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no "destructive widespread tsunami threat" after the 7.7 magnitude quake shook the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of Canada.
But later it issued a warning, saying a tsunami had been generated by the earthquake and that it was headed toward Hawaii.
The epicentre of the Canadian quake, which occurred at 8.04pm on Saturday (1404 AEDT on Sunday) was located 139 kilometres south of the town of Masset, the US Geological Survey said.
Numerous aftershocks, some as strong as magnitude 4.6, followed the initial quake.
Emergency officials in British Columbia urged residents in low-lying coastal areas to be alert to instructions from local officials and be prepared to move to higher ground.
"The tsunami alarm went off and everybody went to the evacuation site," Danny Escott, owner of the Escott Sportfishing lodge near Masset, said by telephone.
But officials in Canada sought to calm the population.
Natural Resources Canada said in a statement that the quake was felt across much of north-central British Columbia, including Haida Gwaii as the Queen Charlotte Islands are also called, Prince Rupert, Quesnel and Houston.
But the ministry also played down the effects on Canada, saying: "There have been no reports of damage at this time."
