Saudi 'paralysis' sentence attacked

THE reported sentencing to paralysis for a Saudi man for a crime he committed as a 14-year-old has been condemned as "grotesque" by Britain's Foreign Office (FCO).

The punishment, which was reportedly handed down to 24-year-old Ali al-Khawahir for stabbing his friend in the back 10 years ago, should not be carried out, the FCO said on Thursday.

Al-Khawahir will be paralysed from the waist down unless he pays one million Saudi royals ($A257,900) in compensation to the victim, according to Amnesty International, who quoted reports in Saudi Arabian media.

An FCO spokesman said: "We are deeply concerned by reports that a Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a man to be paralysed in retribution for causing the paralysis of a friend when he was 14 years old.

"We urge the Saudi authorities to ensure that this grotesque punishment is not carried out.

"Such practices are prohibited under international law and have no place in any society."

Amnesty condemned the punishment as "utterly shocking".

A similar sentence of paralysis imposed in Saudi Arabia in 2010 is not known to have been carried out, the charity said.

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Revealing UK sales for men's underwear

MEN'S underwear is revealing itself to be a recession-busting item, with one major British retailer noticing a 28 per cent increase in sales since the start of the year.

Selfridges likened sales of men's "bodywear" - underwear, sleepwear and socks - to the lipstick effect, the term coined for women buying small but luxurious items in times of recession.

The category has emerged as one of the strongest performers at the store, to the extent that it is opening a 20 per cent larger bodywear department this week.

The 835 square metre area will stock nearly 25,000 pairs of underwear, of which 10,000 will be displayed on a curved wall "set to be the largest of its kind in the world".

Those immune to the recession can choose from underwear made by Versace or Dior, which has a range of briefs at STG55 ($A80.15) a piece, or a silk dressing gown by Savile Row tailor Derek Rose for STG915.

Those wanting to spend a little less will find pairs of Happy Socks for STG8.

The store said its best-selling styles were trunks, making up 46 per cent of sales, briefs (27 per cent) and boxers (13 per cent), with the most popular colours being black, white and red.

"Sales of men's underwear at Selfridges have been very healthy throughout 2012 and they have been even stronger since the start of the year," Selfridges menswear buying manager Richard Sanderson said.

"With our new men's bodywear space, we are forecasting weekly sales of nearly 3,000 pairs of underwear.

"Men have become much more fashion-conscious in their choice of underwear and are looking for details and distinctive features such as contrasting belts, mix of texture in the materials used, patterns and even devices to enhance their natural shape."

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NYC fast food workers plan job action

NEW York City fast food workers are rallying for higher wages.

Organisers say hundreds of workers plan to demonstrate on Thursday at dozens of fast food establishments, including McDonald's, Domino's, Wendy's and Pizza Hut.

They want fast food restaurants to pay them $US15 ($A14.41) per hour. Workers earn an average of $US8.25 per hour.

New York's minimum wage is $US7.25 but the legislature last month voted to raise it to $US9 by 2016.

The protest includes a march and rally on 125th Street in Harlem.

The walkout is organised by the Fast Food Forward labour-community coalition.

It coincides with the anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr's assassination in 1968 in Memphis where he was leading a peaceful march in support of striking low-paid sanitation workers.

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NSW woman dies after car rolls in crash

A YOUNG woman has died after her car rolled in an accident on the NSW mid-north coast.

The car was travelling along The Lakes Way at Rainbow Flat, south of Taree about 2.20pm (AEDT) on Thursday when it rolled down an embankment, police said.

The 21-year-old female driver died at the scene.

The male passenger was able to free himself from the wreckage before emergency services arrived.

He was taken to Manning Base Hospital, suffering shock.

Police said it's not known what caused the crash.

It follows the death of a man whose motorbike collided with a bus in Sydney's west on Wednesday.

Police say the 55-year-old motorcyclist was riding on Menangle Road at Campbelltown when he collided with the bus about 2pm.

He sustained extensive injuries and was taken to Liverpool Hospital but died a short time later.

No one else was injured in the crash, police said in a statement.

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NSW police nab boy over BMX bandit robbery

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged after a bottle shop in NSW's Southern Highlands was robbed by a knife-wielding youth who fled off on a BMX bike.

The youth was spotted stashing cigarettes and bottles of liquor into his backpack at the Mittagong bottle shop about 7.25pm (AEDT) on Wednesday, police allege.

A female shop assistant, 35, approached the boy, who threatened her with a large knife.

The teen then stole cash from the shop's till before fleeing on a BMX bike.

Police arrested the teenager on Thursday and charged him with several offences including robbery while armed.

He was refused bail to appear in Campbelltown Children's Court on Friday.

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66 Tibet landslide bodies recovered

CHINESE rescue crews have recovered 66 bodies in the aftermath of a huge landslide in Tibet that buried more than 80 mine workers.

State media said on Wednesday 83 people were buried on Friday when a vast volume of rock crashed down a mountainside east of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, burying a mineworkers' camp.

The latest number of recovered bodies, reported by China's official news agency Xinhua, would mean 17 are still missing.

Rescue operations resumed on Tuesday morning after being suspended a day before due to fears of more landslides in the area.

The chances of finding any survivors are regarded as slim, state media has reported.

Experts from the ministry of land and resources were investigating the cause of the landslide.

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Asian markets mostly lower, Tokyo jumps

TOKYO stocks have jumped with the yen weakening as the Bank of Japan starts a key two-day policy meeting, while shares in other major Asian markets have mostly fallen despite Wall Street's surging to a record high.

Tokyo jumped 2.99 per cent, or 358.77 points on Wednesday, to 12,362.20. Sydney ended 0.56 per cent or 27.8 points weaker at 4,957.7 and Seoul lost 0.15 per cent or 2.93 points to 1,983.22.

Shanghai slipped 0.11 per cent or 2.44 points to 2,225.30 and Hong Kong fell 0.14 per cent or 30.33 points to 22,337.49.

Investors eagerly await the outcome of the first Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy meeting under new leadership to see if fresh easing measures aimed at boosting the world's third biggest economy meet market expectations.

The new BoJ head Haruhiko Kuroda has vowed "bold" monetary easing, while the bank in January set a two per cent inflation target aimed at pulling the troubled economy out of its damaging deflationary spiral.

"Given near-constant chatter about the need for bold policy action to achieve their 2.0 per cent inflation target, any underwhelming policy response, something they're notorious for, will see the yen strengthen to the detriment of the Nikkei," David Scutt, Treasury dealer at Arab Bank, wrote in a note to clients.

"At the very least, markets will want to see unlimited easing involving a variety of asset classes with a focus of achieving the inflation target in the near-to-medium term," he said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

US stocks reached fresh highs on Tuesday on solid manufacturing orders data and strong results from US automakers, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record 14,662.01, up 89.16 or 0.61 per cent.

In afternoon Tokyo trading, the dollar strengthened to 93.54 yen against 93.39 yen in New York late on Tuesday.

The euro remained weak following the release on Tuesday of poor manufacturing and jobs data for the eurozone, buying $1.2817 and 119.66 yen against $1.2813 and 119.70 yen in US trade.

On a positive note, Cyprus has been given two more years, until 2018, to meet the conditions of a 10 billion euro ($A12.36 billion) bailout under a final agreement with eurozone lenders which gives the island nation a little more breathing room.

Oil was down in Asia. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in May, shed 54 cents to $96.65 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for May delivery dropped 39 cents to $110.30 in afternoon trade.

Gold was at $1,570.09 an ounce at 1045 GMT (2145 AEDT) compared with $1,597.83 late on Tuesday.

In other markets:

- Taipei rose 0.37 per cent, or 29.17 points, to 7,942.35.

MediaTek gained 2.30 per cent to Tw$356.0. while SinoPac Financial Holding rose 2.80 per cent at Tw$14.70.

- Wellington rose 0.03 per cent, or 1.44 points, to 4,412.84.

Telecom Corp. was up 3.59 per cent at NZ$2.45 while Contact Energy was down 2.18 per cent at NZ$5.39.

- Manila rose 0.99 per cent, or 66.87 points, to 6,815.30.

SM Investments Corp. rose 0.79 per cent to 1,139 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. gained 0.83 per cent to 2,910 pesos.

- Singapore rose 0.13 per cent, or 4.18 points, to close at 3,321.77.

Real estate company City Developments gained 0.90 per cent to Sg$11.26 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 0.19 per cent to Sg$10.67.

- Kuala Lumpur ended flat to close at 1,685.40.

Hong Leong Financial Group added 1.2 per cent to 15.18 ringgit, while CIMB Group Holdings rose 1.2 per cent to 7.74.

- Jakarta ended up 0.49 per cent, or 24.22 points, at 4,981.47.

Miner Aneka Tambang rose 3.60 per cent to 1,440 rupiah, while cigarette manufacturer Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna slipped 0.12 per cent to 85,000 rupiah.

- Bangkok lost 1.94 per cent, or 30.02 points, to 1,520.52.

Telecoms company Advanced Info Service fell 3.77 per cent to 230.00 baht, while Siam Cement dropped 2.92 per cent to 466.00 baht.

- Mumbai fell 1.26 per cent, or 239.31 points, to 18,801.64 points.

Bharti Airtel fell 3.95 per cent to 280.65 rupees, while Tata Motors fell 3.45 per cent to 257.6 rupees.

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Now seven UK social classes

THE British public no longer fit in to just three social classes, a major new study has discovered.

Instead, the findings suggest people are divided into seven different classes based on economic, social and cultural measures.

More than 160,000 people took part in the Great British Class Survey, the largest of its kind in the UK, according to the BBC.

The results prompted researchers to dismiss the established upper class, middle class and working class system, traditionally defined by occupation, wealth and education, as "too simplistic".

The new classes range from the privileged 'elite' to the deprived 'precariat' and are based on assessments of income, savings, house value and social capital or the number and status of people that someone knows.

The research was carried out by Mike Savage from the London School of Economics and Fiona Devine from the University of Manchester with the help of BBC Lab UK.

Professor Devine said: "It shows us there is still a top and a bottom, at the top we still have an elite of very wealthy people and at the bottom the poor, with very little social and cultural engagement."

In the middle of the two extremes are the established middle class, the second wealthiest group, followed by the technical middle class, a small, prosperous new class group which scores low for social and cultural capital.

Next down the line are the new affluent workers, a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital, and the traditional working class, who score low on capital but are not "completely deprived".

Ahead of the poorest in society are the emergent service workers, a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital.

Professor Divine added: "It's what's in the middle which is really interesting and exciting, there's a much more fuzzy area between the traditional working class and traditional middle class.

"There's the emergent workers and the new affluent workers who are different groups of people who won't necessarily see themselves as working or middle class."

The findings are to be published in the Sociology Journal and presented at a conference of the British Sociological Association.

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Thousands of shareholders sue RBS for $6b

ROYAL Bank of Scotland shareholders have filed a 4 billion pound ($A5.77 billion) lawsuit against the company, claiming they were misled into thinking the bank was healthy just before its collapse.

A group representing 12,000 investors said on Wednesday the bank didn't include vital information in the prospectus for a 12 billion-pound share sale that took place just a few months before RBS was bailed out by the government.

The bailout diluted the holdings of existing shareholders and the stock plunged, slashing the value of their holdings.

The bank is now 82 per cent owned by the British government.

The group said in a statement the lawsuit names former Chief Executive Officer Fred Goodwin and three other directors, as well as the bank itself, as defendants.

RBS declined to comment.

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African forces suspend hunt for Kony

UGANDA'S top military official says African Union troops have suspended the hunt for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic because the new government there is not co-operating with the mission.

General Aronda Nyakairima, the Ugandan army chief, said on Wednesday Uganda-led African forces in Central African Republic stopped operations against Kony until their status is clarified by the African Union.

About 3000 African troops under the AU's mandate are currently deployed against Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in CAR, where rebels deposed a president last month and announced a new government.

The African forces are supported by about 100 US military advisers.

Nyakairima said Ugandan troops would stay in the republic until the AU itself asks them to leave.

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