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US kidnap suspect Castro in court

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 09 Mei 2013 | 20.47

UNEMPLOYED American bus driver Ariel Castro appeared in court on Thursday to faces charges that he kidnapped and raped three young women and held them in his home for a decade.

The 52-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio did not enter a plea and stood with his head bowed while the court set a large bond of $US2 million per case, effectively ensuring that he will remain in detention.

He looked down at the ground while lawyers spoke to the judge.

Police say they've talked with Castro and the three women at length in building their case.

While they're not revealing many details, police do say the women - Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight - were kept inside Castro's house for all but a few brief minutes over the last 10 years.

Berry gave birth to a girl during her captivity, who is now aged six.

The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004 and were found on Monday after Berry screamed for help to escape and contacted police immediately after she was freed.


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Nokia debuts $99 smartphone

STRUGGLING Finnish handset giant Nokia has unveiled its next-generation of lower-end mobile smartphones in India as it seeks to gain traction in a market expected to be worth $15 billion by 2015.

Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop on Thursday released the $99 Asha 501 touchscreen internet-enabled model at a global launch in New Delhi to target emerging market users moving up from their first no-frills mobile phones.

India, the world's second-largest mobile market after China, "is very important" for Nokia, Elop told reporters, fresh from a bruising meeting in Helsinki earlier this week with shareholders unhappy at Nokia's poor earnings.

The country of 1.2 billion people, Nokia's second-biggest market in 2012, is a "bellwether market that is a very leading indicator of some trends", he said.

The Asha 501 borrows some of its looks from Nokia's higher specification Windows-based Lumia phone and is aimed at stopping consumers embracing Google's Android software offered on cheaper handsets made in China.

Elop, who took the reins of Nokia three years ago and is facing demands from shareholders to review his controversial move to switch over to Microsoft's Windows software, declined to comment directly on Nokia's financial performance.

Nokia, which reported a $A355-million first quarter net loss, is struggling to recover ground in the smartphone market after it suffered a 49-per-cent slump in smartphone sales worldwide in the first quarter.


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Cervical cancer vaccines for world's poor

TWO multinational drugmakers are teaming up with global health groups to protect millions of girls in the world's poorest countries from deadly cervical cancer.

Starting with pilot programs in eight Asian and African nations, the project aims to inoculate more than 30 million girls in more than 40 countries by 2020.

The plan was announced on Thursday by the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership that's worked with drugmakers to deliver affordable vaccines to poor countries to treat childhood illnesses that are big killers.

"This is a transformational moment for the health of women and girls across the world," said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI, which is short for Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.

"A vast gap currently exists between girls in rich and poor countries. With GAVI's programs we can begin to bridge that gap so that all girls can be protected against cervical cancer no matter where they are born," he said in a statement.

Drugmakers Merck & Co and GlaxoSmithKline initially will provide 2.4 million doses of their vaccines against cancer-causing human papilloma virus.

Merck will supply its Gardasil for $US4.50 ($A4.45) per dose, and Glaxo its Cervarix for $US4.60 per dose. In the US, the shots cost well over $US100 apiece, and a three-dose series over six months is required.

The vaccines protect against the strains of human papilloma virus, or HPV, that most commonly cause cancer.

The virus, transmitted during sex, causes cervical cancer as well as vaginal, vulvar, anal and oral cancers. The vaccines prevent roughly 70 per cent of those cancers.

In developed countries, older girls and women routinely get Pap tests to check for cervical cancer or signs of precancerous changes in cervical tissue and few people die.

Increasingly, young girls and now boys as well are vaccinated, starting as young as age 9.

Not so in poor countries.

"They don't have the benefit of screening to catch cancer early, when it can still be treated," said Dr Julie L Gerberding, president of Merck Vaccines.

As a result, 85 per cent of the 275,000 women killed by cervical cancer each year live in poor countries, where HPV is most prevalent.

The GAVI project will begin "demonstration projects" administering the vaccines to girls aged 9 to 13, starting in Kenya as early as this month. Then it will be expanded to Ghana, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.


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SA bushfire at Cherryville threatens homes

A BUSHFIRE burning east of Adelaide may threaten homes, fire officials have warned.

The fire, located northeast of Cherryville in the Adelaide Hills, is travelling in an easterly direction.

But CFS has issued a watch and act alert for residents in the area.

"Fire conditions are expected to deteriorate over the next 18 to 24 hours," said the statement, issued on Thursday evening.

"There will be a risk that properties to the south of the fire ... may come under threat from this fire."

Residents were urged to activate their bushfire survival plans.


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Abetz defends coalition workplace policy

OPPOSITION workplace spokesman Eric Abetz has rejected criticism of the coalition's workplace relations policy, arguing that it is designed to favour not one particular sector but to consider the best interests of the nation.

The opposition is facing criticism from industry and employer groups as well as the federal government after revealing its workplace proposals, including a greater take-up of individual flexibility agreements (IFAs).

Asked if the policy was the first step towards a return to the Howard Government's Work Choices reform and the use of Australian Workplace Agreements, Senator Abetz said it was not, and that a portion of the policy was based on a Labor-generated review.

"Labor's own Fair Work Review Panel ... even came up with recommendations, one of which we have adopted in this policy to ensure that this flexibility arrangement was more widely used," he told ABC television on Thursday.

Senator Abetz said the plan was "sensible" and "fair-minded" and he denied that the interest of business was the sole consideration in the formation of the policy.

"I see our core constituency ... is not the business community or any other sectional interest, it's the national interest, it is every Australian and what we are seeking to do is bring in policies that don't seek to divide," Senator Abetz said.

Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh says the opposition's industrial relations policy recognises the importance of productivity and is a "step in the right direction".

"It is recognising the need for engagement and communication involvement between management and the entire team," he said.

"That's important if you want to have an efficient business, and there are another number of elements that should help."

Mr Walsh said productivity was a big issue for the global mining giant.

The broadest measure of labour productivity - gross domestic product per hour worked - rose by an annual 3.5 per cent to December 2012 in Australia, which was the fastest rise in a decade, official data showed in March.

Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten said the coalition was desperate to hide their intentions for workers' rights until after the September 14 election.

"They are desperate to not have it (industrial relations) as an issue because they want to skate into office as a small target," he told ABC Television on Thursday.

"Then do what they have always done when they get into power, do whatever they want."

Mr Shorten said the Howard government introduced WorkChoices following the 2004 federal election and conservative state governments have cut jobs after gaining power.


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Wendy's 1Q profit falls

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 08 Mei 2013 | 20.47

WENDY'S first-quarter net income has fallen 83 per cent from year-ago, the result including a big gain on the sale of an investment.

But the fast-food chain operator's adjusted results have matched Wall Street's expectations.

Wendy's also boosted its full-year earnings forecast, citing a refinancing benefit.

For the period ended March 31, the Dublin, Ohio, company earned $US2.1 million ($A2.07 million), or a penny per share. That's down from $US12.4 million, or 3 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding certain items, earnings were 3 cents per share.

Revenue rose 2 per cent to $US603.7 million versus a year ago but fell short of the $US615 million forecast of analysts.

Wendy's Co. now expects 2013 adjusted earnings of 20 cents to 22 cents per share, up from 18 cents to 20 cents per share.

Wall Street predicts 19 cents per share.

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Freddie Mac posts $4.6B net income for Q1

MORTGAGE giant Freddie Mac earned $US4.6 billion ($A4.54 billion) from January through March, helped by a stronger housing market.

The government-controlled company has now turned a profit in its past six quarters.

It paid a dividend of $US7 billion to the US Treasury from its first-quarter earnings and requested no additional federal aid.

The earnings compared with net income of $US577 million in the first quarter of 2012.

The government rescued Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae during the financial crisis after both incurred massive losses on risky mortgages.

Taxpayers have spent about $US170 billion on them, the costliest bailout of the crisis.

So far, the companies have repaid a combined $62.2 billion.

Under a federal policy adopted last summer, Fannie and Freddie must turn over their quarterly profits to the government.


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Suspect helped look for US missing women

Three US brothers have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of three women in Ohio. Source: AAP

THE suspect in the case of three US women rescued 10 years after they went missing, had been active in neighbourhood searches and vigils for the girls, neighbours say.

When neighbours gathered for a candlelight vigil just a year ago to remember one of the girls, Ariel Castro was there too, comforting the girl's mother.

Castro, just like everyone else in the tight-knit, mostly Puerto Rican neighbourhood of Cleveland, Ohio, seemed shaken by the 2004 disappearance of Gina DeJesus and another teenager who went missing the year before.

Now he and his brothers are in custody after a frantic call to emergency officials led police to his run-down house, where authorities say DeJesus and two other women missing for about a decade were held captive.

No charges have been filed against the men, but they could appear in court as early as Wednesday morning.

Amanda Berry, 27, Michelle Knight, 32, and DeJesus, about 23, had apparently been held captive in the house since their teens or early 20s, police said.

A six-year-old girl believed to be Berry's daughter also was found in the home, police Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said. He would not say who the father was.

About a week ago, Castro took the six-year-old girl to a nearby park, where they played in the grass, said Israel Lugo, a neighbour who lives down the street.

"I asked him whose kid was it, and he told me his girlfriend's daughter," Lugo said.

The women were reunited with joyous family members, but remained in seclusion on Tuesday.

They were rescued after Berry kicked out the bottom portion of a locked screen door and used a neighbour's telephone to call authorities.

An officer showed up minutes later and Berry ran out and threw her arms around the officer, a neighbour said.

Police identified the other two suspects as the 52-year-old Castro's brothers, Pedro Castro, 54, and Onil Castro, 50.

Calls to the jail went unanswered, and there was no response to interview requests sent to police, the jail and city officials.

A relative of the three brothers said their family was "totally shocked" after hearing about the missing women being found at the home.

Juan Alicea said the arrests of his wife's brothers had left relatives "as blindsided as anyone else" in their community.

Police would not say how the women were taken captive or how they were hidden in the neighbourhood where they had vanished.

Investigators also would not say whether they were kept in restraints inside the house or sexually assaulted.

Ariel Castro owned the home where the girls were found in a neighbourhood dotted with boarded-up houses just south of downtown.

Neighbours say he played bass guitar in salsa and merengue bands and gave neighbourhood children rides on his motorcycle.

Tito DeJesus, an uncle of Gina DeJesus, played in bands with Castro over the past 20 years.

He recalled visiting Castro's house, but never noticing anything out of the ordinary.

Juan Perez, who lives two doors down from the house, said Castro was always happy and respectful.

"He gained trust with the kids and with the parents. You can only do that if you're nice," Perez said.

Castro also worked until recently as a school bus driver.

He was friends with the father of Gina DeJesus, one of the missing women, and helped search for her after she disappeared, said Khalid Samad, a friend of the family.

"When we went out to look for Gina, he helped pass out fliers," said Samad, a community activist who was at the hospital with DeJesus and her family on Monday night.

"You know, he was friends with the family."

Antony Quiros said he was at the vigil about a year ago and saw Castro comforting Gina DeJesus' mother.

One neighbour, Francisco Cruz, said he was with Castro the day investigators dug up a yard looking for the girls.

Castro told Cruz, "They're not going to find anyone there," Cruz recalled.

Police now are conducting an internal review to see if they overlooked anything.

City Safety Director Martin Flask said on Tuesday that investigators had no record of anyone calling about criminal activity at the house, but were still checking police, fire and emergency databases.

Two neighbours said they called police to the Castro house on separate occasions.

Elsie Cintron, who lives three houses away, said her daughter saw a naked woman crawling in the backyard several years ago and called police.

"But they didn't take it seriously," she said.

Another neighbour, Israel Lugo, said he heard pounding on some of the doors of the house in November 2011.

Lugo said officers knocked on the front door, but no one answered.

"They walked to side of the house and then left," he said.

Police did go to the house twice in the past 15 years, but not in connection with the women's disappearance, officials said.

Knight vanished at age 20 in 2002. Berry disappeared at 16 in 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a Burger King. About a year later, DeJesus vanished.


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Asia, Europe weakness hit McDonald's sales

MCDONALD'S says its key sales figure slipped again in April, with the world's biggest hamburger chain citing challenging economic conditions around the globe.

The Oak Brook, Illinois-based chain says the figure was down 0.6 per cent globally.

That included a 0.7 per cent increase in the US, where it recently introduced its chicken McWraps to attract more customers in their 20s and 30s.

But it fell 2.4 per cent in Europe, its biggest market by sales.

In the region encompassing Asia, the Middle East and Africa, it was down 2.9 per cent.

The chain blamed fears over the avian flu for part of the Asian weakness.

Sales at restaurants open at least 13 months is a key metric because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations.


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Boy, girl charged over Qld armed robbery

A GIRL and boy, both 14, have been charged over the armed robbery of a supermarket in Bundaberg.

Queensland police allege the Glenmore girl threatened an employee at a store on Kepnock Road with a knife and made demands for cash about 5pm (AEST) on Wednesday.

The staff member handed over money and the girl fled, police said.

She was later arrested and charged with armed robbery, possessing dangerous drugs and possessing a pipe.

The boy was also charged with armed robbery, however a police spokeswoman was unable to provide AAP details about his involvement in the incident.

Police said "the pair will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act."


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HSBC Q1 profits more than double to $6.35

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 07 Mei 2013 | 20.47

THE HSBC banking group saw its net profits more than double in the first quarter, jumping to $US6.35 billion ($A6.22 billion) from $US2.58 billion in the same period of 2012.

Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said on Tuesday the bank has made important progress in increasing revenue and reducing costs, cutting some 40,000 jobs out of a workforce of 300,000 since 2011.

It also wrote off fewer bad loans compared with last year.

Gulliver says there are still challenges ahead, though the world economy is improving in some regions.

The bank expects the US economy to grow faster than other developed economies, though at a slower rate compared with past standards.

The mainland Chinese economy is expected to accelerate after a slower than expected start to the year and the eurozone is expected to contract.


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How keen spy Zygier turned prisoner

AUSTRALIAN-BORN Mossad agent Ben Zygier inadvertently compromised an Israeli intelligence operation.

The operation was aimed at recovering the remains of three missing soldiers and Zygier's action drew the wrath of his spy agency bosses.

That is the latest chapter in a story detailing the demise of the Melbourne-trained lawyer who committed suicide in 2010 after spending 10 months in a maximum-security cell, reports ABC TV.

The offence, which prompted the Israeli government to detain Zygier in a top security jail, has remained a mystery but had been linked to his naming of Lebanese citizen and double agent, Ziad al-Homsi.

In a program aired on Tuesday, al-Homsi admitted to ABC TV having been approached by Israeli contacts about the whereabouts of the bodies of three Israeli tank crewmen killed during Israel's incursion into Lebanon in 1982.

Soldiers Yehuda Katz, Zvi Feldman, and Israeli-US citizen Zachary Baumel were captured by Syrian troops and paraded through Damascus before their deaths. Their bodies had never been recovered, despite Israeli efforts.

Israeli agents initially made contact with al-Hamsi in a bid to retrieve the missing soldiers.

"After one year of meeting with them, at the last meeting they informed me about the location of the corpses, exactly ... I had to find a way (to) bring the bodies and keep them," al-Hamsi told the ABC.

However before the operation progressed, al-Hamsi was named as a Mossad informer and jailed in Lebanon.

While Zygier's motive remains unconfirmed, the ABC said that following a mediocre start to his career in espionage, the Australian had been keen to impress Israeli spy bosses. He made unauthorised contact with an agent of Lebanese Hezbollah with the view to recruiting him as a double agent.

By way of proving his credentials to his Lebanese counterpart, Zygier allegedly named al-Hamsi as an informer.

The ABC reported when Zygier named al-Hamsi he unwittingly subverted one of his agency's most important operations.

When the repatriation operation subsequently fell over, Zygier was imprisoned and after 10 months in a window-less cell, he killed himself.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr is still waiting for Israel to respond to a request for more information about the circumstances leading up to the death of the dual citizen.

The ABC spoke with unnamed medical professionals who had contact with Zygier in the weeks leading up to his death.

One man, identified only as "the doctor", said Zygier needed help.

"It was obvious that he needed to be in therapy with someone from the organisation where he had worked. Someone who would say to him, you made a mistake, but everything will be ok," the man said.

Former Mossad agent Rami Igra simply said: "He was psychiatric, full stop".

Despite being housed in a high-security cell with CCTV and audio recorders, Zygier's death was not captured on camera, with prison authorities reporting the cell's bathroom recorder was inoperative at the time.


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Asian stocks mixed, Tokyo surges

ASIAN markets were mixed on Tuesday, with Tokyo soaring to its highest close in almost five years after a four-day holiday weekend but with other major bourses following Wall Street's uncertain lead.

Japan's Nikkei added 3.55 per cent, or 486.20 points, to 14,180.24 - its best finish since June 2008 - as investors caught up with several positive reports from last week, including favourable US jobs data and a European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate cut.

Seoul fell 0.36 per cent, or 7.13 points, to close at 1,954.35 and Sydney lost 0.24 per cent, or 12.5 points, to end at 5,143.7 after Australia's central bank cut interest rates to a record low of 2.75 per cent.

Hong Kong rose 0.58 per cent, or 132 points, to 23,047.09 while Shanghai edged up 0.20 per cent as investors opted to stay on the sidelines before the release of economic figures later this week.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index increased 4.40 points to 2,235.57.

Tokyo rocketed on its first day of trading following the Golden Week break, aided by a United States Labor Department report on Friday that said the US economy added 165,000 jobs in April.

The department also revised sharply upwards its jobs figures for the previous two months, helping to send the unemployment rate down to 7.5 per cent.

On Thursday the ECB cut its key rates to an all-time low of 0.50 per cent - a decision that came after Tokyo had closed for the holiday.

"Signs that the US economy is improving, as well as the ECB's rate cut, are most encouraging fundamentally," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities.

On the forex market on Tuesday the dollar was buying 99.09 yen, down from 99.31 in New York late on Monday but well above the 97-yen range in pre-holiday May 2 trading.

The euro was at $1.3080 from $1.3074. The single currency was also buying 129.64 yen from 129.87 yen in US trading.

Trading in Chinese shares was subdued before the release of trade data on Wednesday, followed by inflation and industrial output figures on Thursday.

Investors were also watching for further news on North Korea after US defence officials said it had moved two missiles from launch sites on the country's eastern coast.

US stocks closed mixed on Monday, with the broad-based S&P 500 edging up 0.19 per cent to a new all-time closing high of 1,617.50 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 14,968.89.

In Europe on Tuesday, London and Frankfurt opened up 0.17 per cent while Paris was flat.

Oil was down in Asian trade, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, dropping 66 cents to $95.56 a barrel in the afternoon. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery shed 58 cents to $104.88.

Gold was at $1,460.00 an ounce at 1030 GMT compared with $1,476.70 late on Monday.

In other markets:

- Wellington rose 0.55 per cent, or 25.50 points, to 4,621.73.

Fletcher Building was up 3.05 per cent at NZ$8.44 while Air New Zealand rose 0.34 per cent to NZ$1.495

- Taipei was flat, easing 5.99 points to 8,163.06.

HTC fell 0.36 per cent to Tw$279.5 while TSMC rose 0.9 per cent to Tw$112.5.

- Manila slid 0.34 per cent, or 24.53 points, to 7,146.12.

SM Investments Corp. slid 1.03 per cent to 1,150 pesos and Ayala Land Inc. eased 0.9 per cent to 32.10 pesos.

- Singapore rose 0.03 per cent, or 0.87 points, to close at 3,383.16.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp gained 0.92 per cent to Sg$10.95 while real estate developer Capitaland dropped 1.35 per cent to Sg$3.66.

- Jakarta rose 1.02 per cent, or 50.92 points, to 5,042.79.

Palm oil firm Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology jumped 6.25 per cent to 6,800 rupiah, while food manufacturer Indofood Sukses Makmur fell 1.35 per cent to 7,300.00 rupiah.

- Kuala Lumpur increased 1.41 per cent, or 24.71 points, to 1,776.73

Top Glove Corp. gained 2.2 per cent to 6.40 ringgit, while CIMB Group Holdings added 3.6 per cent to 8.65 ringgit. Petronas Chemicals Group fell 0.3 per cent to 6.58 ringgit.

- Bangkok rose 1.47 per cent, or 22.20 points, to 1,601.15.

Banpu shed 2.70 per cent or 9.00 baht to 324.00 baht, but PTT Plc rose 1.23 per cent or 4.00 baht to 330.00 baht.

- Mumbai rose 1.09 per cent, or 215.31 points, to a three-month high of 19,888.95.

India's mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel rose 3.14 per cent to 330.05 rupees while leading vehicle maker Tata Motors rose 2.58 per cent to 298.55 rupees.


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UK comedian Tarbuck arrested: reports

UK comic Jimmy Tarbuck (R) has been arrested as part of a historical child sex abuse investigation. Source: AAP

BRITISH comedian Jimmy Tarbuck has reportedly been arrested and questioned about alleged child abuse - the latest in a long list of UK entertainers to face sex crime allegations.

The BBC, the Press Association and others say 73-year-old Tarbuck was arrested on April 26 and later released on bail.

Police in Britain do not usually name suspects who have not been charged. North Yorkshire Police said on Tuesday "a 73-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a historic child sex abuse investigation".

The force said the alleged victim was a young boy in the 1970s.

A comedian and quiz show host, Tarbuck has been a fixture on British television since the 1960s.

The arrest is not part of Operation Yewtree, the sex abuse investigation focused on late entertainer Jimmy Savile.


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Grundy's $20m art collection on show

PAINTINGS from the personal collection of Australian TV producer Reg Grundy have gone on display for the first time, in London, ahead of a predicted record-breaking auction.

The 90 works by some of Australia's most renowned artists are expected to fetch up to $A20 million when sold at Bonhams in Sydney on June 26.

An exhibition of 30 of the paintings opened in London on Tuesday before being returned to Australia next week to be shown around the country.

Works by Fred Williams, Arthur Boyd, Eugene von Guerard, Sidney Nolan, John Brack, Tom Roberts, Ian Fairweather and Rosalie Gascoigne are among the collection built by Mr Grundy, 89, and wife Joy Chambers-Grundy over almost 30 years.

It is considered the finest single-owner collection of Australian art to be offered at auction.

"The interesting thing about the collection is that the collectors wanted the best and could afford the best," John Cruthers, the curator of the collection, told AAP.

Among the most prominent paintings is Williams' 1963 painting You Yangs Landscape 1, carrying an estimated value of between $1.5m and $2m.

"That picture is the turning point in Fred Williams' career," Mr Cruthers said.

"We didn't just buy works by the best people, we bought their best works."

Mr Cruthers said the paintings were being sold as Mr Grundy and his wife travelled less and did not want to put them in storage.

The pair will keep 65 paintings.

Bonhams said The Grundy Collection was expected to set a new Australian art record for any single-owner collection and exceed previous blue-chip collections sold at auction, including The Fosters Collection of Australian Art (sold for $A13.3m in 2005) and the Harold E Mertz Collection (sold in 2000 for $15.9m).


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Syria 'to choose time' to react to Israel

Written By Unknown on Senin, 06 Mei 2013 | 20.47

DAMASCUS will respond to Israeli attacks against targets on its territory but will "choose the moment" and may not do so immediately, a Syrian political official says.

"Syria will respond to the Israeli aggression and will choose the moment to do so," the official close to the regime, who was speaking from Damascus on Monday, told AFP in Beirut.

"It might not be immediate because Israel now is on high alert," he added.

"We will wait but we will answer."

Damascus accuses Israel of carrying out raids against three military sites near the Syrian capital on Sunday morning, 48 hours after another reported Israeli strike inside the war-torn country.

A senior Israeli source said the strikes targeted weapons bound for Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite group which is allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Sunday, Syria's government said Israel's "aggression opens the door wide to all possibilities".

"The international community should know that the complex situation in the region has become more dangerous after this aggression," the cabinet said after an emergency meeting.

Syria "has not just a right but a duty to protect the homeland and the state and the people from any attack, whether internal or external, by all ways and means and capabilities available," it added.

Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot said on Monday the Jewish state had sent Assad a secret message saying it "does not intend to become involved in the civil war" in his country.


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Bomb kills 3 at Pakistan political rally

A BOMB has torn through a Pakistan election rally killing three people and wounding 45 others in the first campaign attack on a political party in the northwestern tribal belt.

The attack on Monday brings to 72 the number of people killed in violence targeting politicians and political parties since April 11, according to an AFP tally, ahead of Pakistan's historic elections on Saturday.

The explosion targeted the right-wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), a religious party in the outgoing government coalition, in Kurram, one of the seven districts making up Pakistan's Taliban-infested tribal belt on the Afghan border.

"Three people have died and 45 are injured. Eleven of them are in a critical condition," Riaz Khan, the top administrative official in Kurram, told AFP.

Khan said the bomb was planted inside the building where two national assembly candidates representing the JUI faction led by cleric Fazul-ur-Rehman were speaking to supporters.

One of the candidates, Munir Orakzai, escaped unhurt while the other, Ain u Din Shakir, was slightly injured, Khan said.

It was the first deadly attack on a political party in Pakistan's tribal belt since campaigning began for the polls, which will mark the first democratic transition of power after a civilian government completes a full-term in office.

Pakistan's interim Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso strongly condemned the attack and said that another national assembly candidate, had been injured.

Repeated calls from the interim administration for candidates to be granted more security have failed to stop a wave of attacks, most of them claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest blast. The tribal belt is a stronghold of Islamist militants and Kurram has been bogged by sectarian violence between Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority and Shi'ite minority.

Elections have been postponed in three constituencies, in the southwestern province Baluchistan, in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi and in the southern city of Hyderabad, where candidates have been killed.


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Nobel Prize winner de Duve dies at 95

A BELGIAN university says that biochemist Christian de Duve, who won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1974, has died in an act of euthanasia. He was 95.

His university, UCL in Louvain-la-Neuve, confirmed it was a case of euthanasia but did not disclose the method.

De Duve shared the Nobel Prize with two other scientists for their work and discoveries on the structural and functional organisation of the cell.

One month before his death last Saturday, he had taken the decision to end his life through euthanasia and had granted a big interview to the daily Le Soir to be published after his death.

He said he had been getting weaker and decided to plan, as he put it, "my own disappearance."


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Qatar Airways look to buy Airbus

QATAR Airways is looking to order another 10 to 15 Airbus A330s before the Paris air show in June and might also confirm options on Boeing's 787, the Gulf carrier's chief says.

"We are talking to Airbus for extra A330s," Akbar al-Baker told reporters in Dubai on Monday, saying he hoped to reach agreement before the air show which opens June 17.

But he said the European manufacturer will have to "sharpen their pencils," adding that those planes would fill the gap caused by the delay in Boeing's 787 Dreamliners.

Baker also said that his fast growing carrier "will not cancel the Dreamliners" adding that Qatar Airways might order additional units.

"On the contrary, we may order additional Dreamliners because we have purchase rights for another 30," he said.

Qatar Airways resumed operations on one of its five Dreamliners om May 1, he said, following the grounding of all 787s by the US manufacturer due to electrical problems.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators grounded Dreamliners worldwide in mid-January after failures of the lithium-ion batteries caused a fire on a parked plane in Boston and forced the emergency landing of an ANA-operated aircraft in Japan.

Following months of investigation, the FAA last month issued formal approval of Boeing's 787 battery fix, clearing the way for the troubled aircraft to fly again after the prolonged grounding.


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32 die in Bangladesh protest

BANGLADESHI police broke up a protest by tens of thousands of religious hardliners and shut down an Islamist television station after 32 people died in some of the fiercest street violence for decades.

Hundreds more people were reported injured in running battles as riot police broke up the rally near a key commercial district in a pre-dawn raid.

Dozens of demonstrators were also arrested, while the leader of the protests was put on a plane to the second city Chittagong.

Hundreds of bankers, insurance officials and stock market traders had to sleep in their offices as the sound of gunfire echoed around the Motijheel Commercial Area through much of the night.

Shops and vehicles were set alight while the roads were littered with rocks that protesters had thrown at police, witnesses said.

Police said they used sound grenades, water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse at least 70,000 Islamists who were camped at Motijheel as part of a push for a new blasphemy law.

"We were forced to act after they unlawfully continued their gathering at Motijheel. They attacked us with bricks, stones, rods and bamboo sticks," Dhaka police spokesman Masudur Rahman said.

The protesters dispersed early Monday, he added.

Mozammel Haq, a police inspector at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said that 11 bodies were brought to the clinic, including a policeman who had been hacked in the head with machetes.

A total of 21 other people were killed in the protests, according to an AFP toll compiled through police and medical officials.

This included eight people killed in the Kanchpur district on the southeastern outskirts of Dhaka, said the sources.

At least two people were known to have been killed in the southern coastal district of Bagerhat where police exchanged gunfire with several thousand Islamists, police spokesman Shah Alam told AFP.

A pro-Islamist television channel which broadcast live footage of the raid on Motijheel was meanwhile forced off the air in a dawn raid.

Diganta Television's chief reporter M Kamruzzaman said about 25 plain-clothed policemen and an official from the broadcast commission had entered their studios without warning.

The violence erupted Sunday afternoon after police tried to disperse tens of thousands of Islamists who had blocked major highways in Dhaka.

The protests had been instigated by Allama Shah Ahmad Shafi, the leader of Hefajat-e-Islam who is said to be about 90-years-old.

Police managed to persuade Shafi on Monday to leave his madrasa in Dhaka, escorting him to the airport from where he was to be flown to Chittagong.

In a sign of their desire to avoid inflaming tensions, police insisted he had not been arrested but was leaving of his own volition.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ruled out a new blasphemy law, insisting she will not cave into the demands of hardliners who have been infuriated by bloggers whom they accuse of insulting the Prophet Mohammed.

Chanting "One point, One demand: Atheists must be hanged", activists from Hefajat-e-Islam marched along at least six highways on Sunday, effectively cutting Dhaka off from the rest of the country.

Police said the number of protesters reached around 200,000 people at one point although the numbers had dwindled by the early hours.

Fearing further violence, Dhaka police Monday banned all protests as well as the carrying of firearms until midnight.


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UK deputy speaker denies sex allegations

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 05 Mei 2013 | 20.47

Nigel Evans has denied a gay rape charge, saying the allegations are "completely false". Source: AAP

A DEPUTY speaker of Britain's lower house of parliament said that allegations of raping one man and sexually assaulting another were "completely false", adding that he had previously regarded both men as friends.

Nigel Evans, 55, a lawmaker in Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party, issued the denial a day after he was questioned over the alleged attacks on two men aged in their twenties.

"Yesterday, I was interviewed by the police concerning two complaints, one of which dates back four years, made by two people who are well known to each other and until yesterday, I regarded as friends," Evans said in a statement to the media outside his home.

"The complaints are completely false and I cannot understand why they have been made, especially as I have continued to socialise with one as recently as last week.

"I appreciate the way the police have handled this in such a sensitive manner and I would like to thank my colleagues, friends and members of the public who have expressed their support and, like me, a sense of incredulity at these events."

Evans revealed he was gay in 2010, eight years after he was elected, saying he was "tired of living a lie".

He represents Ribble Valley in Lancashire, northwest England, and is one of the House of Commons' three deputy speakers, who are responsible for maintaining discipline in parliament in the absence of the speaker, John Bercow.

Police said the alleged attacks took place in the village of Pendleton, where Evans lives, between July 2009 and March 2013.


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Killings up Sudan tensions in Abyei region

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for calm following the killing of a top chief in Sudan. Source: AAP

TENSION and anger gripped the Abyei region disputed by Sudan and South Sudan after the killing of a tribal chief and a peacekeeper, residents said, as the UN boosted security.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called for calm after the Ngok Dinka chief Kual Deng Majok and the Ethiopian peacekeeper died in an "attack" by a Misseriya tribesman in the region on Saturday.

"It looks like Dinka are very angry," one local resident told AFP.

He reported gunfire in Abyei's town centre, where Misseriya run small shops.

A curfew was in effect, with the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei setting up extra checkpoints trying to restrict movement and prevent gatherings, said the resident on condition of anonymity.

The resident, who is familiar with the incident, said five Misseriya also died in Saturday's skirmish.

"There is high tension and all sides are alert, ready for anything," Mohammed Al-Ansari, a Misseriya chief in Abyei, told AFP.

The UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, said on Twitter that UNISFA was "expanding patrols with aim of maintaining calm".

UN chief Ban urged both tribes as well as the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to "avoid any escalation of this unfortunate event," a statement from his spokesperson said late Saturday.

The United Nations said the "attack by a Misseriya assailant on a UNISFA convoy" also seriously wounded two of its peacekeepers.

The status of Abyei has not been resolved despite steps which Sudan and South Sudan have taken since March to normalise their relations in other areas, after months of intermittent clashes along their undemarcated frontier.

Abyei's status was the most sensitive issue left unsettled when South Sudan separated from Sudan in 2011.

The territory was to hold a referendum in January 2011 on whether it belonged with the north or South, but disagreement on who could vote stalled the ballot.

Majok was heading north from Abyei town with UNISFA peacekeepers, who are the only authority in the area, when a group of Misseriya stopped them, another Misseriya leader said.

Despite negotiations, "a clash happened when a UNISFA soldier shot one of the Misseriya who was readying his weapon," said the Misseriya chief who asked to remain anonymous.

During the resulting clash, "the Dinka leader's car was hit by an explosion and he and his driver were killed".

Majok was travelling with UNISFA commander Yohannes Tesfamariam, who was unhurt, said the Abyei resident familiar with the situation.


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Bowel disease among Aussies tipped to rise

IT'S a pain in the guts that's putting a hole in the nation's pocket and experts want it nipped in the bud.

Australia has one of the highest rates of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the world, and the problem is getting worse.

But the lifelong disease that mostly affects young people has a low profile, even though it cost the national economy more than $US360 million ($A352.8 million) last year.

The number of Australians with IBD is expected to grow from 75,000 to 100,000 by 2023.

Experts say more young people are being diagnosed with IBD - which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis - every year.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by Crohn's and Colitis Australia calls for a national approach to IBD care.

Gastroenterologist Dr Greg Moore says at the moment, access to appropriate treatment is inconsistent, and patients usually only see specialists when the problem flares.

But relapses are unpredictable and failing to treat IBD when its active can lead to prolonged exposure to medications, adverse side effects, potentially invasive surgery or even death.

Dr Moore says government funding for IBD nurses will help ensure patients are treated sooner, avoiding unnecessary surgeries, hospital stays and pain.

"If we have specialist IBD nurses, they're readily accessible and can act as a point of triage so we can get patients in that need to be seen urgently and nip problems in the bud," he said.

The cause of IBD is unknown, but it is more common in developed countries and possibly to do with hygienic living or diet.

Dr Moore says GPs have poor knowledge of the condition and there is no permanent source of government funding for IBD nurses.

"IBD ticks all boxes for a chronic condition. It has elements that are preventable, keeping people out of hospital and improving productivity, yet we can't seem to attract funding or interest," he says.


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