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Sydney's firework go off with a roar

Written By Unknown on Senin, 31 Desember 2012 | 19.50

Sydney's lord mayor says the city is spending $6.6 million on its New Year's Eve event. Source: AAP

SYDNEY'S skyline has exploded in gold, pink, green and blue as part of the traditional New Year's Eve family-oriented curtain raiser.

The ten minute spectacular at 9pm (AEDT)- which illuminated the city and dazzled spectators - is a warm-up for the city's midnight show-stopper.

Under balmy and clear skies, tens of thousands of revellers lined Darling Harbour and other viewing hotspots, and about 1.5 million filled the harbour foreshore.

As streams of incandescent colour shot into the heavens, families on picnic blankets cheered and clapped along with others aboard luxury yachts.

Colours streamed from four barges situated around the harbour, with gold flashes cascading like tinsel as a gold butterfly-like design lit up the bridge.

At one stage fireworks fell from the structure like a waterfall, with the display reaching a kaleidoscopic climax of green, red and blue fireworks.

"It was all great, amazing," said Lee Whittaker, from Denistone, who brought her kids Mel and Leon with her.

Kallya Alffonso, from Maroubra, said festivities in Sydney were much better than her native Brazil.

"Sydney is a very pretty city, the Harbour Bridge and Opera House make it looks spectacular," she said.

"It's the spirit too, everybody is here together, and it's just the whole atmosphere."

Event organisers estimate a record 130,000 people packed Sydney's Darling Harbour for the 9pm display.

"There is definitely more people here than last year," organiser Sal Sharah told AAP.

"We've had great weather and a great lead up to this evening."

The early show was greeted with cheers from the thousands of spectators at Lady Macquarie's Chair, many of whom had waited much of the day under a hot sun.

"I think they were awesome," said nine-year-old Nell Whittaker.

"I loved the sparkle effect, and they were really loud too."

A much-hyped show-stopper is then set to wow the world at midnight.

All eyes are on Sydney, one of the first major cities to ring in the new year, with more than a billion people expected to tune in to watch the $6.6 million party worldwide.

Many local partygoers are only now emerging to gather at pubs and clubs in time for midnight.

Others will cram onto rooftops or gather in backyards for a VB and sausage sambo to say goodbye to 2012

Celebrations in Sydney dwarf rival cities, with only 100,000 attending Paris fireworks, while 700,000 revellers gather for festivities in London.

Pop princess Kylie Minogue, chosen as the event's creative ambassador, will be honoured with a one-of-a-kind sparkling musical note firework at the turn of the year.

The semiquaver will be one of 100,000 individual pyrotechnic creations this year, including brand new koala, octopus and hand images up in lights.

People going to the CBD to watch the fireworks have been urged to leave their cars behind and take public transport, with road closures in place and extra + and buses laid on for the night.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge will be closed in both directions from 11pm on Monday to 1am on Tuesday.


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UK singer remanded on child sex charges

ROCKER Ian Watkins has reappeared before a Welsh court to face allegations of plotting to rape a baby girl.

The 35-year-old vocalist, whose band Lostprophets has sold more than 3.5 million records worldwide, was arrested with two women earlier in December.

As well as being charged with conspiring to rape a child under the age of 13, Watkins faces five other sex abuse charges.

They include conspiring to engage in sexual activity with two young children as well as making, downloading and distributing child pornography and accessing "extreme pornography" - relating to animals.

During a previous hearing at Cardiff Magistrates Court, Watkins' legal team said the Last Summer singer would be denying the charges against him.

He was remanded in custody over the Christmas period with two women - who face similar child sex charges.

The pair, aged 20 and 22, cannot be named for legal reasons.

On Monday Watkins and his co-defendants appeared in Cardiff Crown Court via video-link.

All three only spoke to confirm their names at the preliminary hearing, a formality in the legal process, which lasted less than 10 minutes.

Watkins was refused bail and remanded in custody with a plea and case management hearing scheduled at Cardiff Crown Court for March 11.


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Iran tests weapons near Strait of Hormuz

IRAN'S navy says it has test-fired a range of weapons during ongoing manoeuvres near the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-fifth of the world's oil supply.

The Monday report by the official IRNA news agency quotes exercise spokesman Admiral Amir Rastgari as saying the Iranian-made air defence system Raad, or Thunder, was among the weapons tested.

Iran says the system fires missiles with a range of 50km, capable of hitting targets at 22,000m.

He said torpedoes and underwater and surface-to-surface rockets were also successfully tested.

The drill began Friday and ends Wednesday. It's one of a number of exercises Iran holds annually.

Iran has in the past said it might close the strait over Western sanctions, but has not made such threats recently.


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Syria says will respond to conflict talks

Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi believes he has a peace plan the international community can adopt. Source: AAP

DAMASCUS will respond to any initiative that could solve Syria's 21-month conflict through talks, its premier says, after peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi announced he had a plan to end the bloodshed.

"The government is working to support the national reconciliation project and will respond to any regional or international initiative that would solve the current crisis through dialogue and peaceful means and prevent foreign intervention in Syria's internal affairs," Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi told parliament on Monday.

Halaqi emphasised the revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has left an estimated 45,000 people dead, must be resolved only by the Syrian people, "without external pressures or decrees".

The country, he said, was "moving toward a historic moment when it will declare victory over its enemies, with the goal of positioning Syria to build a new world order that promotes national sovereignty and the concept of international law".

But regime officials and state media have long categorised activists and armed insurgents alike, as enemies or "terrorists" funded by Gulf rivals Qatar and Saudi Arabia, former ally Turkey and the West.

Brahimi said on Sunday he had crafted a ceasefire plan "that could be adopted by the international community," but that it was rejected by the opposition, which insists on Assad's departure before any dialogue can take place.

The uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful protests inspired by the Arab Spring, but steadily morphed into an armed rebellion following a brutal government crackdown on dissent.

Even though Syrian rebels now hold vast swathes of territory and have struck the heart of Damascus, the regime has so far stood firm despite Western predictions of its imminent fall.


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Man, 18, dies after Adelaide shooting

A YOUNG man is dead and a 17-year-old has been arrested after a shooting in Adelaide's southern suburbs.

The 18-year-old was shot at Sixth Avenue, Warradale around 7.40pm (CDT) on Monday and was rushed to Flinders Medical Centre in a critical condition, but died.

Major Crime Investigation Branch Detective Inspector Mark Trenwith says it's not believed the shooting was a random attack.

"We believe the victim and the offender were known to each other and there was some sort of an altercation and gunshots were fired and tragically a young man is now dead," he told Adelaide Now online.

"It is a horrible incident on New Years Eve, for a young person to lose his life in such a fashion."

Police have recovered the handgun allegedly used in the shooting.

A 17-year-old boy from the southern suburbs has been arrested and is expected to be charged.


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Syrian troops hit Homs, kill 23 children

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 30 Desember 2012 | 19.50

SYRIAN regime forces have pressed a fierce offensive in Homs after overrunning a key neighbourhood of the central city, according to a watchdog, which also listed 23 children killed in violence across the country.

The latest bloodletting on Sunday came after international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned in Moscow that Syria was facing a choice between "hell or the political process" after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army, after Saturday seizing the Deir Baalbeh district in fighting which left dozens dead, fired off barrages of rockets into surrounding rebel-held neighbourhoods on Sunday as it sought to capitalise on its victory.

Troops also bombarded the nearby opposition stronghold of Rastan.

The Britain-based Observatory, which gathers its information from a network of activists and medics in civilian and military hospitals, said the final death toll from Saturday's clashes had not been finalised due to communications difficulties in the area.

A video released by the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a grassroots network of anti-regime activists, showed the bodies of nine male victims from Deir Baalbeh lying on the ground, their faces bloody and mutilated.

The authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified.

Near the capital on Sunday, loyalist troops carried out air raids on towns along the eastern outlying belt and on Daraya in the southwest, while fighting between rebels and the army erupted in the northeastern and southwestern suburbs.

The Observatory said 13 children were among the victims of bombardments in and around Damascus on Saturday, while 10 children were killed in air strikes across Aleppo province, including on rebel-held Aazaz near the Turkish border.

Analysts said the surge in air strikes by Syrian forces were a desperate attempt by President Bashar al-Assad's regime to reverse rampant gains by rebel fighters, especially in the north of the country.

Meanwhile, rebels made further advances on Sunday in the battle for the Hamidiyeh military post in the northwest province of Idlib which they stormed the previous day, the watchdog said.

During Sunday's clashes, three insurgents were wounded by machinegun fire, while warplanes raided a nearby village, the Observatory said.

A takeover of the Hamidiyeh post would pave the way for a rebel offensive against the nearby Wadi Deif base, one of the government's last outposts in the north.

Opposition fighters, mostly from the jihadist Al-Nusra Front, have been closing in on the base since overrunning the nearby town of Maaret al-Numan in early October.

In the south, a rebel was killed on Sunday in battles for control of several small border crossings along the regime-held frontier with Jordan, the Observatory said.

Syria and Jordan share a 370-kilometre-long border which hundreds of people cross on foot every day to escape the bloody civil war that the Observatory says has killed at least 45,000 people.

Brahimi on Saturday held talks with Lavrov on his end-of-year bid to accelerate moves to halt the Syria conflict.

He painted a stark picture of Syrian neighbours Jordan and Lebanon being overrun by a million refugees should heavy fighting for the seat of power break out in Syria's five-million-strong capital.

If this fighting "develops into something uglier ... (refugees) can go to only two places - Lebanon and Jordan", Brahimi said.

"So if the alternative is hell or the political process, we have all of us got to work ceaselessly for a political process," he said.


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East Timor hailed a UN success

TROOPS sent by Australia and New Zealand have all gone home and only a handful of United Nations police will be left when the UN flag comes down in East Timor's capital of Dili after six years.

"As of Monday, the liquidation team will be there. They are the ones who are unscrewing all the lightbulbs," said Ameerah Haq, UN under-secretary general and former head of the UN mission in East Timor.

The UN played a key role in the birth of East Timor, officially known as Timor Leste. It organised the 1999 referendum that ended 24 years of Indonesian occupation in which an estimated 183,000 people died through conflict, starvation or disease.

It helped run East Timor until 2002 when an independent government took over.

For many Timorese leaders it was a national humiliation to seek UN help in 2006 when soldiers sacked from the army launched a mutiny which sparked factional violence that left dozens dead and 150,000 people in makeshift camps.

"You don't want to say that a country learned by crisis," said Haq, but in this case there was "good benefit" from the Timorese seeing in a few days the burning, looting and destruction threatening all they had built in the past seven years.

"They just saw it collapse before their eyes and it was like: we did this to ourselves," she told AFP.

"It was a watershed moment in their experience."

The UN was able to make an impact because it was the East Timorese government which asked for help and working in a country the size of Timor was not like bringing peace to Sudan or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"In Timor, everything happened as it should," Haq said. "We had great access to the leadership, we had complete freedom of movement within the country."

The country has now had two relatively calm presidential elections, the 3000-strong police force has been retrained district by district, and the judiciary reformed.

Haq said she had seen political tensions boil up again. There were times when she would tell political leaders to "tone down the rhetoric".

"They would always tell me 'we all struggled together, we all saw what happened in 2006'," she said.

"They always assured me they would always stop short of the trigger. I learned to have confidence in that."

The big powers are now taking a more intense look at East Timor, which has significant oil and gas reserves even though it remains one of the most impoverished countries.

As a result US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited in September and China built the presidential palace and military headquarters.

Brazil is also a key source of aid while Cuba has trained hundreds of Timorese doctors.

Haq said East Timor knows that it must now concentrate on lifting the half of the 1.1 million population living below the poverty line.


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Russia investigates Moscow plane crash

RUSSIAN medics have begun identifying the bodies of four crew killed when a passenger jet careened off the runway of a Moscow international airport and smashed into a highway.

Rescue workers recovered the flight recorders from the four-year-old Tu-204 of tycoon Alexander Lebedev's Red Wings airlines late on Saturday as Russia began mourning its latest post-Soviet crash.

"The plane touched down in the proper landing area but for some reason was unable to stop on the strip," Federal Air Transport Agency chief Alexander Neradko said in televised remarks.

A bigger loss of life was averted only because the 210-seat liner was empty except for eight crew on their return from a charter flight to the Czech Republic.

Mobile-phone footage of the accident posted on the internet showed large chunks of debris hurtling over the highway and smashing into cars speeding on the highway whose drivers had to make sudden emergency stops.

The jet split into three pieces and required the temporary shutdown of both the Kiev Highway and Vnukovo, Moscow's third-largest airport and the site of a special terminal for Kremlin officials.

A security source said investigators had brushed aside poor weather conditions or pilot error and were focusing on technical problems with the Tupolev as the most likely cause.

"According to preliminary information, the Vnukovo catastrophe may have been caused by problems with the plane, which became exposed in difficult weather conditions," the unnamed official told the Interfax news agency.

Witnesses said heavy gusts accompanying a light snowfall were swirling over the airport at the time the plane came in for landing on Saturday afternoon.

Red Wings owner Lebedev - a billionaire famous for his critical view of the Kremlin and his ownership of the London Evening Standard and The Independent in Britain - said the jet had passed a meticulous check in November.

"Plane number 47 had accumulated 8500 flight hours and underwent its last serious check on November 23," Lebedev tweeted.

He also suggested that traffic controllers' initial refusal to authorise landing - requiring the plane to complete several circles over Vnukovo - might have been a contributing factor.

"All machinery has its limits, even when it is new," Lebedev wrote.


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French paper to publish comic on Mohammed

A FRENCH weekly known for publishing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed to the ire of conservative Muslims says it plans to release a comic book biography of Islam's founder that will be researched and educational.

Satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo has on several occasions depicted Islam's prophet in an effort to defend free speech and defy the anger of Muslims who believe depicting Mohammed is sacrilegious.

"It is a biography authorised by Islam since it was edited by Muslims," said Charlie Hebdo's publisher and the comic's illustrator, who goes by the name Charb.

"I don't think higher Muslim minds could find anything inappropriate," Charb said on Sunday.

The biography will be published on Wednesday and was put together by a Franco-Tunisian researcher known only as Zineb, Charb said.

The publisher said the idea for the comic book came to him in 2006 when a newspaper in Denmark published cartoons of Mohammed, later republished by Charlie Hebdo, drawing angry protests across the Muslim world.

"Before having a laugh about a character, it's better to know him. As much as we know about the life of Jesus, we know nothing about Mohammed," Charb said.

In September, Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of a naked Mohammed as violent protests were taking place in several countries over a low-budget film made in the United States that insults the prophet.

In 2011 Charlie Hebdo's offices were hit by a firebomb and its website pirated after publishing an edition titled "Charia Hebdo" featuring several Mohammed cartoons.

Charb, who has received death threats, lives under police protection.


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Man missing after canoe tips on NSW river

A MAN is missing after his canoe tipped over on a river in southwestern NSW.

The man, aged in his late 20s, was paddling on the Murrumbidgee River when the canoe overturned about 2.30pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

He failed to resurface, police say.

Police and emergency services were called out to a caravan park at Darlington Point and a search was begun. It was suspended at nightfall.

Police said the search would resume at first light on Monday and involve local officers, the State Emergency Service and Volunteer Rescue Association.


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Man drowns at NSW Central Coast beach

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 29 Desember 2012 | 19.50

A MAN has drowned at a beach on the NSW Central Coast after getting caught in a rip.

Police say the 27-year-old man was one of six people swimming at Budgewoi beach when four members of the group got into trouble because of strong currents at about 5.25pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

Most of the group were helped out of the water by friends but the 27-year-old could not be reached.

He was later taken from the water by beachgoers but could not be revived.


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Rape case attackers charged with murder

INDIAN police charged six men with murder, hours after a woman who was gang-raped and beaten on a bus in New Delhi nearly two weeks ago died in a Singapore hospital.

New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the six face the death penalty if convicted, in a case that has triggered protests across India for greater protection for women from sexual violence, and raised questions about lax attitudes by police toward sexual crimes.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was aware of the emotions the attack has stirred, adding it was up to all Indians to ensure that the young woman's death will not have been in vain.

The victim "passed away peacefully" yesterday at Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore with her family and officials of the Indian Embassy by her side, Dr. Kevin Loh, the chief executive of the hospital, said in a statement.

After 10 days at a hospital in New Delhi, the Indian capital, the woman was brought Thursday to Mount Elizabeth, which specialises in multi-organ transplants. 

Dr Loh said the woman had been in extremely critical condition since Thursday, and by yesterday her condition had taken a turn for the worse, with her vital signs deteriorating.

"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days," Dr Loh said.

"She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain. She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds, but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome."

The woman and a male friend, who have not been identified, were on a bus in New Delhi after watching a film on the evening of Dec. 16 when they were attacked by six men who raped her. The men beat the couple and inserted an iron rod into the woman's body, resulting in severe organ damage. Both were then stripped and thrown off the bus, according to police.

Indian police have arrested six people in connection with the attack, which left the victim with severe internal injuries, a lung infection and brain damage. She also suffered from a heart attack while in the hospital in New Delhi.

Indian High Commissioner, or ambassador, T.C.A. Raghavan told reporters that the scale of the injuries the woman suffered was "very grave" and in the end "proved too much."

He said arrangements were being made to return her body to India later today.

The frightening nature of the crime shocked Indians, who have come out in the thousands for almost daily demonstrations.

As news of the victim's death reached New Delhi yesterday, hundreds of policemen sealed off the high-security India Gate area, where the seat of India's government is located, in anticipation of more protests. The area is home to the president's palace, the prime minister's office and key defence, external affairs and home ministries.

The area had seen battles between protesters and police for days after the attack.

Ten metro stations in the vicinity also were closed, Mr Bhagat said.

Police were allowing people to assemble at the Jantar Mantar and Ramlila grounds, the main areas allotted for protests in New Delhi, he said.

Mourners began gathering at Jantar Mantar to express their grief and demand stronger protection for women and the death penalty for rape, which is now punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. Women face daily harassment across India, ranging from catcalls on the streets, groping and touching in public transport to rape.

They put a wreath studded with white flowers on the road, lit a candle and sat around it in a silent tribute to the young woman. Members of a theatre group nearby played small tambourine and sang songs urging the society to wake up and end discrimination against women.

Dipali, a working woman who uses one name, said the rape victim deserved justice.

"I hope it never happens again to any girl," she said.

Dozens of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi marched silently to the bus stop from where the rape victim and her friend had boarded the bus on Dec. 16. They carried placards reading "She is not with us but her story must awaken us."

Nehra Kaul Mehra, a young Indian studying urban and gender policing at Columbia University in the US, said "We come from a feudal and patriarchal set-up where we value men more than women."

"We kill daughters before they are born. Those who live are fed less, educated less and segregated from boys," she said with a black band of protest around her mouth.

Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, assured the protesters in a statement that the rape victim's death "deepens our determination to battle the pervasive, the shameful social attitudes and mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such an impunity."

The protesters heckled Sheila Dikshit, the top elected leader of New Delhi state, when she came to express her sympathy with them and forced her to leave the protest venue. They blamed her for the deteriorating law and order situation in the Indian capital.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the woman's death was a sobering reminder of the widespread sexual violence in India.

"The outrage now should lead to law reform that criminalizes all forms of sexual assault, strengthens mechanisms for implementation and accountability, so that the victims are not blamed and humiliated," Ms Ganguly said.

Prime Minister Singh said he understood the angry reaction to the attack and that he hoped all Indians would work together to make appropriate changes.

"These are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change," Mr Singh said in a statement.

"It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action."

He said the government was examining the penalties for crimes such as rape "to enhance the safety and security of women."

"I hope that the entire political class and civil society will set aside narrow sectional interests and agendas to help us all reach the end that we all desire - making India a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in," Mr Singh said.

Mamta Sharma, head of the state-run National Commission for Women, said the "time has come for strict laws" to stop violence against women. "The society has to change its mindset to end crimes against women," she said.

The tragedy has forced India to confront the reality that sexually assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, forcing them to keep quiet and discouraging them from reporting it to authorities for fear of exposing their families to ridicule.

Police often refuse to accept complaints from those who are courageous enough to report the rapes, and the rare prosecutions that reach courts drag on for years.

Indian attitudes toward rape are so entrenched that even politicians and opinion makers have often suggested that women should not go out at night or wear clothes that might be seen provocative.

On Friday, Abhijit Mukherjee, a national lawmaker and the son of India's president, apologised for calling the protesters "highly dented and painted" women who go from discos to demonstrations.

"I tender my unconditional apology to all the people whose sentiments got hurt," he told NDTV news.

Several Indian celebrities reacted with sadness over the woman's death. Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan tweeted, "Her body has passed away, but her soul shall forever stir our hearts."

Separately, authorities in Punjab state took action Thursday when an 18-year-old woman killed herself by drinking poison a month after she told police she was gang-raped.

State authorities suspended one police officer and fired two others on accusations they delayed investigating and taking action in the case. The three accused in the rape were arrested only on Thursday night, a month after the crime was reported.

"This is a very sensitive crime, I have taken it very seriously," said Paramjit Singh Gill, a top police officer in the city of Patiala.

The Press Trust of India reported that the woman was raped Nov. 13 and reported the attack to police Nov. 27. But police harassed the girl, asked her embarrassing questions and took no action against the accused, PTI reported, citing police sources.

Authorities in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh also suspended a police officer on accusations he refused to register a rape complaint from a woman who said she had been attacked by a driver.


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French panel overturns 75pc tax on rich

A FRENCH constitutional panel has thrown out a plan to tax the ultra-wealthy at a 75 per cent rate, saying it is excessive.

The constitutional council ruled that the highly contentious tax, which President Francois Hollande promised to impose while campaigning, was unfair. It was intended to hit those with incomes over 1 million euros ($1.29 million).

The French government approved the tax in its most recent budget, but even before many said it would do little to stem the country's mounting fiscal problems and would drive away the wealthiest citizens.

Mr Hollande's popularity, meanwhile, has been tanking as the country's unemployment continued its rise for the 19th straight month.

In recent weeks, Gerard Depardieu - France's most famous actor - moved to Belgium to avoid his home country's high taxes.


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Pakistan to lift ban on YouTube

PAKISTAN provisionally unblocked access to the popular video-sharing website YouTube after taking measures to filter blasphemous material and pornography, officials said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in September ordered the blocking of YouTube after the US-based website refused to heed the government's call to remove a controversial anti-Islam video.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has notified all internet companies to "immediately unblock/restore complete YouTube website provisionally till further orders".

Weeks of protests in Pakistan over the crudely made Innocence of Muslims film saw more than 20 people killed and caused serious damage in major cities.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Twitter that the decision to allow access was due to huge public demand, and that the telecom regulator would install a firewall to maintain a block on unseemly content.

"There was a great demand to unblock YouTube from all sections of society... expect the notification today," Mr Malik said.

"PTA is finalising negotiations for acquiring a powerful firewall software to totally block pornographic and blasphemous material," he added.

The Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) confirmed they have also received the notification and welcomed the announcement.

ISPAK Convener Wahajus Siraj said that when the ban first came into force, internet video traffic in Pakistan plummeted by up to 30 per cent.

"It is a good development because many people, especially students and institutions, were using YouTube for education, and were facing difficulties as alternate websites were not as good," he said.

According to PTA there are 2.1 million Internet subscribers in Pakistan.


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Macau-Hong Kong ferry crash injures 26

TWENTY-six people were injured in a collision between a Hong Kong-bound passenger ferry and a buoy in Macau, authorities said.

The ferry crashed into the buoy in Macau's Outer Harbour around 10 minutes after it left the ferry terminal at approximately 12:15 pm (0415 GMT), Macau Maritime Administration senior technical officer Lam Son said.

All of the injured were taken to a local hospital after the ship was towed back to the terminal, Mr Lam said.

"It was said that the boat went off course, so it crashed into a buoy," Mr Lam said, adding the ferry was not speeding and that the visibility was poor at only 0.8 nautical miles.

"Just by looking at the vessel, it doesn't seem to have extensive damage, but initial investigations showed that one of its underwater wings had fallen into the sea," he said.

Mr Lam said there were 175 passengers and eight crew members on board the vessel, and that everyone was accounted for. He also said the waterway reopened after forty-five minutes and that an investigation into the incident is under way.

Twenty-six people onboard suffered minor injuries, a government statement said, adding that "the ship lost power but did not have water leakage nor did it have the risk of sinking".

Television footage showed injured passengers being rushed off the ferry in stretchers, one-by-one, by emergency services.

A lot of passengers fell out of their seats because they were not wearing safety belts, a ferry passenger surnamed Leung told local television news channel Cable TV.

"Once the collision happened, I thought about the Lamma Island accident, so my wife and I immediately looked for life jackets to put on our son and ourselves," Mr Leung said, referring to the deadly October ferry collision in Hong Kong.

Thirty-nine people died and 87 were injured in Hong Kong's worst maritime disaster in decades, when a high-speed ferry collided with a pleasure boat carrying around 120 passengers on a company trip to watch National Day fireworks.


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2012 was England's wettest year on record

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 28 Desember 2012 | 19.50

ENGLAND has experienced its wettest year on record, with parts of the country due to receive further heavy downpours on the last weekend of 2012.

The UK Met Office confirmed that with a total average rainfall of 1095.8mm across England up until Thursday, 2012 is the wettest year since records began in 1910.

The figure surpassed the previous record of 1093.3mm in 2000.

"Since April we have had some really wet weather across England and that is largely a result of the shifting jet-stream pattern," Met Office spokesman Andy Yeatman told British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

"It means it has now been the wettest year in England since records began in 1910, and there is more rain to come."

Forecasters say it is possible more than 100mm will fall before January 1, as England's soggy festive season continues.


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China launches rival GPS satellite system

CHINA has launched commercial and public services across the Asia-Pacific region on its domestic satellite navigation network built to rival the US global positioning system.

The Beidou, or Compass, system started providing services to civilians in the region on Thursday and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020, state media reported.

Ran Chengqi, spokesman for the China Satellite Navigation Office, said the system's performance was "comparable" to GPS, the China Daily said.

"Signals from Beidou can be received in countries such as Australia," he said.

It is the latest accomplishment in space technology for China, which aims to build a space station by the end of the decade and eventually send a manned mission to the moon.

China sees the multi-billion-dollar program as a symbol of its rising global stature, growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

The Beidou system comprises 16 navigation satellites and four experimental satellites, the paper said. Mr Ran added that the system would ultimately provide global navigation, positioning and timing services.

The start of commercial services comes a year after Beidou - which literally means the Big Dipper in Chinese - began a limited positioning service for China and adjacent areas.

China began building the network in 2000 to avoid relying on GPS.

"Having a satellite navigation system is of great strategic significance," the Global Times newspaper, which has links to the Communist Party, said in an editorial.

"China has a large market, where the Beidou system can benefit both the military and civilians," the paper said.

"With increases in profit, the Beidou system will be able to eventually develop into a global navigation satellite system which can compete with GPS."

In a separate report, the paper said satellite navigation was seen as one of China's "strategic emerging industries".

Sun Jiadong, the system's chief engineer, told the 21st century Business Herald newspaper that as Beidou matures it will erode GPS's current 95 percent market share in China, the Global Times said.

Morris Jones, an independent space analyst based in Sydney, Australia, said that making significant inroads into that dominance anywhere outside China is unlikely.

"GPS is freely available, highly accessed and is well-known and trusted by the world at large," he said.

"It has brand recognition and has successfully fought off other challenges."

Mr Morris described any commercial benefits China gains as "icing on the cake" and that the main reason for developing Beidou is to protect its own national security given the possibility US-controlled GPS could be cut off.

"It's that possibility, that they could be denied access to GPS, that inspires other nations to develop their own system that would be free of control by the United States," he said.

"At a time of war you do not want to be denied" access, he said.

The Global Times editorial, while trumpeting Beidou as "not a second-class product or a carbon-copy of GPS" still appeared to recognise its limitations, at least in the early stages.

"Some problems may be found in its operation because Beidou is a new system. Chinese consumers should... show tolerance toward the Beidou system," it said.


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Woman injured in toilet fall in Qld

A WOMAN has been airlifted to hospital after becoming trapped in a long-drop outdoor toilet in central Queensland.

The woman, 65, was climbing off a trailer when she fell backwards into the 2.5-metre-deep open hole on a property at Wartburg, a spokeswoman for the AGL Action Rescue Helicopter said in a statement.

The Gladstone woman suffered a fractured leg in the tumble and spent a number of hours down the hole before being found by her husband.

Emergency services managed to get the woman out of the hole in what was described as a "very difficult extraction".

The woman was airlifted to Bundaberg Base Hospital in a stable condition.


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Putin signs anti-US adoptions bill

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin signed a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children, making the legislation official less than 24 hours after his office received it from Parliament.

The bill has angered Americans and Russians who argue it victimises children to make a political point, cutting off a route out of frequently dismal orphanages for thousands of children. The Russian-language hashtag "PutinEatsKids" was trending on Twitter just minutes after Mr Putin signed it.

UNICEF estimates that there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia while about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt a child.

The law also blocks dozens of Russian children now in the process of being adopted by American families from leaving the country. The US is the biggest destination for adopted Russian children - more than 60,000 of them have been taken in by Americans over the past two decades.

The measure is retaliation for an American law that calls for sanctions against Russian officials deemed human rights violators. The US State Department has said it regrets Russian Parliament's decision to pass the bill, arguing it would prevent many children from growing up in families.

Children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov says that 46 children who were about to be adopted in the US would remain in Russia if the bill comes into effect.

Mr Putin has said that US authorities routinely let Americans suspected of violence toward Russian adoptees go unpunished.

The passage of the bill followed weeks of a hysterical media campaign on Kremlin-controlled television that lambasts American adoptive parents and adoption agencies that allegedly bribe their way into getting Russian children.

A few lawmakers claimed that some Russian children were adopted by Americans only to be used for organ transplants and become sex toys or cannon fodder for the US Army.

A spokesman with Russia's dominant Orthodox Church said that the children adopted by foreigners and raised outside the church will not "enter God's kingdom."


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Bonfire bullet injures Sydney boy

A TEENAGE boy has been injured by a bullet he threw into a bonfire.

Police said the 13-year-old boy was throwing bullets into a bonfire in the backyard of his home in Penrith when one of them exploded about 9.40pm on Friday.

The bullet hit the boy in the stomach and he was taken to hospital. He was not seriously injured, police said in a statement.

Penrith Local Area command duty officer, Inspector Harry Goedings, said: "This young man was very lucky. Had the bullet hit him in the head, we could be dealing with a fatality."


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Drowned man not wearing life jacket

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 27 Desember 2012 | 19.50

A MAN who died after falling from a runabout off the NSW Central Coast was not wearing a life jacket, police say.

A 57-year-old Monterey man was fishing on Thursday from the rear of the boat approximately 1km off Forresters Beach, while his 64-year-old brother from Canley Heights operated the vessel.

Police said the younger man fell from the stern of the boat and was not wearing a life jacket, and his older brother was unable to rescue him.

Just after 1pm (AEDT), emergency services were alerted to a man in the water. The 57-year-old was taken to shore by lifeguards, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, police said.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner, but said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.


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China tightening controls on Internet

CHINA'S new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses.

The measures suggest China's new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November share their predecessors' anxiety about the internet's potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their insistence on controlling information despite promises of more economic reforms.

"They are still very paranoid about the potentially destabilising effect of the Internet," said Willy Lam, a politics specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"They are on the point of losing a monopoly on information, but they still are very eager to control the dissemination of views."

This week, China's legislature took up a measure to require internet users to register their real names, a move that would curtail the Web's status as a freewheeling forum to complain, often anonymously, about corruption and official abuses.

The legislature scheduled a news conference Friday to discuss the measure, suggesting it was expected to be approved.

That comes amid reports Beijing might be disrupting use of software that allows Web surfers to see sites abroad that are blocked by its extensive internet filters. At the same time, regulators have proposed rules that would bar foreign companies from distributing books, news, music and other material online in China.

Beijing promotes internet use for business and education but bans material deemed subversive or obscene and blocks access to foreign websites run by human rights and Tibet activists and some news outlets. Controls were tightened after social media played a role in protests that brought down governments in Egypt and Tunisia.

In a reminder of the Web's role as a political forum, a group of 70 prominent Chinese scholars and lawyers circulated an online petition this week appealing for free speech, independent courts and for the ruling party to encourage private enterprise.

Mr Xi and others on the party's ruling seven-member Standing Committee have tried to promote an image of themselves as men of the people who care about China's poor majority. They have promised to press ahead with market-oriented reforms and to support entrepreneurs but have given no sign of support for political reform.

Communist leaders who see the internet as a source of economic growth and better-paid jobs were slow to enforce the same level of control they impose on movies, books and other media, apparently for fear of hurting fledgling entertainment, shopping and other online businesses.

Until recently, Web surfers could post comments online or on microblog services without leaving their names.

That gave ordinary Chinese a unique opportunity to express themselves to a public audience in a society where newspapers, television and other media are state-controlled. The most popular microblog services say they have more than 300 million users and some users have millions of followers reading their comments.

The internet also has given the public an unusual opportunity to publicize accusations of official misconduct.

A local party official in China's southwest was fired in November after scenes from a videotape of him having sex with a young woman spread quickly on the internet.

Screenshots were uploaded by a former journalist in Beijing, Zhu Ruifeng, to his Hong Kong website, an online clearing house for corruption allegations.

Some industry analysts suggest allowing Web surfers in a controlled setting to vent helps communist leaders stay abreast of public sentiment in their fast-changing society. Still, microblog services and online bulletin boards are required to employ censors to enforce content restrictions. Researchers say they delete millions of postings a day.

The government says the latest internet regulation before the National People's Congress is aimed at protecting Web surfers' personal information and cracking down on abuses such as junk e-mail. It would require users to report their real names to internet service and telecom providers.

The main ruling party newspaper, People's Daily, has called in recent weeks for tighter internet controls, saying rumors spread online have harmed the public.

In one case, it said stories about a chemical plant explosion resulted in the deaths of four people in a car accident as they fled the area.

Proposed rules released this month by the General Administration of Press and Publications would bar Chinese-foreign joint ventures from publishing books, music, movies and other material online in China. Publishers would be required to locate their servers in China and have a Chinese citizen as their local legal representative.

That is in line with rules that already bar most foreign access to China's media market, but the decision to group the restrictions together and publicise them might indicate official attitudes are hardening.

That comes after the party was rattled by foreign news reports about official wealth and misconduct.

In June, Bloomberg News reported that Xi's extended family has amassed assets totaling $376 million, though it said none was traced to Xi. The government has blocked access to Bloomberg's website since then.

In October, The New York Times reported that Premier Wen Jiabao's relatives had amassed $2.7 billion since he rose to national office in 2002. Access to the Times' Chinese-language site has been blocked since then.

Previous efforts to tighten controls have struggled with technical challenges in a country with more than 500 million Internet users.

Microblog operators such as Sina Corp. and Tencent Ltd. were ordered in late 2011 to confirm users' names but have yet to finish the daunting task.

Web surfers can circumvent government filters by using virtual private networks - software that encrypts Web traffic and is used by companies to transfer financial data and other sensitive information. But VPN users say disruptions that began in 2011 are increasing, suggesting Chinese regulators are trying to block encrypted traffic.

Curbs on access to foreign sites have prompted complaints by companies and Chinese scientists and other researchers.

In July, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said 74 percent of companies that responded to a survey said unstable Internet access "impedes their ability to do business."

Chinese leaders "realize there are detrimental impacts on business, especially foreign business, but they have counted the cost and think it is still worthwhile," said Lam. "There is no compromise about the political imperative of controlling the Internet."


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Tourists flock to beard implants

SURGEONS in Turkey are seeing a spike in the number of men seeking facial hair transplants, according to newspaper reports.

Since moustache and beard implants were introduced in 2000, Istanbul-based specialist Selahattin Tulunay said the procedure has grown to about 25 per cent of his workload.

"Thick hair is a status symbol, and a sign of strength and virility," said the doctor, adding that Arabs, mostly from the Gulf countries make up the majority of his customers.

"Both in Turkey and in Arab countries facial hair is associated with masculinity and its lack can cause social difficulties," Dr Tulunay told British newspaper The Guardian.

"In Turkish there is a word for it: kose - baldness of the face - and it is usually not considered a good thing. Businessmen come to me to get beard and moustache implants because they say that business partners do not take them seriously if they don't sport facial hair."

Hair transplant travel packages attract about 50 Arab tourists to Turkey each day, said a travel agent specialising in the follicle tours.

They cost about STG1400 ($2192) and include medical and overnight costs incurred during the four days that the procedure usually takes.


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Drowned man not wearing life jacket

A MAN who died after falling from a runabout off the NSW Central Coast was not wearing a life jacket, police say.

A 57-year-old Monterey man was fishing on Thursday from the rear of the boat approximately 1km off Forresters Beach, while his 64-year-old brother from Canley Heights operated the vessel.

Police said the younger man fell from the stern of the boat and was not wearing a life jacket, and his older brother was unable to rescue him.

Just after 1pm (AEDT), emergency services were alerted to a man in the water. The 57-year-old was taken to shore by lifeguards, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, police said.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner, but said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.


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Medics battle to save gang-rape victim

DOCTORS in Singapore battled to save the life of an Indian student who sustained horrific injuries in a gang-rape after she was dramatically airlifted from a hospital in New Delhi.

As India's prime minister vowed that the attackers of the 23-year-old would face swift justice, medics at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital described her condition in the intensive care unit as "extremely critical".

"She is being examined and the hospital is working with the Indian High Commission (embassy)," the hospital added in a brief statement.

The Indian government, which is paying for the woman's treatment, approved the decision to transfer her from Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where she had been treated since the December 16 assault on a bus in the centre of the capital.

Visa arrangements were also fast-tracked to enable the victim's relatives to keep watch over her in Singapore.

"Since the day of the incident, it has been our endeavour to provide her the best of medical care," Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in a statement, warning that her treatment in Singapore could last many weeks.

"Despite the best efforts of our doctors, the victim continues to be critical and her fluctuating health remains a big cause of concern to all of us."

According to police and prosecutors, six men took turns to rape the woman and assault her with an iron bar, leaving her with intestinal injuries, before they threw her out of a bus that they had taken for a joyride.

While doctors in Singapore did not give details about the treatment she has received since her early morning arrival, their counterparts at Safdarjung said Mount Elizabeth had been chosen as it has a multi-organ transplant facility.

B.D. Athani, medical superintendent at Safdarjung Hospital, told reporters the woman had already undergone three operations in New Delhi.

"With fortitude and courage she has survived the after-effects of the injuries so far, but her condition continues to be critical," Dr Athani said.

India has been rocked by a wave of protests since the attack, including one in Delhi on Thursday which brought several hundred people onto the streets. Riot police prevented them from marching on government buildings.

The protests have reflected not only the revulsion at the savage nature of the attack but also the simmering anger over the level of violence against women.

Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women, with the number of rapes in the capital rising 17 percent to 661 this year.

Gang-rapes are reported on a daily basis, with police revealing on Thursday that a 42-year-old woman had been found overnight dumped on a road in southeast Delhi after she was gagged, sedated and then raped by three men.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a gathering of chief ministers from across India Thursday that there was a "problem" which "requires greater attention" by the central and state governments.

Six men are in custody in connection with the assault. Mr Singh, whose government has been stung by criticism about the notoriously slow Indian justice system, said their case would be dealt with "expeditiously".

The government has already set up a commission of inquiry into the attack while a separate panel has been asked to suggest stiffer punishments for the most extreme cases.

"Laws regarding the safety of women will be reviewed," Mr Singh added.

India was rocked by a wave of protests in the week after the attack, prompting authorities to seal off large parts of the capital.

Several thousand riot police were again on duty today to prevent a group of around 500 people, mostly women, from marching on the presidential palace.

"We want justice," the protesters chanted, with some demanding the sacking of the Delhi police chief for authorising the use of teargas and water cannon at previous protests.

Meanwhile President Pranab Mukherjee's son, Abhijit, landed himself in trouble for describing some of the protesters as "dented and painted" women - a phrase used by mechanics who mask rust on used cars with liberal coats of paint.

Among his vocal critics was his own sister Sharmishtha who described his comments as "a bit of a shocker" and said her father also disapproved.


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30 hurt in fire in Lagos neighbourhood

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 26 Desember 2012 | 19.50

FIRE has ripped through a crowded neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest city and wounded at least 30 people after a huge explosion rocked a building believed to be storing fireworks, officials say.

The blast and fire on Wednesday led to panic in the densely packed area of Lagos, a city of some 15 million people, with residents jumping from windows to flee and others salvaging goods from their shops in the neighbourhood's large market.

Fireworks continued to explode well after the fire began while smoke was heavy and the blaze intense, making it difficult for rescue workers and firefighters to approach the scene.

Huge crowds gathered in the area, including onlookers and those seeking to help.

Details were still emerging, but officials said it appeared to have begun at a warehouse storing fireworks, where a fire caused a major explosion that shook parts of the sprawling city.

The fire then spread, with at least nine buildings in the neighbourhood ablaze when an AFP journalist arrived on the scene.

Residents rushed to help firefighters as they neared the fire, bringing containers of water and helping to carry hoses, but the volatile situation made it difficult.

"We have treated up to 30 people so far," Red Cross worker Nicolas Adesile told AFP at the scene, adding there had not been any reports of deaths.

One man treated for a cut on his leg said he jumped from his building to escape.

"I had to jump from the first floor to save my life," he said.

Officials were seeking to confirm further details on the incident, with the force of the explosion so strong that rumours even spread over whether there had been a plane crash.

The National Emergency Management Agency said fire was believed to have caused the explosion at a shop storing fireworks. The shop was severely damaged and crumbling.

"NEMA has mobilised response agencies and volunteers to an explosion in a building suspected to be loaded with (fireworks) in the Jankara area of Lagos," agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib said in a statement.

"Search and rescue officers of NEMA (are) having hectic time to reach the place due to traffic and crowds," he said.


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Black box of crashed Myanmar plane found

A MYANMAR airline says the black box has been found after a dramatic Christmas Day crash-landing, as survivors told terrifying tales of escape and expressed disbelief that only two people died.

Details of the accident remain unclear, though Air Bagan and officials have blamed heavy fog for the aircraft's crash into a rice paddy field in central Myanmar (Burma) where it burst into flames.

Four foreigners were among 11 people injured.

Australian survivor Anna Bartsch on Wednesday described the landing as a fast, very bumpy roller-coaster ride. She recounted looking out the window, seeing flames and racing out to safety.

"It's amazing that the injuries were not more serious," said the 31-year-old. "It could have been much worse."

Air Bagan is sending the black box to Singapore to study the cause of the accident.


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Video of Aussie kidnapped in Philippines

AN Australian man held hostage by militants in the southern Philippines for more than a year has appeared in a video as proof that he is alive.

Warren Richard Rodwell said on the video that he is being held in isolation. He said he understands there are negotiations for his release under way but added, "I personally hold no hope at all for being released."

He said he was kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, a notorious al-Qaeda-linked group.

Philippine intelligence officials said on Wednesday they believe the video, which has been circulated on YouTube, is authentic.

Rodwell appeared thinner than in a previous video posted in January. He held a copy of a local newspaper dated December 15 and said the recording was made the following day.

Rodwell was abducted by six gunmen on December 5 last year in southern Zamboanga Sibugay province by several armed men who are believed to have fled in speedboats.

Bloodstains were found at the coastal home from which he was taken. A search of nearby islands failed to find any trace of him.

The kidnappers demanded an initial ransom of $US23,000 from his wife, with whom he runs a store in the seaside town of Ipil on Mindanao island.

According to police, Rodwell's wife said she had no way of raising the ransom.


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World's longest fast train line opens

CHINA has opened the world's longest high-speed rail line that more than halves the time required to travel from the country's capital in the north to Guangzhou, an economic hub in southern China.

The opening of the 2,298 kilometre-line was commemorated by the 9am local time departure of a train from Beijing for Guangzhou. Another train left Guangzhou for Beijing an hour later.

China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.

But it has in recent months faced high-profile problems: part of a line collapsed in central China after heavy rains in March, while a bullet train crash in the summer of 2011 killed 40 people. The former railway minister, who spearheaded the bullet train's construction, and the ministry's chief engineer, were detained in an unrelated corruption investigation months before the crash.

Trains on the latest high-speed line will initially run at 300kp/h with a total travel time of about eight hours. Before, the fastest time between the two cities by train was more than 20 hours.

The line also makes stops in major cities along the way, including provincial capitals Shijiazhuang, Wuhan and Changsha.

More than 150 pairs of high-speed trains will run on the new line every day, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Ministry of Railways.

Railway is an essential part in China's transportation system, and the government plans to build a grid of high-speed railways with four east-west lines and four north-south lines by 2020.

The opening of the new line brings the total distance covered by China's high-speed railway system to more than 9300km - about half its 2015 target of 18,000 km.


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Man charged with Yarraville murders

A 24-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with the murders of an elderly couple whose bodies were found in their burning house last Saturday.

In an out-of-sessions court hearing, Ross Konidaris of Sunshine West, in Melbourne's north, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of arson.

Last Saturday, fire destroyed the home of the elderly couple in Yarraville, in Melbourne's inner west, and police said the fire was suspicious.

Konidaris, who was arrested in Yarraville on Wednesday, was remanded in custody to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.


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Mandela 'looking better' for Christmas

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 25 Desember 2012 | 19.50

NELSON Mandela looks "much better" and doctors are pleased with his progress, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma says.

Mr Zuma joined Mr Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, and other family members in wishing a merry Christmas to Mr Mandela at his hospital bedside, according to the president's office.

"We found him in good spirits," Mr Zuma said in a statement.

"He shouted my clan name, Nxamalala, as I walked into the ward. He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making."

Mr Mandela, 94, was admitted to a hospital in Pretoria on December 8. He was diagnosed with a lung infection and also had a procedure to remove gallstones. Officials have previously said Mandela was improving, but noted doctors were taking extraordinary care because of his age.

Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela's family appreciated the support they had received from the public.

"That is what keeps them going at this difficult time," he said.

Mr Mandela was brought to the Pretoria hospital from his home in Qunu, a rural village in Eastern Cape province where he lived as a child.

In the Johannesburg township of Soweto, worshippers offered prayers for Mandela while attending Christmas Mass at Regina Mundi, a Catholic church that was a protest stronghold during the apartheid years.


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Popular Vic restaurant destroyed by fire

THE popular Snooty Fox restaurant at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges has been destroyed by fire.

CFA brigades were called to the restaurant on the Mt Dandenong Tourist Road on Tuesday night.

No one was hurt in the blaze which was attended by 11 fire trucks. The cause of the fire is not known.

The restaurant had been open on Christmas Day and was also planning a big New Year's Eve.

Residents in the area were advised to keep their windows and doors closed because it was believed there may have been asbestos in the air.


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Zimbabwe truck crash kills 18

EIGHTEEN people headed home for the holidays died when an open truck veered off a mountain road and plunged into a ravine in northeastern Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe state radio said on Tuesday another 46 passengers crowded on the back of the truck were injured in the crash in the remote Honde Valley region known for its steep and winding roads and tracks.

Bus and truck accidents, common in Zimbabwe, are mainly blamed on poor vehicle maintenance and speeding.

Zimbabweans traditionally travel to their rural villages for the holidays. Travellers this year complained that bus companies increased fares, in one case from $US4 ($A3.90) to $US10 ($A9.70) for a 150 kilometre trip.


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Storm threatens typhoon-hit Philippines

A TROPICAL storm is set to hit the Philippines on Christmas Day and could spark floods and landslides, forecasters say.

Tropical Storm Wukong is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the southern island of Dinagat from 10pm on Tuesday (0100 AEDT Wednesday) as well as nearby islands Samar and Leyte, the state weather service said.

"These could bring floods and landslides, particularly in landslide-prone areas like southern Leyte and Samar," the service's Nathaniel Servando said.

Servando said storm surges of up to four metres were also expected on the coasts of the three islands.

However, he said the storm was expected to spare the large southern island of Mindanao, which was devastated by Typhoon Bopha early this month.

Wukong would pass northwest across the central islands on Wednesday and blow out to the South China Sea on Thursday, Servando said.

No evacuations have been reported so far, with civil defence chief Benito Ramos saying it was up to local officials to take the decision after assessing the dangers in their areas.

Floods and landslides unleashed by Bopha, which hit on December 4 and was the strongest storm to batter the disaster-prone country this year, killed more than 1000 people and hundreds more remain missing, according to officials.

The Philippines is hit each year by about 20 major storms or typhoons that occur mainly during the rainy season between June and October.


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Two dead, 11 hurt in Burma plane crash

A BURMA passenger jet packed with foreign tourists crash-landed and burst into flames in a field in eastern Shan state, killing at least two people and injuring 11 others, officials said.

Black smoke was seen billowing from the charred wreckage of the Air Bagan aircraft, which came down near Heho airport - the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Inle Lake.

Long isolated from the world under decades of junta rule, Burma has seen an influx of tourists and business travellers in recent months following a raft of political reforms.

Fifty-one foreigners were among the 63 passengers on board the Christmas Day flight from Yangon via Mandalay, according to the information ministry.

The ageing Fokker-100 jet crashed while attempting to land in heavy fog, breaking its tail and catching fire, according to the ministry.

Air Bagan said a Burmese tour guide on board the plane was killed. Earlier the information ministry said an 11-year-old had died but the airline said it was not aware of any child fatality.

A motorcyclist on the ground also perished.

Two Americans, two Britons and one Korean man were among those taken to hospital in nearby Taunggyi, according to Air Bagan, which described the incident as an "emergency landing".

Two French nationals were also slightly injured, according to a French embassy official in Yangon.

The information ministry said on its website that the plane appeared to have landed in a field next to the runway due to the bad weather.

"Because of the emergency landing near the airport, the plane broke up in the middle," a government official said, adding that passengers were evacuated.

The two pilots were among those taken to hospital, according to Air Bagan spokesman Ye Min Oo.

"The cause of the accident is not clear yet. Only the pilots will know the cause, but we can't contact them yet as they have been sent to hospital," he said.

Air Bagan is one of several domestic carriers seeking to profit from a tourist boom in Burma as it emerges from decades of military rule.

It is owned by tycoon Tay Za, who is known for his close links to the former junta and has been blacklisted by the US Treasury which once described him as "a notorious regime henchman and arms dealer".

The Fokker 100, which is no longer manufactured, was one of two operated by the airline along with four ATR turboprop aircraft, according to the company's website.

A surge in demand for air travel as Burma opens up has stretched the impoverished country's aviation infrastructure, in particular in remote airports.

Yangon International Airport, the country's main terminal, is set to exceed its limit of 2.7 million passengers this year and the Department of Civil Aviation warned in July it needed urgent upgrading.


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Aussie lawyer gets early Christmas gift

Written By Unknown on Senin, 24 Desember 2012 | 19.50

Mongolian authorities have cleared an Aussie lawyer of corruption allegations, freeing her to leave. Source: AAP

THE parents of an Australian lawyer who was barred from leaving Mongolia for two months have received an early Christmas present, with the news their daughter is finally on her way home.

Sarah Armstrong was stopped at Ulan Bator airport in mid-October because authorities wanted to question her in relation to corruption allegations.

On Christmas Eve, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman confirmed the 32-year-old had boarded a flight out of the country, which had taken off by 7pm (AEST).

Mum, Yvonne, told AAP she had been bracing for a Christmas spent thinking of her daughter stuck in Mongolia.

"All I wanted to hear was that she was on a plane," she said on Monday from her Tasmanian home.

She got the good news via text message from a friend in Mongolia.

Mrs Armstrong said her daughter had told her on Friday that she thought she would be allowed to leave within days, but she had been trying not to get her hopes up.

Also on Friday, it is understood, Foreign Minister Bob Carr again contacted the Mongolian ambassador to Australia about Ms Armstrong's case.

Senator Carr also flagged the Australian government's concerns when he met the Mongolian foreign minister in November.

Ms Armstrong is a lawyer for Rio Tinto mining subsidiary SouthGobi Resources.

The company on Monday said Mongolia's Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) had ended its questioning of the lawyer.

SouthGobi has been informed by the IAAC that the 32-year-old "is no longer a suspect in their investigations", the coal firm said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange where it is listed.

Mongolian officials said Armstrong was wanted over an investigation into the former chief of Mongolia's mining authority, who is suspected of illegally handling mining licences, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Senator Carr said it was "great news" - and good timing.

"I understand her family have been advised of her departure from Mongolia and look forward to seeing her for Christmas," he said in a statement on Monday.

"I thank the Mongolian government and particularly Foreign Minister (Luvsanvandan) Bold for their willingness to resolve this matter.

"I also applaud our consular staff ... including consuls general David Lawson and Tony Burchill, who worked tirelessly in making representations on Ms Armstrong's behalf."


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Canberra homes damaged by storm

DOZENS of people have called for help after a thunderstorm battered Canberra.

The ACT State Emergency Service (ACTSES) received 30 calls for help on Christmas Eve.

In Oxley, families were forced from their homes because of leaking gas.

Four houses had to be evacuated after two gas leaks were discovered on Newman Morris Circuit.

Firefighters put a 50 to 100-metre exclusion zone in place as they waited for repairmen to arrive.

In Florey, a fallen tree caused damage to several houses in Summerville Crescent.

Part of the tree crashed through the roof of one home and into the lounge room.

ACT Rural Fire Service crews, the ACTSES and ACT Fire & Rescue will help families clean up through the night.

Just before 7pm (AEDT) on Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for Canberra and Queanbeyan.

The immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed, the Bureau said, but a more general thunderstorm warning remained in place for parts of NSW and the ACT.

Authorities later said the Oxley residents were being allowed to return to their homes.


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Eleven children die in China road accident

A VAN has plunged into a roadside pond in a rural area of China, killing 11 children.

Three children died at the scene of the accident in Guixi city in Jiangxi province and another eight died later in hospital, said an official from the propaganda office of the city's Communist Party committee.

The victims were aged from four to six years old.

Four children survived, said the official.

Police detained the driver for questioning and were investigating the cause of the accident, the official Xinhua News Agency.

Photos on the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post's website showed a silver minivan partially submerged in a grassy pond, with one of its three windows on the right side broken.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy said in a statement that cited no sources that the van was made to carry seven people but was overloaded with 17. The human rights group said it took 70 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Serious traffic accidents are common in China, due to poorly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.


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UN envoy worried after talks with Assad

THE international envoy tasked with pushing to end Syria's civil war says the situation is "worrying" after discussing the crisis with President Bashar Assad.

In brief comments to reporters after meeting the Syrian leader at the presidential palace in Damascus, Lakhdar Brahimi said he and Assad exchanged views on the conflict and discussed possible steps forward, which he did not disclose.

"The situation in Syria is still worrying and we hope that all the parties will go toward the solution that the Syrian people are hoping for and look forward to," Brahimi said.

Syria's state news agency quoted Assad as saying his government supports "any effort in the interest of the Syrian people which preserves the homeland's sovereignty and independence".

Brahimi has apparently made little progress toward brokering an end to the conflict since starting his job in September, mostly because both sides adamantly refuse to talk to each other.

The government describes the rebels as foreign-backed terrorists set on destroying the country. The opposition says that forces under Assad's command have killed too many people for him to be part of any solution.

Brahimi's two-day visit was to end later Monday. It is his third to Damascus as an envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League.

The security situation in Damascus and elsewhere in the country has declined since Brahimi's previous visits. Instead of flying in to the Damascus International Airport as he did on earlier visits, Brahimi drove to Damascus over land from Beirut because of the fighting near the Syrian capital's airport.

Reports by anti-regime activists of the airstrike Sunday on a bakery in the central town of Halfaya that killed scores of people also cast pall over Brahimi's visit.

Amateur videos posted online showed the bodies of many dead and wounded scattered in a street.

On Monday, Syria's state news service blamed the attack on "an armed terrorist group" - its shorthand for the rebels - accusing them of filming the aftermath to "frame the Syrian army."

In the videos, however, armed rebels are clearly among those tending to the dead and wounded.

Anti-regime activists say the civil war has killed more than 40,000 people since March 2011.


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India and Russia sign major aircraft deal

RUSSIA and India have signed deals for military aircraft estimated to be worth several billion dollars during Russian President Vladimir Putin's day-long summit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Ten agreements were signed during the summit, including a contract for the supply of 42 Russian Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets to be manufactured under licence in India, the Indian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

A separate contract was signed for the delivery of 71 Mi-17 V5 attack helicopters.

Analysts estimated the deals to be worth about $A3 billion.

An agreement was also signed between India's Elcom Systems and Vertoleti Rassi for setting up a joint venture in India for the manufacture of Russian helicopters.

"Russia is a key partner in our efforts to modernise our armed forces and enhance our defence preparedness," Singh said.

Russia supplies 60 to 70 per cent of India's defence equipment, and the two countries have embarked on several joint ventures, including development and production of supersonic BrahMos missiles.

In recent years, however, France's Dassault Rafale and US-based Boeing have won contracts for supplying military aircraft.

The two leaders also discussed trade, investment, co-operation in the nuclear energy sector and the situation in Afghanistan, they said at a press briefing.

India and Russia have been trying to boost trade and investment and expand it in areas other than defence. Two-way trade stood at $A7.25 billion in 2009 and was estimated at $A10 billion in 2012, the Indian government said.

Monday's agreements included a memorandum of understanding between the Russia Foundation for Direct Investments and the State Bank of India to promote up to $A2 billion of direct investment between the two countries.

The other pacts signed aimed at boosting co-operation in the fields of science and technology, information technology, pharmaceuticals and cultural exchanges.

Singh and Putin discussed a nuclear energy plant at Kudankulam in southern India, which is being built with Russian assistance.

The first two units are near completion, but the third and the fourth unit have run into trouble with India enacting a nuclear liability law that Russia said would affect the price agreed for the project.

No details were given of the Kudankulam discussions, with Singh saying: "Negotiations for the construction of units three and four at Kudankulam have made good progress."

The two sides also discussed regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and West Asia.

"We reviewed the ongoing developments in Afghanistan and agreed to work together against threats posed by extremist ideologies and drug trafficking," Singh said.


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Brothers thrown from jet-ski in Sydney

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 23 Desember 2012 | 19.50

TWO brothers have been hospitalised after being thrown from a jet-ski in Sydney's south.

Emergency services were called to Cape Solander in Kurnell about 2pm (AEDT) on Sunday, after the accident.

While one of the brothers, aged 30, managed to swim to nearby cliff, his 28-year-old brother was unable to swim to shore and was eventually winched to safety by a PolAir helicopter.

The younger brother had been in the water for approximately one hour and suffered hypothermia and abrasions, police said.

Both men were taken to Sutherland Hospital in a stable condition.

Detective Superintendent Mark Noakes, Commander of PolAir, is urging people to stay safe around the water this summer.

"Taking precautions, such as wearing lifejackets, could be the difference between life and death," he said in a statement.

"Had these two men not been wearing lifejackets the results could have been tragic."


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Germany warns Britain against EU blackmail

GERMAN Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has warned Britain in a Sunday newspaper interview against "blackmailing" its EU partners in a bid to bring powers back home from Brussels.

"We want to keep Britain in the EU and not force it out," Schaeuble told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. "But I will also say that does not mean anyone can blackmail us."

Asked whether a debate raging in Britain about a possible referendum on the country's future in the 27-member bloc was "dangerous", Schaeuble said: "Our British friends are not dangerous. But a referendum would create uncertainty," he said.

He said he only got "cross" with Britons over football, adding he hoped for "more British engagement in Europe, not less".

Britain has belonged to the European Union since 1973 but has not joined the 17-nation eurozone.

Schaeuble has served as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's main ally in Berlin in plotting an austerity-driven course to resolve the eurozone debt crisis as well as greater political integration of the bloc.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative, said last month that he still supports British membership of the EU but cannot accept the "status quo" and wants a "new settlement" that involves repatriating some powers.

He has so far avoided offering a clear "in-out" referendum despite strong pressure for clarity on the issue from his party.

Tensions flared last month when Cameron opposed a new trillion-euro ($A1.25 trillion) EU budget for the next seven years, saying it was unacceptable to increase spending at a time when many countries were taking austerity measures at home.

A recent poll in the UK's Observer newspaper found 56 per cent of Britons surveyed would vote to leave the EU given the chance.


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Tourists in hospital after Qld bus crash

AT least 10 people have been hospitalised after a bus rolled several times down an embankment on the Gold Coast hinterland.

Seventeen tourists and a driver were on board the 20-seater bus when it rolled down Mount Tamborine just after midday (AEST) on Sunday.

Police said 10 of the mostly Chinese tourists - aged between 26 and 60 - were taken to Gold Coast Hospital.

After the accident, authorities told AAP a 50-year-old male driver was in a critical condition with head and chest injuries and another man, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was also critical.

But later on Sunday, police said the two men aged 51 and 34 were in a serious but stable condition.

Another five passengers are still being treated for non-life threatening injures and three passengers have now been discharged.

There were also a number of passengers being treated at Robina Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Police said Henri Robert Drive, which was closed for several hours after the accident, had since re-opened.

Mount Tamborine was the scene of Queensland's worst bus crash, when 11 people were killed and 38 were injured in 1990.


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Pell says sorry to victims of clergy abuse

Cardinal George Pell, leader of the Catholic church in Australia, says he is "deeply sorry" for the pain caused by those in his organisation. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited

AUSTRALIA'S most senior Catholic has apologised to those who have "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers.

While not specifically mentioning allegations of child sex abuse by members of the clergy, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell said he was "deeply sorry" for the hurt that had occurred, calling it "completely contrary" to Christ's teachings.

"I am deeply sorry this happened," Cardinal Pell said.

"I feel too the shock and shame across the community at these revelations of wrongdoing and crimes."

In his statement, Cardinal Pell said people had "suffered at the hands" of fellow Christians, Christian officials, priests and religious teachers.

The Christmas message comes after the federal government this year announced a royal commission to investigate child abuse in Australia, including in the Catholic Church.

It follows claims abuse by clergy was covered up by Catholic Church hierarchy.

Faith in "God's goodness and love" was needed "to help those who have been hurt", Cardinal Pell said in his message.

"We need the hope that comes to us from Christ's birth with his call to conversion, to sorrow for sins and the necessity of reparation," he said.

"The light of Christ shines through this darkness."


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Elderly woman dies in NSW crash

A ELDERLY woman has died following a crash near Wollongong, marking the first death on NSW roads during the Christmas toll period.

Police said the woman, aged 79, was travelling with her husband and another married couple, aged 73 and 74, when the car they were in collided with another car in Mount Ousley just after 1pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

Police said the woman was taken to Wollongong Hospital but died a short time later.

Her 80-year-old husband is in a serious but stable condition with suspected spinal fractures.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or the circumstances leading up to it is urged to contact Southern Region Crash Investigation Unit on (02) 4232 5411 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012 until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.


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Fire bans, warnings as WA set to scorch

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 22 Desember 2012 | 19.50

A MID-40C scorcher will see a total fire ban for around 2600 residents on the northern WA coast, while 6000 people in the state's Pilbara region are bracing for severe fire danger.

The Shire of Exmouth, in the coastal region of Gascoyne about 1000km north of Perth, has been placed on a total fire ban on Sunday by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).

All open air fires are banned, and hot work such as metal welding and grinding is not allowed without an exemption. The DFES has warned that those who flout the ban face fines of up $25,000 and/or up to 12 months in jail.

Residents in the inner-Pilbara's Shire of Ashburton face hot, dry, windy conditions that could see a potential bush or grass fire take hold, DFES said, announcing a severe fire warning.

The area faces overnight temperature lows in the mid to high 20Cs before daytime maximums expected in the low to mid 40Cs, with the searing weather tipped to continue until Boxing Day, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

Motorists are being urged to avoid driving near the abandoned town site of Wittenoom, where a fire southwest of the area - despite posing no danger - has seen roads closed in the area due to thick smoke.

Several non-threatening fires are also burning on either side of the North West Coastal Highway in the Shire of Ashburton, causing a potential smoke hazard for motorists, DFES said in a statement.

The department has urged residents in affected areas to have bushfire plans and survival kits on standby, and to tune in to local radio and other media for updates.

"Do not wait for a warning before you act. If you see flames call triple zero," the DFES said.


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Syria's chemical weapons safe, Russia says

RUSSIA'S foreign minister says the Syrian government has consolidated its chemical weapons in one or two locations amid a rebel onslaught.

Sergey Lavrov says Russia, which has military advisers training Syria's military, has kept close watch over its chemical arsenal. He says the Syrian government has moved them from many arsenals to just "one or two centres" to properly safeguard them.

US intelligence says the regime may be readying chemical weapons and could be desperate enough to use them. Both Israel and the US have also expressed concerns they could fall into militant hands if the regime crumbles.

Lavrov also told reporters on a flight from an EU summit late on Friday that countries in the region had asked Russia to convey an offer of safe passage to President Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile Rebels have threatened to storm two predominantly Christian towns in central Syria, saying regime forces are using them to attack nearby areas.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Saturday that the rebels issued an ultimatum to the towns of Mahrada and Sqailbiyeh in the province of Hama.

A video released by rebels showed Rashid Abul-Fidaa, the Hama commander of the Ansar Brigade, calling on residents to "evict Assad's gangs" or be attacked. He was referring to Assad's forces in the area.

Christians, who make up about 10 per cent of Syria's population, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people.

They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Islamic groups.


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Two charged over $580,000 cigarette haul

CIGARETTES worth more than half a million dollars have been seized and two men charged following a routine police truck stop in Victoria's north, police say.

Officers pulled over a light truck north-bound on the Hume Freeway at Seymour, about 100km north of Melbourne, about 11.30am (AEDT) on Saturday.

After speaking with the driver, a search of the truck revealed three pallets of cigarettes valued at around $580,000, police said.

Two NSW men, aged 28 and 35, have been charged with two counts each of possessing proceeds of crime and one count each of handling stolen goods.

Both were bailed and will appear at Seymour Magistrates Court on March 21.

Police say they'll work with customs officials to further investigate the circumstances surrounding the find.


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Suicide bombers attack Nigeria telcos

TWO suspected suicide car bombers have attacked the offices of two major telecoms companies in the volatile northern Nigerian city of Kano, police and the army say.

One of the attackers blew himself up when he rammed his car into the office gate of the Airtel mobile phone company, setting the building ablaze, police said on Saturday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in northern Nigeria's largest city, and no reports of any civilian deaths.

The Islamist group Boko Haram - notorious for shootings and bomb attacks across north and central Nigeria - has in the past targeted phone companies, accusing them of cooperating with the security services.

"There has been a bomb blast at Airtel office. From what we hear, it was a suicide attack. The bomber rammed his car into the gate and blew himself up. The building is on fire," said a policeman who requested anonymity.

The attack was confirmed by an army spokesman in Kano, Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi.

Airtel worker Bayo Osho said his leg was injured in the blast.

"A car rammed into the gate and forced its way into the premises. The car hit me on the leg and flung me into a corner before it exploded. I was dragged out and taken to the hospital by soldiers outside the gate," he told AFP at the hospital where he was taken for treatment.

Security agents cordoned off the scene while firefighters battled to put out the fire.

Officials from Airtel, one of the three biggest mobile phone service providers in Nigeria, were unavailable for comment.

A second suspected bomber was blown up when his car exploded outside the gate of an office of MTN, the country's largest mobile network, Ikedichi said.

No other casualties were recorded in the attack, he added.

Kano was the scene of Boko Haram's deadliest attack yet in January, when at least 185 people were killed in coordinated bombings and shootings.

Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency is believed to have left some 3,000 people dead in Nigeria since 2009, including killings by the security forces.


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Pope pardons butler who stole from him

POPE Benedict XVI has granted a Christmas pardon to his former butler, who stole the pope's private papers and leaked them to a journalist in one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.

The Vatican said Benedict visited Paolo Gabriele in the Vatican police barracks on Saturday morning, told him he had pardoned him, and Gabriele was subsequently freed.

Gabriele was arrested May 23 after Vatican police found heaps of papal documents in his Vatican City apartment. He was convicted of aggravated theft by a Vatican tribunal October 6 and has been serving his 18-month sentence in the Vatican police barracks.

Gabriele told investigators he gave the documents to a journalist because he thought that exposing the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican would put the church back on the right track.
 


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List unveils top English tongue-twisters

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 21 Desember 2012 | 19.50

"PHENOMENON", "remuneration" and "statistics" have topped a list of the most commonly mispronounced English words.

Speakers also have a problem getting their tongue around "ethnicity", "hereditary" and "particularly", according to the UK body charged with recording public utterances.

The British Institute Of Verbatim Reporters (BIVR) is the UK's leading organisation for professionals involved in taking down speech at court and tribunal hearings.

A poll of its members found the 10 words that Britons consistently find the most challenging to pronounce.

Completing the list are "conjugal", "specific", "processes" and "development".

Leah Willersdorf, of the BIVR, said: "We work with many different types of professionals and hear all kinds of voices during our work.

"However, when it comes to the English language it always seems to be the same few words that verbally trip people up, with the speaker having to repeat the word in order to get it right, or just abandoning their attempts and moving on."

BIVR members were quizzed by the team behind the popular word game Scrabble.

According to the words buffs, one in 10 players admit to being reluctant to producing words that they cannot pronounce.

Scrabble is a favourite with British families over the festive period, with an estimated 11 million going head to head on Boxing Day, according to its makers.

University of York sociolinguistics expert Paul Kerswill said the English language has evolved to compensate for tricky pronunciations but some words remain a challenge.

"People always find a way of simplifying words that they find difficult to get their tongues round, so that an everyday word like 'handbag' sounds like 'hambag'," Professor Kerswill said.

"Our forebears simplified 'waistcoat' to 'weskit' - but we've turned our backs on that.

"We certainly don't pronounce Worcester and Gloucester the way they are spelt any more. And 'York' used to have three syllables, not one.

"And most people talk about 'Febry' and 'Wensday'."


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Obama vows action after online petition

US President Barack Obama has vowed to take action to stop gun violence in response to online petitions signed by more than 400,000 people after last week's primary school massacre.

"In the days since the heartbreaking tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, hundreds of thousands of you, from all 50 states, signed petitions asking us to take serious steps to address the epidemic of gun violence in this country," Obama said in an online video on Friday. "We hear you."

Obama has called on Congress to pass legislation banning military-style assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition clips. It would would also close loopholes that allow people to purchase guns without background checks.

He has also appointed Vice President Joe Biden to head a task force to explore ways to prevent mass shootings, including by improving access to mental health care, and addressing depictions of violence in popular culture.

"I will do everything in my power as president to advance these efforts, because if there's even one thing we can do as a country to protect our children, we have a responsibility to try," Obama said in the video.

"But as I said earlier this week I can't do it alone. I need your help."

Obama called on ordinary citizens, law enforcement officials and gun owners to campaign publicly and petition Congress in support of his reforms.

Last Friday's massacre of 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School - the latest in a series of mass shootings over the past two years - has galvanised support for reforms aimed at stemming gun violence.

More than 400,000 people have signed "We the People" petitions on the White House's website calling for action on gun violence, making it one of the most popular issues since the launch of the site, a White House official said.

One such petition set the record for being the fastest ever to reach 25,000 signatures, the official said.


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