Ukraine protesters expand camp after talks

Thousands of anti-government protesters continue to hold out in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Source: AAP

UKRAINIAN protesters have expanded their protest camp in Kiev closer to the administration of President Viktor Yanukovych after crisis talks to end Ukraine's worst crisis since its 1991 independence ended in deadlock.

After five days of clashes that activists say left five dead, Ukraine's three main opposition leaders held several hours of talks with Yanukovych late Thursday but the minor concessions they announced were greeted with derision by protesters.

The outcome to the crisis remains uncertain, with protesters refusing to give way after over two months of demonstrations against Yanukovych's refusal to sign a pact with the EU that have now turned into a broader movement against his four-year rule.

In a new tactic sure to rattle Yanukovych, thousands of protesters stormed local administration buildings in the west of Ukraine, seizing control or besieging governors offices in half a dozen cities.

Wearing helmets and ad-hoc body armour, the Kiev protesters worked through the night to build up their existing barricades around Independence Square using sandbags filled with snow and tyres, turning the centre of Kiev into a fortress.

In a clear warning to Yanukovych, their final barricade is now only a few dozen metres from the presidential administration located on Bankovaya Street in central Kiev.

Activists also occupied the agriculture ministry in the city centre, an AFP correspondent said, and it was not clear if its bureaucrats would be able to go to work.

Most shops and restaurants close to or in the protest zone have now closed down "for technical reasons", with Kiev's famed Khreshchatyk Avenue now an extension of the protest camp.

"I feel deceived. We waited all day for a result of the negotiations and we got nothing," said protester Yevgeny, 26, wearing a helmet.

"I have fear now but have even more fear for the future," he added.

Lyubov, a protester from Ivano-Frankivsk in west Ukraine who had travelled to Kiev, added: "We know the authorities do not want to compromise, we have known this for a long time."

Clashes that started Sunday on Grushevsky Street on the fringes of the main protest zone left five dead, according to activists. The authorities have only confirmed that two died from gunshot wounds but have claimed police were not to blame.

Opposition leader and former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko said the president appeared to be turning a deaf ear to the opposition's key demand of the resignation of the government.

"I feel how tense the atmosphere is. I feel how great the hopes are," he said.

Oleg Tyagnybok, leader of the Svoboda (Freedom) party, said there was a proposal to create a buffer zone between protesters and security forces that would leave the main protest camp on Independence Square untouched by police.

But when Tyagnybok asked protesters for a show of hands about whether the talks should continue, the answer was negative. It was not clear whether the opposition would continue the negotiations ahead of an extraordinary session of parliament Tuesday.

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Swastika on Austrian tombstone defies ban

Nazi symbols continue to be seen on Austrian tombstones despite laws against displaying them. Source: AAP

THE marble tombstone looks like others dotting the main cemetery of Graz, Austria's second city - but only at first glance. Carved into it are a swastika and the inscription: "He died in the struggle for a Great Germany."

Footsteps away, another gravestone is marked with the SS lightning bolts proudly worn by the elite Nazi troops who executed most of the crimes of the Holocaust.

Austrian law bans such symbols, and those displaying them face criminal charges and potential prison terms.

Yet the emblems reflecting this country's darkest chapter in history endure here, and officials appear either unable or unwilling to do away with them - despite complaints from locals.

The controversy reflects Austria's complex relationship with the Hitler era.

Annexation by Germany in 1938 enabled Austrians to claim after the war that they were Hitler's first victims.

Austria has moved since to acknowledge that it was instead a perpetrator. It has paid out millions of dollars in reparations, restored property to Jewish heirs and misses no public opportunity to ask for forgiveness for its wartime role.

Some comments by Graz city and church representatives responsible for managing the dispute suggest they see nothing wrong with graveyard Nazi displays.

While acknowledging the mayor's office was uncomfortable with the swastika, the city's spokesman, Thomas Rajakovics, called it an old "symbol in the English world that stands for the sun."

Christian Leibnitz, provost of Graz' Roman Catholic church, said "a lot" of tombstones in the city still displayed the swastika and suggested it had a right to remain in cemeteries as a "political and societal symbol" of the era, even "if I totally oppose this era."

Asked if the church was ready to put up a sign next to the grave explaining how the swastika is associated with Nazi horrors, he demurred, saying symbols displayed on other tombstones might be just as offensive to some people.

Pressed for specifics, he spoke of "anti-religious" symbols on some graves, adding without elaboration that the church was "not necessarily happy" with some of the emblems displayed on the cemetery's Jewish graves.

Austria enacted a law in 1947 banning Nazi symbols that led to the purging of such emblems from Austrian graveyards. Vienna cemeteries spokesman Florian Keusch says he believes none of the 500,000 gravestones in the Austrian capital now has such symbols, "and if we found any they would be removed."

But Rajakovics, the Graz spokesman, and Leibnitz, the church provost, say their hands are tied.

Both claim they are not aware of the grave with the SS symbol. But in the case of the swastika, they cite Graz' top prosecutor, Hans-Joerg Bacher, who ruled that the law prohibiting Nazi displays did not apply to that headstone because it was put up before the law was passed in 1947.

Under that interpretation, Graz officials say it's up to the grave's owner - a German man they refuse to identify - to voluntarily remove the emblem. But that's something they say he refuses to do.

Rajakovics says the city council criticised the headstone years ago, and the church, as the graveyard's owner, "is the only institution that can do something." Leibnitz, in turn, says the Roman Catholic church has "tried going to the politicians and to the state prosecutors" for a solution that has yet to materialise.

Meanwhile, the swastika remains - to the aggravation of its critics, including Austria's Jewish community.

Raimund Fastenbauer, who speaks for Vienna's Jews, said the problem is not with Austria's anti-Nazi laws but a reluctance to enforce them.

"This is disappointing and frustrating," he said.

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Procter & Gamble 2Q profit falls

PROCTER & Gamble says its second-quarter net income fell 16 per cent as the world's largest consumer products maker faced tough comparisons from a year ago, the stronger US dollar and flat sales globally.

But its adjusted earnings still beat expectations.

The maker of Tide detergent and Gillette razors says net income for the three months ended December 31 fell to $US3.43 billion ($A3.93 billion), or $US1.18 per share.

That's down from $US4.06 billion, or $US1.39 per share, last year.

In the year ago period the company had a 21 cent per share gain related to buying out its joint venture in Iberia.

Excluding restructuring costs in the latest period, earnings were $US1.21 per share, a penny above analysts' expectations.

Revenue was flat at $US22.28 billion, short of the $US22.34 billion in revenue analysts expected.

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Low UK interest rates to stay: Carney

BANK of England Governor Mark Carney says super-low UK interest rates will remain in place for a while yet as he effectively scrapped the monetary policy framework he introduced just months ago.

In August, the central bank said it would not consider raising interest rates from their super-low levels until unemployment fell to seven per cent.

However, in recent months unemployment has fallen faster than expected, hitting 7.1 per cent at last count.

In a speech to business leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Friday, Carney said the rate of unemployment consistent with stable inflation in the medium term "is somewhat lower" than the bank had assessed in August.

"The recovery has some way to run before it would be appropriate to consider moving away from the emergency setting of monetary policy," Carney said.

He said evidence that inflation is likely to remain subdued because of weak global growth and lower commodity prices also reinforced the need to maintain the current loose policy.

In December, consumer price inflation fell to two per cent, the first time in years it met the Bank of England's official target.

Carney also sought to reassure businesses and homeowners that when the time eventually comes to move away from the current "emergency settings of policy", any moves would be gradual.

To get the UK economy out of its deepest recession since World War II, the bank has kept its main interest rate at the record low of 0.5 per cent for nearly five years.

"The degree of stimulus will remain exceptional for some time," he said. "That should help reassure British business that the path of interest rates will be consistent with a sustained recovery - that is, with escape velocity."

Carney said the bank's assessment of how to update its forward guidance will begin with the February Inflation Report, its quarterly economic update.

A range of options will be considered, he said.

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Two men killed in German court shooting

TWO used-car dealers have been shot dead on the steps of a courthouse in the German city of Frankfurt, just before they were due to appear in court on attempted manslaughter charges.

The violence appeared to be the final act of a long-running feud among vehicle traders, prosecutors said.

Police arrested the alleged assailant minutes later on a busy Frankfurt square. No one else was hurt.

The two men had been waiting outside a building entrance inside the court complex on Friday morning when a third man arrived, immediately pulled a gun and opened fire.

One victim, 45, died instantly, and his body was still lying on the stairs hours later as forensic experts gathered evidence.

The assailant chased the other man, aged 50, into the building, shot him and then stabbed him. The victim was rushed to hospital, but died of his wounds.

"The whole business happened in a space of seconds," detectives said later.

The alleged assailant, 47, dropped one of his guns and ran away, but was quickly seized by police on the nearby square, Konstable Wache.

Prosecutors said the men who died had been summoned to court for a retrial in connection with a knifing in a northern suburb in 2007 in which two other used-car dealers were wounded.

A 2008 trial had ended with an acquittal, with judges ruling it was possible they had acted in self-defence, but prosecutors then appealed and obtained a retrial on the attempted manslaughter charge.

Prosecutor could detail how Friday's assailant was associated with the 2007 violence.

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Bieber arrested in Miami for drag racing

Priest charged with sex offences

POLICE investigating a paedophile ring at two boarding schools in Bathurst have today arrested and charged a former Catholic priest.

$580m seized in laundering probe

BIKIE gangs and people smugglers are using a "complex'' network of more than 20 countries to launder millions of dollars through Australia, authorities say.

Star had 'suicidal thoughts' court told

MANLY Sea Eagles player Richie Fa'aoso was having "suicidal thoughts" after breaking his neck and being told he might never play the game of rugby league again, a court heard this morning.

Ibrahim hits back at clean-up

KING of the Cross John Ibrahim has offered to dig into his own pockets to fund an anti- violence campaign aimed at young men.

26 killed on roads since New Year

Police said of those killed this year, 15 were drivers, three were passengers, five were motorcyclists, two were pedestrians and and one was riding a bicycle.

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Bushfire downgraded but threat remains

A bushfire continues to burn out of control in the City of Kwinana, threatening lives and homes. Source: AAP

THE danger from a bushfire in Perth's southern suburbs has been downgraded but authorities warn there is still a threat to lives and homes with conditions expected to change.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) downgraded the emergency warning for Medina, Calista and Leda in the City of Kwinana to a watch-and-act alert at 5.45pm (WST).

While it has been downgraded, DFES says people need to leave the area or prepare to "actively defend their homes" from a fire that has burnt through about 49 hectares.

The blaze is moving northwest and is out of control and dangerous.

"There is a possible threat to lives and homes as a fire is approaching the area and conditions are changing," DFES warns.

"Burning embers are likely to be blown around your home. Spot fires are starting up to 100 metres ahead of the fire."

People who have left the area should not return and those staying to protect their homes shouldn't rely on mains water as pressure may be affected.

"Close all doors and windows, and turn off evaporative air conditioners, but keep water running through the system if possible," DFES advises.

A watch-and-act alert has also been issued for people in Kwinana Beach, east of Rockingham Road and Patterson Road to the railway line in the City of Kwinana.

A bushfire advisory has been issued for people in Orelia, Kwinana Town Centre and Parmelia.

Aerial support has been sent to assist ground crews.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

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Govt helping the ACCC, Billson says

THE federal government is working with the competition watchdog to try and fix its dire financial position.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed late last year that it would run out of money in April.

Minister for Small Business Bill Billson said in a brief statement on Thursday that the federal government was actively working with ACCC chairman Rod Sims to remedy its financial predicament.

Mr Billson did not give details.

Mr Sims told a senate hearing late last year the commission's reserves had been run down over the past three years and it was being asked to do more as the economy grows.

He said the ACCC had undertaken voluntary redundancies and reduced travel and costs.

One of the federal government's plans is to give the ACCC extra powers and funding to ensure price cuts from the carbon tax repeal are passed to consumers.

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US tourist likely killed by elephants

PARK rangers in Thailand have found the body of an American tourist who was apparently trampled to death by elephants in a reserve outside Bangkok.

The woman went missing on January 13 in Thailand's Kaeng Krachan National Park in the western province of Petchaburi, said police Colonel Woradet Suanklaai on Thursday.

She was found crumpled in the woods five days later after a 70-person search team was deployed, and the severity of the injuries indicated she was likely trampled to death.

"Her arms, her wrists and other parts of the body were broken, so we assumed she was trampled by elephants because no humans could have caused such powerful damage to the body," Woradet said.

Police sent the body to a forensic institute in the capital to determine the cause of death, he said.

The US Embassy in Bangkok confirmed the death, but gave no details.

Kaeng Krachan is the largest national park in Thailand, covering nearly 3000sq km of forest. It is 200km southwest of Bangkok.

Woradet said the woman, who was in her 20s, was travelling alone when she left a camping ground in the park.

"Looking at the pictures she took in her camera, we see a lot of animals, birds, snakes, lizards," Woradet said.

"We assumed she wanted to take pictures of elephants because that's what the Kaeng Krachan National Park is famous for. We believed she wanted to find them and take some photos."

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Tassie freight schemes need change: report

TASMANIA'S freight headache looks set to continue with a Productivity Commission report finding the island state requires ongoing and improved support to maintain viable links to mainland Australia and international ports.

The draft report released on Friday recommends updates to current arrangements, which see the federal government subsidise goods and passenger services to help offset the cost disadvantage of Bass Strait.

"The design and administration of the current subsidy schemes are out-dated, resulting in outcomes not well-aligned with the schemes' underlying objectives," Commissioner Karen Chester said.

"The embedded administrative complexity also gives rise to anomalies and some perverse incentives."

Without change, the federal government will pay $2 billion over the next 15 years to fund the schemes.

There is a risk that subsidy recipients will become reliant on the funds, which will subsequently reduce the productivity of the Tasmanian economy, the report said.

The commission recommends the schemes are regularly and independently reviewed.

After a period of public consultation the report - titled Tasmanian Shipping and Freight - will be submitted to the Australian government in March.

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2 bodies found after migrant boat sinks

GREEK officials say the bodies of a woman and an 11-year-old boy have been found a day after a fishing boat crammed with immigrants capsized in the dark, leaving 12 people feared drowned in the Aegean Sea.

A coastguard statement says the two bodies were found on Tuesday by authorities on the nearby Turkish coast.

The crippled vessel, whose engine failed as it was trying to reach Greece illegally, was being towed by a Greek patrol boat when it overturned.

Wednesday's statement says photos of the bodies were identified by some of the 16 survivors. Their nationalities were not announced.

The United Nations refugee agency has expressed dismay at the accident, urging Greece to investigate the circumstances.

Greek authorities say the boat capsized during a panic after two passengers dived overboard.

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Two shot dead as Ukraine police storm Kiev

Ukraine's opposition has accused President Viktor Yanukovych of fanning violent protests in Kiev. Source: AAP

TWO activists have been shot dead as Ukrainian police stormed protesters' barricades in Kiev, the first fatalities in two months of anti-government protests.

Hours after the deaths were reported on Wednesday, police launched a fresh assault on the protesters in central Kiev, driving into their lines using tear gas and stun grenades.

The protesters fought back in intense clashes, with casualties being loaded into ambulances.

The deadly violence horrified Ukrainians, who have never witnessed such scenes in their country, including during the 2004 Orange Revolution which was almost entirely peaceful.

The EU called for an immediate end to the violence and the US slapped visa restrictions on Ukrainian officials it blamed for cracking down on protesters.

But Ukraine's prime minister labelled the radical protesters behind the clashes as "terrorists".

Wednesday's deaths occurred during chaotic scenes as police marched through the protesters' barricades shortly on Wednesday morning local time on Grushevsky Street in Kiev, an AFP correspondent said.

New clashes broke out as the police arrested protesters and created a large hole in barricades set up behind the burned-out wrecks of destroyed police buses.

Protesters hurled Molotov cocktails and stones while police responded with stun grenades and fired rubber bullets, an AFP correspondent said.

General prosecutors confirmed earlier information from the protest movement that two activists had been shot dead, one of them with wounds to head and chest.

Protesters claimed they were shot by police snipers but this was not confirmed.

Meanwhile, the medical centre of the protest movement said a third activist was killed after falling from the top of the ceremonial entrance to Dynamo stadium near the protests.

With Ukraine supposedly celebrating its annual day of unity, President Viktor Yanukovych prayed for the country at a ceremony to mark the occasion, the presidency said.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov indicated that the government was in no mood for compromise, savaging the behaviour of the protesters.

"The cynicism and amorality of the terrorists has reached a point that they are throwing Molotov cocktails right at living people," he told a cabinet meeting.

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Abbott says navy claims are baseless

Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) says Indonesia is Australia's most important single relationship. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says there is "absolutely no evidence" to back up claims Australian sailors mistreated asylum seekers during a boat tow-back operation.

Indonesian police are investigating after the ABC aired footage of asylum seekers receiving medical treatment for burns they allege were inflicted when they were forced to hold onto hot engine pipes during a boat tow-back operation to Rote Island.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison denied the allegations on Wednesday, saying people smugglers had reason to fabricate them to undermine Australia's border protection policies, and his comments were backed up by Mr Abbott in Switzerland.

"There's absolutely no evidence for them," said Mr Abbott, in Davos for the World Economic Forum.

"These are just claims without any apparent facts to back them up.

"I fully support the statement of the minister on this subject and I have complete confidence in the decency, the humanity and the professionalism of Australia's naval and customs personnel, who I commend for a magnificent job. A job which is increasingly effective and successful."

Asked if the aired footage constituted as evidence, Mr Abbott said: "Who do you believe?

"Do you believe Australian naval personnel or do you believe people who were attempting to break Australian law? I believe Australian naval personnel."

Okto George Riwu, a spokesman for Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara provincial police, said earlier officers were looking into the allegations but did not yet have evidence to back up the allegations.

Mr Abbott said the claims would not impact upon Australia's longstanding policy of turning back asylum-seeker boats "when it's safe to do so".

The prime minister's comments came after he moved to ease tensions with Indonesia on Tuesday by declaring it was Australia's "most important single relationship".

However, in the wake of the naval infringement controversy, Mr Abbott said Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must understand border control was a matter of sovereignty for Australia.

Australian Customs and Defence have started a review into the entry of Australian vessels into Indonesian waters after the incursions reignited tensions between the nations.

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Royal wedding activists lose appeal

ROYAL wedding protesters have lost the latest round in their legal action over how the Metropolitan Police conducted operations when Prince William married Kate Middleton.

When a case brought by 20 individuals, who claimed they were the victims of unlawful searches and arrests, went to London's High Court in 2012, the Met were accused of effectively "suppressing anti-monarchist sentiment" at the time of the April 2011 event.

But Lord Justice Richards and Justice Openshaw ruled that the police, who argued that their action was justified and proportionate, had acted within their powers and were not guilty of operating an unlawful policy.

The 20 were among scores arrested or subjected to searches before or on the wedding day.

One group involved 15 protesters arrested at various locations in London, including at a Starbucks in Oxford Street, Charing Cross and those attending the Queer Resistance zombie picnic in Soho Square.

Their lawyers said the case touched on "the most important of constitutional rights, namely the right to free expression and to protest, both of which are elemental to a properly functioning democracy".

The 2012 finding by the two judges is no longer the subject of challenge but an appeal was brought on behalf of four people on whether the deprivation of their liberty contravened Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

On Wednesday, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Lord Justice Leveson and Lord Justice Aikens in the Court of Appeal said they were satisfied that the arrests and detentions were lawful.

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Confidence climbs among mid-size firms

BUSINESSES expect a better trading year in 2014 amid strong profits and a reduction in operating costs.

The Commonwealth Bank future business index, which gauges the sentiment of mid-size businesses with a turnover of $10 million to $100 million, suggests businesses are experiencing a sharp increase in confidence.

The index was 17 points in the December quarter, its highest level since the survey began in September 2011, and up from 10.8 points in the previous three months.

"The vast majority of businesses are anticipating a more prosperous year ahead," said the bank's general manager for corporate financial services, Michael Cant, when the report was released on Thursday.

"Notwithstanding the buoyant sentiment ... there remains a level of conservatism as businesses continue to focus on managing costs."

The survey found the top three challenges facing business are weak consumer confidence, a falling Australian dollar and uncertainty about government policy decisions.

There are also increasing concerns about skills shortages.

However, 77 per cent of organisations expect a better performance in 2014 compared with 2013.

The survey's revenue index for the next six months jumped to 41 points in the December quarter from 25 in the September quarter, the profit forecasts index increased to 27 from 15, and the operating costs index eased to 29 from 33.

Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe said the sharp improvement in revenue and profit expectations was quite encouraging.

"We're seeing this improved sentiment flow through to other important areas, such as an enhanced appetite for risk and an expected increase in capital expenditure and headcount," he said.

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