Single parents to protest over payments

WELFARE advocates are planning to protest around Australia next month over the government's cuts to single parent benefits.

From January 1, single parents have not been eligible for the Parenting payment once their youngest child has turned eight years old and have been transferred to the lower Newstart allowance.

More than 60,000 single parents now receive between $60 to $100 a week less under entitlement changes.

The single parents action group (SPAG) are organising rallies in all major cities on February 5 to push for the government to reverse its decision, with the main protest at Parliament House in Canberra.

Protest organiser Samantha Seymour said the payment changes would have a detrimental impact on single parent families.

"Our purpose is to show the government that we will not tolerate their decision to further deprive and isolate Australians whose only crime is being single parents," Ms Seymour said in a statement on Sunday.

Families spokeswoman for the Australian Greens, Rachel Siewert, said she was concerned about the long-term impact of the lower Newstart payments on parents and their children.

"We shouldn't be condemning people to poverty," Senator Siewert said in a statement.

She said the government should reverse these payment cuts and also boost the Newstart allowance by $50 a week.

The government introduced the changes, worth around $728 million in savings over four years, in its bid for a budget surplus in 2012/13.

Last December, Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government was unlikely to have a surplus this financial year due to lower than forecast tax revenue.

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Closer Asian financial ties a boost: Swan

TREASURER Wayne Swan says closer financial ties with Asia will benefit the nation and Australian companies.

Mr Swan will speak at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong on Monday where finance ministers, business and financial leaders will discuss trends and developments in markets in Asia.

"At the forum I will continue to stress the importance of strengthening and developing closer financial integration within the region and the benefits this will bring," he said in a statement on Saturday.

He said he would reinforce Australia's keen interest in promoting greater use of China's official currency, the renminbi (RMB), for international trade and finance.

The RMB would be increasingly important in the Asian Century as the weight of global economic activity shifts from West to East, Mr Swan said.

On his previous trip to Hong Kong, Mr Swan and Hong Kong's financial secretary, John Tsang, announced the establishment of a joint Australia-Hong Kong RMB trade and investment dialogue.

The first will be held later this year in Sydney.

Mr Swan said his fourth visit to Hong Kong would allow him to promote Australia's economic interests in Asia.

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Country getting hotter: Climate Commission

AUSTRALIA was already a land of extremes but it's hotter than before with a greater risk of more heatwaves and more severe weather.

The Climate Commission says the length, extent and severity of the present heatwave is unprecedented and shows climate change is making extreme heat and bushfires worse.

It says the impact needs to be understood to plan for more of the same.

In a report called Off the charts: Extreme Australian summer heat, one of the authors, David Karoly, says the heatwave has affected over 70 per cent of Australia and longstanding temperature records have been broken.

"Although Australia has always had heatwaves, hot days and bushfires, climate change is increasing the risk of more frequent and longer heatwaves and more extreme hot days, as well as exacerbating bushfire conditions," Professor Karoly said in a statement.

"The baseline conditions have shifted.

"We live in a hotter world and the rise of more frequent and severe extreme weather has already increased."

The current conditions are unusual because of their widespread nature and duration, the report says.

Heat is a "silent killer" because small changes in the environment can have dramatic impact on the human body.

The report says if the core body temperature exceeds 38 degrees Celsius for several hours judgment and behaviour can be impaired.

Heatwaves in recent years have resulted in increased hospital admissions and death.

The Climate Commission says having a good understanding of climate change risks can ensure that action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and plans are made to respond to more extreme weather.

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Woman dies in car smash with truck in Qld

A WOMAN has been killed when the car she was driving collided with a semi-trailer in southwest Queensland.

Police said they were called the scene of the crash which occurred on the Warrego Highway near Jondaryan about 7pm AEST on Friday night.

They said a male passenger in the car was seriously injured while the driver of the truck was not injured.

The highway has been closed while the forensic crash unit investigates.

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Saudi king names women for Shura Council

SAUDI King Abdullah appointed 30 women to the previously all-male consultative Shura Council in decrees published on Friday, marking a historic first as he pushes reforms in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The decrees, published by the official SPA news agency, give women a 20 per cent quota in the Shura Council, a body appointed by the king to advise him on policy and legislation.

One decree amended an article in the council's statute to give women representation on the body while the other named the 150 members, among them 30 women.

King Abdullah took the decisions following consultations with religious leaders in the kingdom, where women are subjected to many restrictions and are not allowed to mix with men, according to the decrees published by the SPA.

They stipulate that men and women will be segregated inside the council, with a special area designated for females who will enter through a separate door so as not to mix with their male colleagues.

King Abdullah had been carefully treading towards change, introducing municipal elections for the first time in Saudi Arabia in 2005.

In September 2011 he granted women the right to cast ballots and run as candidates in the next local vote, set for 2015.

In announcing those changes, he also said he was planning to name women to the Shura Council.

Women's rights activists have long fought for the right to vote in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, which applies a strict version of Sunni Islam and bans females from driving or travelling without the consent of a male guardian.

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Judi Dench 'sorry' over Bond's Oscar snub

VETERAN British actress Judi Dench has spoken of her disappointment that the latest James Bond film Skyfall did not feature more prominently in the latest round of Oscar nominations.

The 23rd outing of 007 in a 50-year franchise opened in Britain late last year to rave reviews and broke box office records, but failed to meet expectations in Thursday's shortlist of screen candidates.

"I'm very, very sorry nothing has been recognised," said Dame Judi, who plays MI6 chief M in Skyfall.

"That's a great pity. I thought Sam (Mendes) directed it beautifully. It's a terrific film. I think that all round it was really wonderfully presented, filmed, lit and shot," she added, during an interview with London's Radio 4.

Skyfall received five nominations in Los Angeles in production categories.

British singer Adele made the shortlist for the best song, with Skyfall's theme.

Asked if she thought there was a bias against 007 films when it comes to awards, Dench replied: "I hope not."

The film, starring Daniel Craig as Bond, has eight 2013 Bafta nominations, including one for Outstanding British Film.

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New TVs will be 'watching' viewers

IN the new world of technology, television is not just for watching. It is also watching you.

So-called smart TVs being unveiled this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas offer technologies that watch the viewer, in an effort to offer more relevant programming.

The idea may sound eerie to those familiar with George Orwell's novel 1984 but people in the industry say this is the next step in the evolution of TV viewing.

Chinese manufacturer TCL unveiled a new TV and set-top box using the Google TV platform which recognises who is watching in order to suggest potential programs.

The new TV developed with Marvell Technology Group uses sensors and voice recognition to determine and can offer streamed or live programs to appeal to an individual or family.

"We have developed many innovations to personalise the viewing experience," said Haohong Wang, general manager in the US for TCL, a major global manufacturer which has made TVs under the RCA and Thomson brands.

This offers a "game-changing entertainment experience for consumers around the world that will drive the smart TV market forward at a rapid pace," said Weili Dai, co-founder of Marvell.

Panasonic also used CES to show its new Viera smart television which can recognise users and create a home screen allow programming tailored for each.

Other manufacturers are working on similar technology which take advantage of television over Internet.

This new interactivity opens up possibilities for advertisers who will be able to develop more targeted pitches, but raises some of the same privacy concerns of data collection on the web.

"The concept is not so much Big Brother as Big Marketer," says Thomas Coughlin of the data consulting firm Coughlin Associates.

"This could be creepy to some of us because it is making use of data in a way that has not been done before."

Coughlin said consumers will want to know where the data is and how it might be shared, and says there also may be questions about security of the data in the cloud.

Rob Enderle, an analyst and consultant said this model will become the norm as television gravitates to internet platforms.

"Increasingly, TVs will know who is watching them and I expect advertisers will know shortly thereafter.

"This should result in shows and commercials you like more and even better products but far less privacy."

Stu Lipoff, from the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, said TV on mobile devices will have similar characteristics.

"The website not only knows you are interested in Chevy, but knows where you are," he said.

James McQuivey at Forrester Research said consumers will accept these privacy tradeoffs if they see an advantage to the new style of television.

McQuivey said millions have already accepted this type of tracing by connecting their TVs to Xbox consoles with Kinect motion detection where "the camera is tracking you all the time."

"This tells me Orwell got it wrong," he said. "Orwell's camera did the bidding of the state and these cameras do your bidding."

But he said companies should be prepared to develop privacy policies to avoid government intervention.

TCL's Wang says the TV makers are not interested in tracking people and will allow them options.

"We are an equipment company. What we want is to give a good user experience," he said.

If viewers feel uncomfortable with being monitored they don't have to use those features, "they can just turn it off."

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Gadget, apps aim to boost health, fitness

APPS, games or gadgets are trying to tackle some of the thorniest problems in health and medicine.

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is filled with new gadgets to monitor fitness, detect problems and find solutions to health issues ranging from obesity or diabetes to rare medical conditions.

One trend is "gamification," which uses a model from the video game industry to offer points and rewards to boost health.

At CES, the world's biggest technology show, UnitedHealthcare unveiled a joint effort with Konami Digital Entertainment to reduce childhood obesity with a new dance game that challenges youngsters while monitoring body mass index or how many calories are being burned.

The program "adds game mechanics and game psychology to make the experience more engaging and immersing," said Arianne Hoyland, game producer for the insurance giant.

Hoyland says the company also has mobile apps to provide rewards to pregnant women to encourage prenatal visits. The women are given a gift certificate but if they receive the right care, "we can offset those costs and keep them healthier," she said.

"It turns out gamification of health really works," said James McQuivey, analyst at Forrester Research.

"People have a competitive urge, and this can bring new people into something. People want peer recognition, they want to outdo other people."

Other firms are finding ways to use mobile apps to improve health care.

Business software giant SAP has developed an app called "Care Circles" that allows a parent or other individual to manage health care with a multitude of specialists and others.

The program, available for free, was developed by an SAP employee to co-ordinate care among several specialists for a child with a rare medical condition.

"This gets around privacy concerns because the care is controlled by the guardian or individual," said Rishi Diwan, a product manager at SAP who showed the app to CES visitors.

Diwan said the app can help people with special needs, and the company is working with the Alzheimer's Association and Breast Cancer Foundation to generate interest in the platform.

"We are thinking about ways to work on electronic medical records," he told AFP.

Other exhibitors at CES showed exercise armbands and other gadgets to track factors such as heart rates, or real-time monitoring of blood sugar for persons with diabetes.

Another showed a digital fork that monitors caloric intake and vibrates if its user is eating too much too fast.

Some use low-power Bluetooth-connected patches to transmit data to a smartphone, a godsend for Bastian Hauck, a competitive sailor with type 1 diabetes who attended CES to promote the Continua Health Alliance for mobile wellness.

Hauck told AFP the Bluetooth patch he wears transmits to a smartphone and enables him to monitor glucose in real time, helping him determine the best eating and insulin intakes. He shares that information with other diabetics.

Treating diabetes, Hauck said, "is like a guessing game. You have to do it 24/7. There is no rest."

The wireless app "makes it easier" and provides extra motivation by being part of a community battling the same disease.

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World must prepare to step up Syria respon

WORLD powers will have to step up their response to the Syrian conflict if the violence worsens, British Foreign Secretary William Hague says, warning that all options are on the table.

He has reiterated that Britain will seek to amend the EU weapons embargo on Syria when it comes up for review on March 1 to allow them to arm rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

In an update to the House of Commons, Hague said Britain was supporting UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's efforts to end the 21-month-old conflict, and revealed he would visit London for talks later this month.

But the foreign secretary warned: "Given the regime's intransigence and brutality, there is a serious risk that the violence will indeed worsen in the coming months.

"If that happens the international community's response will have to be stepped up.

"So we will not rule out any options to save lives and protect civilians in the absence of a political transition in Syria.

"We will ensure that our efforts are legal, that they're aimed at saving life and they support at all times the objective of a political transition and encouraging moderate political forces in Syria."

Hague repeated that Britain would seek to amend the European Union embargo blocking the delivery of weapons to either side in the Syrian conflict.

"No decisions have yet been made to change the support we provide to the Syrian National Coalition or the Syrian people," he said.

"But European countries now have the flexibility to consider taking additional steps to try to save lives if there is no progress in the near future.

"Clearly the best outcome for the Syrian people would be a diplomatic breakthrough, bringing an end to the bloodshed and establishing a new Syrian government able to restore stability.

"However we must keep open options to help save lives in Syria and to assist opposition groups opposed to extremism if the violence continues.

"We should send strong signals to Assad that all options are on the table. We will therefore seek to amend the EU sanctions so that the possibility of additional assistance is not closed off."

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Search to resume for missing NSW fisherman

A SEARCH for a rock fisherman who was swept off rocks on the NSW central coast will resume on Friday.

Police said the man, 60, was fishing on rocks at Little Bay when he fell into the water about 3.45pm on Thursday.

POlice said in a statement that the man was fishing on a rock ledge and was knocked into the water by a big wave.

Authorities subsequently launched a search for the man but could not locate him.

Police divers will assist with the search when it recommences on Friday morning.

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