Longer sentence for UK pedophile

A PEDOPHILE who walked free from a British court after his 13-year-old victim was branded "predatory" by a prosecutor has had his sentence increased because of a technicality.

Neil Wilson was handed an eight-month suspended sentence after admitting engaging in sexual activity with the girl, as well as separate counts of making indecent images, at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London last week.

News that prosecutor Robert Colover had labelled the young victim "predatory" and "sexually experienced" caused outrage and led to his suspension from prosecuting sexual offence cases pending a review by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Judge Nigel Peters QC is also being investigated by the Office for Judicial Complaints for remarking that his sentence took into account how the girl looked and behaved.

Judge Peters altered Wilson's sentence on Monday, at a brief hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court, after admitting it needed correction.

Making no reference to the storm surrounding the case during the 10-minute hearing, the judge altered Wilson's total sentence to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, but kept the sentence for sexual activity with a child the same, at eight months suspended for two years.

Explaining the decision to Wilson, who appeared via videolink from York Magistrates' Court, the judge told him: "I have had the matter listed before me today as part of the sentence, not that part relating to sexual activity with a child, requires correcting.

"It was not appreciated by the parties that I could not pass a community order with a supervision requirement for three years to run alongside a suspended sentence on the same indictment or indeed another indictment sentenced on the same occasion.

"In amending the sentence I have sought to ensure that all parts of the order will be complied with by the defendant and that any breach will be brought before a court and consideration given to further penalty, including immediate imprisonment."

He said he was revoking a community order and imposing additional suspended jail terms for two counts involving indecent photographs, and another indictment involving five counts of possessing extreme pornographic images.

The addition of the suspended sentences was commensurate with the reduction of the supervision element from three to two years, he said.

A sexual offences prevention order remains in place.

Wilson already faces having his sentence reviewed after Attorney General Dominic Grieve agreed to examine the case.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said the CPS was "absolutely right" to label Mr Colover's comments "inappropriate".

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Thieves steal French amputee's wheelchair

FRENCH adventurer Philippe Croizon, a quadruple amputee known for his feats of swimming and diving, has had his custom-designed wheelchair stolen while on holiday in northern France.

Croizon, famed as the first quadruple amputee to swim across the English Channel, appealed to the thieves to return the wheelchair.

"They haven't just stolen my wheelchair, they've stolen my autonomy," Croizon told AFP after the theft of the wheelchair and its trailer, which he discovered missing on Friday morning while staying with friends near Dieppe.

"I feel sad and angry," he said. "Let them keep the trailer if they want, but at least give back the wheelchair."

Croizon, 45, said the high-tech, all-terrain wheelchair was brand-new and had been designed specially for him.

Croizon, a former metal-worker, had all four limbs amputated in 1994 from the elbows and knees after being struck by an electric shock of more than 20,000 volts as he tried to remove a TV antenna from a roof.

He has since carried out a series of exploits, including swimming the Channel in 2010, swimming four straits separating five continents, and in January becoming the first quadruple amputee to complete a 33-metre dive.

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Hong Kong shares up 2.13% by close

HONG Kong shares have closed up 2.13 per cent, buoyed by better-than-expected industrial data from China late last week that eased fears the world's second-largest economy is heading towards a slowdown.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index on Monday gained 463.72 points to 22,271,28, its highest close since early June, on turnover of $HK64.74 billion ($A9.14 billion).

On Friday, China reported industrial growth for July reached a five-month high. Industrial production, which measures output at factories, workshops and mines, rose 9.7 per cent year-on-year, well above analyst expectations.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in China expanded 7.8 per cent in 2012, its slowest annual pace in 13 years.

Growth slipped to 7.7 per cent in the January-March period this year and slowed further to 7.5 per cent in the second quarter, raising alarm bells over possible deeper weakness.

Steven Leung, head of institutional sales at brokers UOB Kay Hian, said long-term buyers returned to the market on Monday.

Yanzhou Coal jumped 9.9 per cent to $HK6.55 while Zijin Mining surged 10.7 per cent to $HK1.86.

But sportswear stocks in Hong Kong tumbled, with Chinese sporting goods company Li Ning falling 6.1 per cent to $HK4.91 after a disappointing first-half report, and rival Anta Sports closing down 3.3 per cent at $HK9.83.

Chinese shares closed up more than two per cent due to renewed optimism over the domestic economy, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.39 per cent, or 49.04 points, to 2,101.28 on turnover of 116.5 billion yuan ($A20.79 billion).

"Market expectations changed after economic data showed improvement," Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing told AFP.

"The market will definitely continue the upward trend if monthly economic figures continue to improve."

Resource and financial shares led the gains.

Shanxi Coal International Energy surged by its 10 per cent daily limit to 6.44 yuan while Yanzhou Coal Mining also jumped 10 per cent to 11.30 yuan.

Baotou Steel Rare-Earth advanced 5.01 per cent to 29.57 yuan and Jiangxi Copper gained 4.49 per cent to 17.93 yuan.

Southwest Securities rose 7.56 per cent to 9.53 yuan, Industrial Bank jumped 6.24 per cent to 9.88 yuan and New China Life Insurance gained 4.08 per cent to 23.19 yuan.

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Greek recession eases to 4.6%

THE Greek economy has shown improvement in the second quarter of the year, shrinking by 4.6 per cent from 5.6 per cent in the first quarter, official data shows.

This first estimate from the statistics authority comes in the sixth year of recession since the country was overwhelmed by a debt crisis.

"According to available data, gross domestic product shrank by 4.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2013 compared with the second quarter of 2012," the authority said on Monday.

The latest figure shows the recession in Greece is still dragging on but that it is less severe on a 12-month comparison.

Last year the economy shrank by 6.4 per cent from output in 2011.

The country has been bailed out by the International Monetary Fund and European Union in return for deep structural reforms to its economy, and its banking system is being underpinned by refinancing from the European Central Bank.

The government has estimated the economy will contract by 4.3 per cent this year, but the forecasts for the state budget are based on an assumption that at the end of 2014 the economy will show growth of 0.2 per cent.

The budget of the central government, which does not include the cost of interest on the debt, local authority spending and pension budgets, showed a surplus of 2.6 billion euros ($A3.80 billion) in the seven months from January to July, Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Monday.

He expressed satisfaction in a statement with what he called "the good results of the central government budget which demonstrates the improving trend of public finances".

"This performance proves that the target of achieving a primary surplus on the general government budget by the end of the year is achievable," he said.

A primary surplus is a surplus excluding the cost of interest on the debt.

Greece hopes to achieve a primary surplus this year in order to begin reducing the public debt of accumulated past deficits, the statement recalled.

However, on Sunday the German weekly publication Der Spiegel, citing an internal document from the German central Bundesbank, reported that Greece might need another rescue program because it was unable to pull itself out of the crisis, despite bailout funding from the IMF and EU.

The IMF, EU and ECB recently praised progress made on reform of the Greek economy and approved payment of the next slice of bailout funding.

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UK warships head to Gibraltar amid row

BRITISH warships are due to set sail for the Mediterranean for a naval exercise that will see one vessel dock in Gibraltar, as tensions rise with Spain over the British-held territory.

The type 23 frigate HMS Westminster will leave Britain on Tuesday and is set to arrive in Gibraltar, at Spain's southern tip, within a week as part of what the defence ministry stressed was a "routine" and "long-planned" deployment.

Three other warships - the flagship HMS Bulwark, helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious and frigate HMS Montrose - and six supporting vessels were heading on Monday towards the Mediterranean as part of an exercise codenamed Cougar '13.

Madrid has agreed to allow HMS Illustrious to stop at a naval base in Rota in southern Spain as part of the operation, but Spanish media have described the plan for HMS Westminster to stop at Gibraltar as an intimidating move by Britain.

Britain and Spain are embroiled in an escalating diplomatic row over stringent car searches by Spanish guards at the Gibraltar border, causing tailbacks of several hours.

The government of the tiny peninsula has accused Madrid of acting in retaliation after Gibraltar built an artificial concrete reef which it says is aimed at stopping alleged incursions by Spanish fishing boats.

Writing in The Sun newspaper on Monday, Britain's Europe minister David Lidington said: "Britain and Spain matter to each other. We are NATO allies, key trading partners and millions of Brits travel to Spain every year.

"But our good friendship with Spain does not mean we will turn a blind eye when the people of Gibraltar are threatened or put under pressure."

The HMS Westminster and HMS Illustrious will set sail from the town of Portsmouth on the southern English coast, a defence ministry spokesman said. The flagship Bulwark and HMS Montrose will depart from the port of Plymouth.

The Cougar '13 deployment will allow the British navy to "hone its world-class maritime skills thousands of miles from home through exercises with a number of key allies", the defence ministry said.

The ships will visit a number of Mediterranean ports, carrying out an exercise with the Albanian armed forces before heading through the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf for exercises with other British allies.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity in 1713 but has long argued that it should be returned to Spanish sovereignty. London says it will not do so against the wishes of the 30,000 Gibraltarians, who are staunchly pro-British.

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Malians vote in presidential run-off

Polls are set to open across Mali for a presidential run-off election. Source: AAP

MALIANS are voting in a watershed presidential election run-off expected to usher in a new dawn of peace and stability in the conflict-scarred nation.

Almost seven million voters have a choice between former premier Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and ex-finance minister Soumaila Cisse to lead Mali's recovery following a military coup that ignited an Islamist insurgency and a French-led military intervention.

Both candidates declared themselves confident of victory in the run-off, called after none of the 27 candidates in the first round on July 28 achieved an outright majority.

The election, the first since 2007, is crucial for unlocking more than $US4 billion ($A4.42 billion) in aid promised after international donors halted contributions in the wake of last year's coup.

The run-up to the vote was largely uneventful, with cities and towns deserted as Malians - over 90 per cent of whom are Muslim - stayed at home to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The rivals have faced off before, losing the 2002 presidential election to Amadou Toumani Toure, who was overthrown by a military junta in March last year as he was preparing to end his final term in office.

The return to democratic rule will allow France to withdraw most of the 4,500 troops it sent to Mali in January to oust al-Qaeda-linked extremists who had occupied the north in the chaos that followed the coup, imposing a brutal regime of sharia law characterised by executions and amputations.

Keita, who is considered the favourite, was more than 20 percentage points ahead of his rival in the first round but Cisse has remained optimistic.

Cisse had complained about widespread fraud in the first round while more than 400,000 ballots from a turnout of around 3.5 million were declared spoiled.

Mali's Constitutional Court rejected the allegations, however, confirming that Keita, 68, had won 39.8 per cent, while Cisse attracted a 19.7 per cent share.

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Al-Qaeda attack kills five Yemen soldiers

An attack by "al-Qaeda elements" at a gas terminal in Yemen has killed five soldiers. Source: AAP

AN attack by "al-Qaeda elements" at a gas terminal in Yemen has killed five soldiers, a military source says, as Washington kept its embassy in Sanaa closed.

"The attackers arrived in a car at the army checkpoint near the Balhaf terminal. They opened fire with automatic weapons, killing five soldiers before fleeing," the source told AFP on Sunday condition of anonymity.

The soldiers belonged to an army unit responsible for security at the Balhaf terminal in Yemen's Shabwa province, part of which is run by French company Total.

The terminal, through which the bulk of Yemen's gas exports pass, was not among the reported targets of a large-scale al-Qaeda plot that Yemeni authorities say they foiled in recent days.

But a government spokesman said that pipelines leading to the terminal were among the targets.

Al-Qaeda also plotted to assault the Canadian-run Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal in Hadramawt province further east and take staff hostage, including Western expatriates, spokesman Rajeh Badi told AFP.

A nearby export facility for oil derivatives was also targeted, Badi said.

Sunday's attack follows a wave of US drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen that has killed 38 people since July 28.

The latest strike hit late on Saturday north of the port city of Aden, killing two people and wounding one.

The intensification of the US drone war in Yemen came as a security alert prompted Washington to close 19 embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa.

Communications intercepts reportedly included an attack order from Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

AQAP is considered by Washington to be the deadliest branch of the global extremist network.

Both Washington and London pulled out diplomatic personnel from Sanaa on Tuesday, citing intelligence reports of an imminent AQAP attack.

The United States said on Friday that all of the embassies it shut would reopen this week, except the mission in Yemen.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington would also keep its consulate in the Pakistani city of Lahore closed, after pulling out staff on Thursday.

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Morsi loyalists call fresh Egypt protests

Mohamed Morsi's turbulent year in power polarised Egyptians and his removal only deepened divisions. Source: AAP

SUPPORTERS of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi have called more rallies to demand his reinstatement, amid last ditch efforts for reconciliation ahead of a threatened crackdown on protests.

The Anti-Coup Alliance said 10 marches would take off on Sunday from various parts of the capital "to defend the electoral legitimacy" of Egypt's first freely elected president Morsi, ousted by the military on July 3.

His supporters, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, have kept up two huge protest camps in Cairo and said nothing short of his reinstatement will persuade them to disperse.

The call for fresh rallies comes as Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, called for reconciliation talks in the latest of a string of attempts to find a peaceful solution to the political deadlock.

Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, is to begin contacts with political factions on Monday aimed at convincing them to sit down to talks later this week, state media reported.

"Al-Azhar has been studying all the proposals for reconciliation put forward by political and intellectual figures... to come up with a compromise formula for all Egyptians," Tayyeb's advisor, Mahmud Azab, told the state-owned al-Ahram.

Morsi's turbulent single year in power polarised Egyptians and his removal by the military only deepened divisions.

The army-backed leadership is under immense pressure at home to crack down on the protests, and immense pressure from the international community to avoid bloodshed.

Senior US, EU and Arab envoys flew into Cairo in recent weeks to try to persuade the two sides to find a peaceful way out of the crisis.

But the government vowed on Wednesday to clear the Islamist protest camps, saying foreign mediation had failed.

More than 250 people have been killed in clashes since Morsi's ouster by the military, following days of mass rallies demanding his resignation.

The government had already ordered police to end the pro-Morsi protests, which it described as a "national security threat."

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Man stabbed in chest in Sydney

A SYDNEY man has been stabbed in the chest multiple times in a fight.

Police say they were alerted around 7pm (AEST) on Sunday after the 27-year-old sought help from a pizza shop in Rosebery following an alleged fight.

The man is in a stable condition in hospital.

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Israel invites bids for 1,000 settler home

ISRAEL is inviting bids to build more than 1,000 settler homes in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, the housing ministry says, ahead of peace talks with the Palestinians.

"Tenders will be published" later in the day for 793 units in annexed east Jerusalem and 394 elsewhere in the West Bank, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday, three days before the next round of talks.

Housing Minister Uri Ariel, of the far-right Jewish Home party, dismissed international criticism of settlement building on occupied Palestinian land as illegal and an obstacle to peace.

"No country in the world accepts diktats from other countries on where it is allowed to build or not," he said in the statement.

"We shall continue to market apartments and build throughout the country."

The statement said that plots were to be offered in Har Homa and Gilo, both on east Jerusalem's southern outskirts and in Pisgat Zeev, on the city's northern edge.

Tenders would also be invited for homes in Ariel, in the northern West Bank, in Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and in Efrata and Beitar Ilit, around Bethlehem, it said.

The US State Department said last week that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators would resume talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday on ending their long-standing conflict.

They resumed direct negotiations in Washington last month ending a three-year hiatus after painstaking US mediation.

The last talks in 2010 broke down on the issue of settlement building.

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