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Tunisia ruling Islamists call for rally

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 09 Februari 2013 | 20.47

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Unidentified child found wandering alone

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

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

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

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

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

He has limited speech.

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


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Domestic violence tracking set for WA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The poll has a three per cent margin of error.


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Behemoth storm dumps snow on US northeast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Khartoum-backed militia 'kill 17 people'

KHARTOUM-BACKED militia in Sudan's South Kordofan state have killed 17 civilians, rebels say.

They accused the group of ethnic South Sudanese of ambushing a civilian lorry on Friday at Abu Nuwara, about 80km from the border with South Sudan's Upper Nile state.

"They clashed with the civilians there and there's a lot of casualties," said Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which has been fighting government forces in South Kordofan since June 2011.

He said the incident occurred in a government-controlled area and blamed a militia linked to Lam Akol's Sudan People's Liberation Movement-Democratic Change (SPLM-DC).

"This is ridiculous," Akol told AFP from Khartoum. "We don't have a militia."

SPLM-DC is South Sudan's main opposition party, a breakaway group from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement which has ruled the South since independence in 2011 after a 22-year civil war.

He said the rebels in South Kordofan are "just parroting what their masters in Juba are saying."

Khartoum accuses South Sudan of supporting the SPLM-North, and this has been a major obstacle for the failure of Sudan and South Sudan to implement key security and economic agreements signed in September.


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Elderly woman dies in scooter accident

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 08 Februari 2013 | 20.48

AN elderly woman has died after her scooter collided with a car in southwest NSW.

The 81-year-old woman was riding her scooter in Lavington when she collided with a sedan at an intersection and was thrown onto the road about 8.20am (AEDT) on Friday.

She sustained critical injuries and was taken to Albury Base Hospital but later died.

The 49-year-old driver of the car was uninjured.


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Magnitude 7.1 quake hits Solomon Islands

A 7.1-MAGNITUDE earthquake has hit off the Solomon Islands, two days after an 8.0-magnitude quake sparked a tsunami, but there was no threat of a widespread destructive wave this time, US agencies say.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 1112 GMT (2212 AEDT) near the Santa Cruz Islands, which are part of the Solomons, at a depth of ten kilometres.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no danger of a widespread destructive tsunami.


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Mali troops attack Red Beret camp: reports

A GUNFIGHT has erupted in the Malian capital as soldiers attacked a camp of elite paratroopers loyal to ousted president Amadou Toumani Toure, military sources and witnesses say.

"From 6am (1700 AEDT) heavily armed soldiers, from all units, attacked the camp," said Yaya Bouare, one of the "Red Beret" soldiers inside the camp that was attacked.

"There are many injured inside the camp."

The camp includes housing for military families.

"The soldiers arrived in armoured cars and pickup trucks, all of them armed to the teeth to attack our base," said Batoma Dicko, a woman who lives in the military camp.

"The women and children tried to stop them from entering the camp. They shot tear gas at us and started shooting volleys in the air."

Dr Amadou Diallo, who works at the infirmary in the camp, known as Djicoroni Para Camp, said there was at least one dead and five wounded.

Bamako residents living near the barracks confirmed the attack and one of them said the Red Berets had "fired shots in the air" overnight.

Bouare said the attack was linked to a declaration by army chief of defence staff General Tahirou Dembele on television earlier this week, who ordered the paratroopers to the frontline of a French-led war with radical Islamists in the north.

"As we have this problem in the north on our hands, you will go and fight with your brothers in arms", he said, adding he had decided to incorporate the elite soldiers within other units.

But the paratroopers refused to join their new units, or to leave their camp.

The Red Berets formed part of an elite presidential guard protecting Toure, who was ousted in March last year by a group of "Green Berets" - infantry and other units.

The coup came after soldiers from Mali's poor and ramshackle army were humiliated in the north by well-armed Tuareg fighters who launched a rebellion for independence in January.

A month after the presidential ouster, the paratroopers launched a failed counter-coup and fighting between the feuding factions left about 20 people dead.

With Bamako in disarray, the Tuareg and Islamist allies seized the entire north before the extremists chased away the secular Tuareg rebels and installed a brutal form of sharia.


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Gunmen kill 9 at two Nigeria polio clinics

GUNMEN have attacked two polio clinics in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, killing nine people before fleeing, police and residents say.

"Nine people were killed in two separate attacks by gunmen on (motorised) tricycles when they attacked two dispensaries where polio immunisation workers were preparing to go out for polio campaigns," police spokesman Magaji Majia said.

The attacks come after a local cleric denounced polio vaccination campaigns this week and some local radio programs repeated previous conspiracy theories about such campaigns being a foreign plot to harm Muslims.

Such conspiracy theories have long spread in parts of northern Nigeria, stoked by local politicians.

Nigeria is one of only three countries still considered to have endemic polio, alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Police declined to say who they believed was behind the killings.

Extremist sect Boko Haram has carried out attacks in Kano, although gangs linked to local politics also operate.

"Six people on a tricycle pulled up outside the dispensary at 9.45am while polio immunisation workers were gathering for the day's house-to-house polio campaign," a resident near the second attack said.

"Two of the men were holding guns. They stormed into the dispensary and began shooting."

Last year, two Nigerian police guarding polio vaccination workers were killed by gunmen, though it was unclear if the attack was linked to the campaign.

Islamist extremists have carried out scores of attacks on police.

In 2003, Kano's state government suspended polio immunisations for 13 months, with the then governor saying claims on its harmful effects had to be looked into.

The suspension followed allegations by some Muslim clerics that the vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile as part of US-led plot to depopulate Africa.

Despite the resumption of polio immunisations, Kano has continued to record polio cases as many parents still reject the vaccine.

Deadly attacks linked to polio vaccination campaigns have also occurred in Pakistan.


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Bomb kills 10 people in northwest Pakistan

A BOMB planted near a market in northwestern Pakistan has killed 10 people and wounded 23 others, in the latest in an uptick in attacks in recent months, government officials say.

The blast occurred in Kalaya, the main town in the Orakzai tribal area, said local government administrator Khaistan Akbar.

Orakzai is one of several areas in the semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border where the military has been battling a Pakistani Taliban insurgency.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest bombing, but local militants regularly target security forces and civilians in the area.

The blast occurred near government and security offices, according to another local administrator, Javed Khan.

It damaged one of the shops in the market.

Some of the wounded were in critical condition, he said.

The military has launched multiple operations against the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest since 2009, but the militant have proved resilient and continue to carry out attacks.


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ECB holds key interest rate at record low

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 07 Februari 2013 | 20.47

THE European Central Bank has decided to leave its main refinancing rate at a historic low of 0.75 per cent, despite worries about slow growth and the strength of the euro.

ECB watchers had not expected the central bank to ease borrowing costs in the euro area this month, but analysts said they would listen to see what central bank chief Mario Draghi had to say later on Thursday about the recent strong rise of the euro exchange rate.


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Tunisia president denounces assassination

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 06 Februari 2013 | 20.47

TUNISIA President Moncef Marzouki has denounced "the odious assassination" of his friend and opposition leader Chokri Belaid.

In an impassioned speech on Wednesday that brought tears to the eyes of Europe's politicians he said the murder would not tip Tunisia to unrest.

"This odious assassination of a political leader who I knew well and who was my friend ... is a threat, it is a letter sent that will not be received.

"We refuse this message and we will continue to unmask the enemies of the revolution," he said though Tunisia's path was "paved with hurdles", including "orchestrated verbal violence, burnt preachers" and the murder of Belaid.

Marzouki, who also spoke of his years in Strasbourg when in exile, brought teary-eyed European politicians across the political spectrum to their feet for a long round of applause.

After calling for a minute of silence in memory of the slain leader, European Parliament president Martin Schulz said: "Long live Tunisia, long live freedom, long live democracy."

Belaid, leader of the leftist Movement of Democratic Patriots, was shot in the neck and head as he was leaving his Tunis home for work on Wednesday, his wife told Chems FM radio.

Belaid, a lawyer, had been outspoken in his criticism of Tunisia's ruling coalition, which is led by the Islamist party Ennahda.

Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali denounced the murder as an "act of terrorism" against Tunisia.

"This is a criminal act, an act of terrorism not only against Belaid but against the whole of Tunisia," Jebali from the ruling Islamist Ennahda party told FM Radio Mosaique.

He promised to pursue all efforts to "immediately" arrest the murderer.


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Macklin coy on NT grog intervention plans

FEDERAL Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin refuses to say whether she'll intervene to reinstate grog restrictions in the Top End if the NT government refuses to.

Canberra has called on the NT government to reinstate its Banned Drinkers Register (BDR), but the Country Liberal Party (CLP) says the federal government should mind its own business.

The CLP says statistics show the BDR failed to curb alcohol-fuelled violence, but Ms Macklin believes it's had a positive effect.

"Is it going to fix everything? Of course not. But was it useful and should it be reinstated because it's useful? Yes it should," she told ABC television on Wednesday.

Ms Macklin said she had written the NT's chief minister seeking agreement to appoint an expert to assess two troublesome Alice Springs pubs, as a first step.

Asked if she would intervene if the NT ultimately refused to reintroduce the BDR, Ms Macklin pointed out she does have some powers under Labor's Stronger Futures legislation.

But she did not commit to using them.

"What we may or may not do after that remains to be seen," she said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard used her annual Closing the Gap speech on indigenous disadvantage on Wednesday to declare that she feared the "rivers of grog" that wreaked havoc among indigenous communities were beginning to flow again.

She said her government would "take action in response to any irresponsible policy changes" that could forfeit hard-won gains.

AAP ag/goc


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Germany takes steps to curtail risky banks

THE German government has agreed on a draft law that paves the way for criminal prosecutions for bankers who take excessive risks.

The bill, to be put before Parliament this year, also requires banks to separate retail activity from proprietary trading if it goes beyond a certain threshold.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that the move was being co-ordinated with France as part of an effort to draw lessons from the 2008 financial crisis.

Schaeuble says up to a dozen German banks would need to separate their retail and trading activities.


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Japan's Mazda swings back to profit

JAPANESE car giant Mazda says it has swung back to profit in the nine months to December and has boosted its full-year earnings forecast.

Japan's fifth-biggest vehicle maker logged a net profit of Y25.6 billion ($A264.09 million) for the April-December period, reversing its net loss of Y112.8 billion a year earlier.

Sales rose 8.5 per cent to Y1.54 trillion, it said on Wednesday.

It credited the results to a bounce in sales and cost-cutting after suffering a double punch from a strong yen and falling demand in key markets during the corresponding period in 2011, when manufacturers were also hit by effects of Japan's quake-tsunami disaster.

In China, Mazda sold 129,000 vehicles for the nine-month period, down 21.5 per cent from a year earlier, "but sales are on a recovery trend," it said, echoing similar comments from Toyota, Japan's biggest vehicle company.

On Tuesday, Toyota said the China market was improving as it net profit in the nine months to December quadrupled while it also lifted its full-year earnings outlook.

Demand for Japanese cars in China, the world's biggest vehicle market, plunged last year in the wake of a consumer boycott sparked by a territorial spat between Tokyo and Beijing over an East China Sea island chain.

Mazda also said it was projecting a full-year net profit of Y26 billion, up from an earlier estimate of Y10 billion, while sales are forecast to be Y2.19 trillion, compared with an earlier Y2.17 trillion prediction.

Japan's vehicle makers have been posting strong results, underscoring their recovery from the twin disasters and the surging value of the yen, which has been in steep decline in recent months.


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Rain, floods kill 25 in Pakistan

HEAVY rain in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least 25 people and injured more than 50, emergency officials say.

Collapsing structures in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province caused most of the casualties.

Three soldiers were still missing after an avalanche hit their post near the Afghan border, said disaster management spokesman Adnan Khan on Wednesday.

More than 230 houses were damaged during the rains, which began at the weekend and subsided early on Wednesday.

Heavy snow fell over the northern mountain ranges.

Chief meteorologist Arif Mahmood said a 30-year record for snowfall was broken in Malam Jabba town that hosted skiing competitions until Taliban militants destroyed the only resort there in 2008.

"More than three metres of snow fell in as many days, setting a new record," Mahmood said.

Unprecedented monsoon floods in 2010 killed more than 1,000 people and damaged nearly 300,000 structures.


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Unis propose gradual boost to funds

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 05 Februari 2013 | 20.47

UNIVERSITIES want the federal government to gradually increase base funding since it's said it can't afford a big boost all at once.

The tertiary education sector's peak body, Universities Australia, has used its 2013/14 budget submission to outline a plan for the commonwealth to increase funding by an extra 2.5 per cent a year until 2018.

It says the gradual boost in funding takes into account the poor fiscal climate but still lets Australia start catching up to international competitors.

Last week the government rejected a key recommendation from the 2011 Higher Education Base Funding Review to boost the average level of funding per student place.

It said funding to universities had grown by more than 10 per cent since Labor came to power.

But the sector was disappointed with that justification.

In its budget submission, Universities Australia urged the government to, at the very least, maintain its commitment to a demand driven system and improved indexation for the funding of student places.

"It should be noted these reforms do not go far enough in allowing Australia to catch up to OECD averages or world's best practice," it stated.

The group warned the constrained fiscal environment didn't change the fact both the base funding review and the earlier Bradley higher education review said base funding had to be increased to support the quality and competitiveness of Australian universities.

It also wants the budget to address uncertainty and under-investment in research.

Universities Australia proposes the government give $150-200 million a year for strategic national research infrastructure and $85 million a year of continuing funding for fellowship programs.

It also urges the government to restore previous funding for the sustainable research excellence scheme.


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Early 2013 may be difficult: Vic business

BUSINESS confidence is stabilising but early 2013 could be challenging with business conditions expected to weaken, a survey from Victoria's peak business body says.

The Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) survey shows more than 40 per cent of respondents expect no change to both national and state economic conditions in the year ahead.

"While concerns remain, the level of business confidence appears to be stabilising," VECCI chief executive Mark Stone said in a statement.

But expectations for the March quarter are that general business conditions will weaken.

"This highlights the many challenges that Victorian businesses are currently facing, with declines expected in profits, employment and investment," Mr Stone said.

Sales were up, according to December quarter figures, but prices fell, placing profits under pressure, Mr Stone said.

Regional respondents were slightly more pessimistic about 2013 than their city cousins.

VECCI says the survey highlights the case for interest rate cuts early in the year and pro-business government policies.

"Now that the federal election date has been revealed, Victorian businesses will be looking closely for policy announcements from both major parties that support business efforts to improve productivity, invest in new equipment, products and services, and grow employment," Mr Stone said.


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Millions sunburnt every summer weekend

AUSTRALIANS are less likely to seek tans but incidental sunburn remains a problem, according to new research.

The Cancer Council has released its 2010-2011 National Sun Protection Survey which shows the number of adults getting sunburnt on summer weekends dropped to 13 per cent, compared with 18 per cent in 2003-4.

Adults seeking tans decreased from 39 per cent to 27 per cent over the same period.

Chair of the Cancer Council Australia's skin cancer committee Terry Slevin says the results are significant but there's more work to be done.

"What we've got is still a circumstance where there are some millions of Australians each weekend getting sunburnt," Mr Slevin said.

The Cancer Council estimates 363,000 adolescents and two million adults are getting sunburnt on any given summer weekend.

Mr Slevin is warning people about incidental exposure.

"Sunburn is very commonly linked with water sports but it's linked with things like gardening," he said.

The most common reasons people cited for getting sunburnt included forgetting to wear sun protection or letting their sunscreen wear off, the Cancer Council says.

Fashion also plays a role, particularly among younger people, Mr Slevin says.

The proportion of adolescents actively seeking a tan dropped from 60 per cent in the first survey to 45 per cent in the 2010-11 survey.

Mr Slevin said adolescents were not driven by long-term health concerns, unlike adults.

However, the total number of non-melanoma skin cancers increased from 412,493 in 1997 to 767,347 in 2010 - an enormous economic burden.

The cost of treating cancerous skin lesions was more than $500 million each year, Mr Slevin said.

"Skin cancer prevention in Australia is an extraordinarily sound investment," he said.


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UN aims to feed 2.5 million Syrians

THE UN food agency says it will dramatically expanding its aid operation in Syria to reach one million more people, in the face of growing alarm over the situation in the war-torn country.

"In February, we hope to scale up our operations and reach 1.75 million, then two million in March, and 2.5 million vulnerable Syrians in April," said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the World Food Programme (WFP).

Since September, the WFP has been feeding some 1.5 million vulnerable Syrians with around 400 truckloads of food each month.

Access to opposition-controlled areas has been particularly difficult, as it involves crossing battle frontlines, while the Syrian government has maintained restrictions on international aid group operations.

Byrs said the WFP had been able to send supplies to between 40 and 50 per cent of opposition-controlled areas, and was also reaching government areas, although she did not elaborate.

"Aid is based on need, not political labels," she said.

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the situation in Syria had deteriorated sharply.

"We've called the situation critical before. We're at the point where we're calling it catastrophic," he told reporters in Geneva.

"If the violence continues unabated, in the short term we could see considerably more than the current four million in need of urgent assistance, and more than two million internally displaced in Syria," Laerke said.

"In the face of this human tragedy, organisations are struggling to reach more people, in more places, with more aid, but lack of access is still a major obstacle."

The UN estimates that more than 60,000 people have been killed since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's regime began in March 2011.

More than 730,000 Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries.


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French-Australian journo in Iraq court

A FRENCH-AUSTRALIAN reporter held for two weeks for taking unauthorised photos in Baghdad has appeared before an Iraqi judge for the first time, looking dishevelled but in good health, an AFP journalist says.

Nadir Dendoune, who also holds Algerian nationality, was arrested last month in the south of the capital for allegedly taking photos of security installations without a permit, and a judge is set to decide soon whether he should be released or charged with an offence.

Dressed in a jacket and jeans, the journalist appeared handcuffed at the Central Criminal Court of Iraq in Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, unshaved and visibly thin.

"Trying to keep in good spirits is not so simple," Dendoune told AFP briefly, speaking in French. "But I am being treated well at the moment."

In a 30-minute hearing which took place with French embassy officials in attendance, the reporter "was coherent, but quite weak", according to a witness who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The judge handling the case, who cannot be named under Iraqi law, told AFP he would "carefully consider (Dendoune's) testimony."

"We will keep him in custody until the investigation is complete," he said, but declined to say how long Dendoune would be held.

A judicial source said when Dendoune was arrested on January 23, he was carrying a camera with which he took photographs of offices of Iraq's intelligence services, police and army.

Journalists in Baghdad are required to seek prior approval from the capital's security command centre in order to take photographs at checkpoints and of members of the security forces.

Dendoune's lawyer Naama al-Rubaye, however, argued that Dendoune was simply "exercising his journalistic duties. He had no intention of breaking the law."

"We have asked for his release," he added.

The reporter was visiting Iraq to compile a series of stories on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion of the country for French monthly magazine Le Monde Diplomatique.


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WA bushfire under control

Written By Unknown on Senin, 04 Februari 2013 | 20.47

RESIDENTS in Esperance on Western Australia's south coast have been put on a downgraded Watch and Act alert after a fire raging in the area was finally contained by firefighters.

At least one home was damaged by the blaze in the area between Eleven Mile Beach Road, Spencer Road and Keenan Road in Pink Lake.

Late on Monday night firefighters got the fire under control, but there remained a threat to lives and homes if weather conditions changed.

Esperance shire president Malcolm Heasman said one property had suffered internal damage to its roof.

"And obviously there will be internal damage from water and one thing or another, but essentially, the house is standing," Mr Heasman told ABC radio.

He said Eleven Mille Beach Road, where the fire commenced, "looks like a devastation zone".

So far, about 500 hectares have burnt since the fire was reported about 12.30pm (WST).


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Lack of trust impedes reconciliation

INDIGENOUS and non-indigenous Australians don't trust each other but almost everyone agrees the relationship is important, Reconciliation Australia says.

The organisation's Barometer 2012 report, which surveys the relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous people, says there has been little significant change in attitudes nationally.

The survey found we don't trust each other and only about half of those surveyed felt proud of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, Reconciliation Australia co-chair Tom Calma says.

"Most people surveyed did not believe the relationship was very good and only half of those believe it was improving," Dr Calma said.

However, it was a different story in a second survey, which found vast improvements in attitudes among indigenous and non-indigenous people working in organisations with a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

Launched in 2006, RAPs are plans organisations make to identify ways to improve the relationship between indigenous people and other Australians both within the organisation and more widely.

In a survey of the more than 350 Australian organisations that now have a RAP it was found 71 per cent of people there trusted each other compared to 13 per cent in the broader community.

RAP organisations employ nearly 19,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, purchase about $58 million of services from certified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and provide more than $15 million worth of pro-bono support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.

"But RAPs are about more than creating jobs and opportunities," Dr Calma said on Tuesday.

"They are also having an enormous impact on reducing mistrust and ignorance and building real personal relationships between First Peoples and other Australians."

More than three quarters of people (77 per cent) in organisations with a RAP felt pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures compared to 51 per cent in the broader community surveyed by the Barometer report, he said.

Dr Calma said RAPs are changing workplace culture and attitudes and laying the foundation for significant economic and social outcomes.


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Gore says direct action plan won't work

AUSTRALIANS should take a careful look at the progress made to slow climate change here and around the world before the federal election, former US vice-president Al Gore says.

The prominent environmental campaigner believes Prime Minister Julia Gillard's carbon tax shows courage and vision but the coalition's direct action plan to deal with climate change won't work.

Speaking from Tennessee, Mr Gore said he would be watching how the 2013 federal election unfolded and what that meant for action on climate change.

"I'm very impressed with your current prime minister," he told ABC TV on Monday, referring to Labor's carbon tax.

"She's shown a great deal of courage and vision."

Asked what he thought about the coalition's plan to abolish the carbon tax and replace it with direct action programs, Mr Gore said: "It didn't work here, it hasn't worked anywhere."

He said with recent floods, fires and extreme weather, there was powerful evidence the climate crisis was having a harsh impact on Australia.

"Mother Nature (is) now speaking very loudly and persuasively, in keeping with what the scientists predicted would unfold," he said.


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Students boost learning via fast broadband

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 03 Februari 2013 | 20.47

STUDENTS produce higher quality work with access to high-speed broadband as part of their schooling, a new report says.

The report, 21st Century Teaching Strategies for a Highly Connected World, drew on the experiences of 60 teachers at three schools connected to the national broadband network (NBN) - PLC Armidale, the TAFE teacher training institute at Armidale, and Willunga High School in South Australia.

Willunga High School principal Janelle Reimann said the NBN helped students lift their grades.

"Students who used to hand in C-grade work are now producing A-grade work," Ms Reimann said.

The three-month study was conducted by educational consultant ideasLAB on behalf of the network's builder, NBN Co.

Among the findings was 96 per cent of teachers said they believed the NBN would help students boost their quality of work.

And 86 per cent said access to super quick broadband would improve how lessons were delivered.

"We found that online, collaborative learning supported by fast, ubiquitous broadband is motivating our children to become even more engaged and successful in the subjects they learn," ideasLAB assistant director Richard Olsen said.

Student and teachers were accessing new ways to learn through the broadband network.

This included history students studying at home while working with peers and teachers using online community Edmodo, and science pupils connecting with university experts to watch the dissection of hearts by high definition video conferencing.

NBN Co general manager of education Kate Cornick said most Australian educators realised the importance of online learning, both at school and at home.

"The potential is extraordinary and it's what we need if Australia is to remain globally relevant in the 21st century," Ms Cornick said.

Under Labor's $37.4 billion plan, NBN Co is to deliver high-speed broadband optic fibre cable to 93 per cent of homes, schools and businesses by 2021.

The rest will be supplied via fixed wireless and satellite services by 2015.


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UNHCR slams conditions on Manus Island

THE UN refugee agency has slammed the federal government's immigration detention centre in Papua New Guinea and has called for the transfer of children to be suspended.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it has found significant shortcomings in how asylum seekers are transferred, treated and processed on PNG's Manus Island.

The UNCHR's damning assessment comes after its officials made a three-day visit to Manus a fortnight ago.

Its report finds that the government's current regime is inconsistent with Australia's international obligations.

The mandatory detention of 34 children and their families at the centre is particularly troubling, UNHCR regional representative Richard Towle said in a statement accompanying the report.

The report calls on the government to cease transferring children until all appropriate legal and administrative safeguards for their processing and treatment are in place.

That should include arrangements to house them in an "open centre" as opposed to the current detention centre, it says.

The UNHCR says it is also deeply concerned about the lack of a legal framework under which refugee claims can be assessed in PNG and the capacity and expertise of officials to process such claims.

"Asylum seekers are distressed and confused about their situation. They are in closed detention, without a process in sight. They feel they have been forgotten," Mr Towle said.

Transfers to Manus Island began in November. There were more than 200 asylum seekers there when the UNHCR visited.


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Thai cop arrested with 20 elephant tusks

A THAI policeman has been arrested after he was caught trying to smuggle 20 elephant tusks, officials say.

The haul was discovered when the suspect - in plain clothes but driving a police van - was stopped at a checkpoint in the southern province of Chumphon on Saturday, Police Colonel Chalard Polnakarn told AFP.

"We found 10 pairs of elephant tusks in the van and charged him with illegal possession of elephant tusks, which he confessed to during the investigation," Chalard said.

The origin of the tusks was unclear.

International trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989.

But a rise in the illegal trade in ivory has been fuelled by demand in Asia and the Middle East, where elephant tusks are used in traditional medicines and to make ornaments.

Conservationists say ivory from Africa is often smuggled into Thailand and passed off as coming from Thai elephants, as a legal loophole allows the legal trade in ivory from domesticated elephants.

Wildlife campaign group Freeland praised the latest seizure as a "valiant act of fighting corruption to protect wildlife".

"We need more officers like them to fight this new form of transnational organised crime," Freeland director Steven Galster said in a statement.

Freeland said that in the past year thousands of tusks had been seized as they were smuggled into Asia from Africa due to "rampant elephant poaching".

It comes as Thailand prepares to host the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) in Bangkok in March.


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Steve Bracks a chance for Roxon's seat

FORMER Victorian premier Steve Bracks only has to ask, to be handed the safe Labor seat of Gellibrand replacing Nicola Roxon, who is retiring from politics, Fairfax Media says.

Insiders have told Fairfax that the seat, which overlaps Mr Bracks' former state seat of Williamstown, was his for the taking.

He lives in the electorate and is being touted as a natural fit.

Mr Bracks, who shocked Victoria by quitting politics in July 2007, is on a walking holiday in Tasmania and could not be contacted.

His only other rival for the seat would be Senator David Feeney, one of the so-called faceless men who helped Julia Gillard depose Kevin Rudd as prime minister.

Senator Feeney occupies the No.3 position on Labor's Victorian Senate ticket, and is unlikely to be re-elected given Labor's poor standing in opinion polls.

But Fairfax says it would be impossible to deny Mr Bracks if he wanted to return to politics on the federal stage.


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