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Blair Comley to head resource dept

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 15 Februari 2013 | 17.01

Blair Comley has been appointed as the department secretary of resources, energy and tourism. Source: AAP

THE head of the climate change department, Blair Comley, has been appointed as the department secretary of resources, energy and tourism.

Mr Comley, the secretary of the department of climate change and energy efficiency, will begin a five-year-term from March 11.

He replaces Drew Clarke, who was recently appointed as secretary of the department of broadband, communications and the digital economy.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Mr Comley had been secretary of the climate change department since 2011 and had previous roles in the Treasury.

"Mr Comley's knowledge and experience mean that he is well placed to take on the role of the secretary of the department of resources, energy and tourism," she said in a statement on Friday.

Ms Gillard said she would appoint a new department head of climate change shortly.


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Divers search river for missing Qld woman

Police have called in divers to begin searching the Nerang River for the missing Gold Coast woman. Source: AAP

ADMITTING they now fear the worst, police have called in divers to begin searching the Nerang River for missing Gold Coast mother Novy Chardon.

An operation originally planned for the weekend has been moved forward to 3.30pm (AEST) on Friday.

The operation will begin at a boat ramp near a large skateboard park on the western side of the M1 motorway.

Detectives also released CCTV stills of Mrs Chardon and a female friend at a Coomera service station and soon after at the Upper Coomera McDonald's drive-through on February 6, the night she disappeared.

Superintendent David Hutchinson said magnetic signs advertising Mrs Chardon's beauty business, which were on her Volvo 4X4 that night, were missing when the car was later discovered near the Nerang railway station.

Supt Hutchinson told reporters police are unconcerned that Mrs Chardon's husband, John, has not returned from a business trip to Indonesia.

"We have access to him and we're comfortable with the situation as it stands at the moment with our ability to speak with him."

Mr Chardon's vehicle, which he drove to the airport, has been found, and is undergoing forensic examination, as is the family home, he said.

"We have grave concerns for her now.

"It's seven days now ... we still hope for the best, but the truth of the matter is we're dealing with it as if it's the worst."

Mr Chardon was expected to be interviewed by the Nine Network but pulled out on the advice of his lawyers.

No contract was signed, and no money was paid, the network said.


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Extraordinary attack by KAP candidate

BOB Katter's Australian Party (KAP) has decided not to expel a Senate candidate who tweeted that he didn't want homosexuals teaching his children.

However, soon after the decision late on Friday, Bernard Gaynor launched an extraordinary attack on those who decided not to throw him out, and fellow Senate candidate Steve Bailey.

Earlier in the day, the party confirmed it would not disendorse Mr Bailey, who has publicly said that he supports gay marriage despite one of KAP's core principles being that marriage is between a man and a woman.

The party's National Director Aidan McLindon said candidates were allowed to voice personal opinions, just not on behalf of the party.

"We have our core values and principles like every political party," he told reporters at party headquarters in Brisbane.

"People can champion their opinions, but they can't do it on behalf of the good party.

"Australians know what the party stands for and we're not going to be distracted by these side issues."

Mr McLindon had originally asked Mr Bailey to withdraw his candidacy but party leader Bob Katter overrode the decision.

On Friday evening Mr Gaynor welcomed the party's decision not to terminate his own membership, saying it confirmed his statements did not undermine KAP's core values.

"The backlash against me from radical progressives was driven from their desire to indoctrinate children, regardless of parents' wishes," he said in a statement.

"Teachers have no right to give the impression that a homosexual lifestyle is moral.

"Indeed, it would be a perverted country if homosexual teachers had more rights than parents to form a child's understanding of morality."

He said parents across Australia should be very uncomfortable about "this disgusting notion", adding that the decision not to terminate his membership was clear proof the management committee was embarrassed about its knee-jerk reaction in the face of criticism from "the flouncing blouse set on the left".

He thanked the party leadership for "belatedly growing a backbone" and deciding not to cave in, before attacking the decision to continue to back Mr Bailey as stupid.

"It is perpetually stupid to keep walking down the aisle with him towards an election," he concluded.

Another KAP candidate, Tess Corbett, withdrew her candidacy last month after telling a newspaper she didn't believe gay people should have the same rights as heterosexuals.


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Airbus decides against lithium batteries

Airbus has announced it wont use lithium batteries in the A350 long-range liner under development. Source: AAP

AIRBUS will not use lithium batteries in the A350 long-range liner under development, a company source says.

"The first planes will be delivered with cadmium, not lithium batteries," the source told AFP on Friday, adding that the airliner's first test flights would take place with the lithium batteries.

The announcement comes as Boeing's 50 Dreamliners in service around the world have been grounded since January, after battery smoke forced an emergency landing of one plane and a battery fire was reported on a parked plane.

US air safety investigators have since zeroed in on how a battery fire occurred on the parked plane - a Japanese Airlines 787 at Boston's Logan airport - saying evidence pointed to a single cell on the eight-cell lithium-ion battery, which short circuited, leading to a rise in temperature.

Investigators do not yet know what specifically caused the short circuit.

The Airbus A350 is due to enter service in the second half of 2014, with the company hoping the liner will make it competitive in the long-haul market, where its planes have found it hard to challenge Boeing's 747s and 777s.


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Iran nuclear talks fail to reach deal: UN

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 14 Februari 2013 | 17.01

THE chief UN atomic inspector says talks with Iran have failed to reach a deal on enhanced inspections of Tehran's nuclear program.

"We had discussions on the structured approach document but could not finalise the document," Herman Nackaerts of the International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters on Thursday.


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Downer EDI wins $94m contract

NBN Co has awarded a $94 million engineering contract to Downer EDI to provide additional construction capacity for the rollout of the national broadband network in northern NSW.

The contract, to Downer subsidiary Downer EDI Engineering, is valued up to $94 million over two years, with two one-year options to renew, NBN Co chief operating officer, Ralph Steffens said in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Steffens said he expected the announcement to be the first in a series of contract awards over coming months as NBN Co ramped up construction activity.


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Small banks getting more loans: treasury

SMALL banks and lenders are slowly winning a larger share of home loans as competition increases in the banking market, treasury officials say.

Treasury markets group executive director Jim Murphy says the government's banking competition package is gaining momentum with borrowers.

In December 2010, Treasurer Wayne Swan announced measures to boost competition including allowing borrowers to switch their home loans without a large exit fee.

"It has stopped the growth of the market share of the majors (banks)," Mr Murphy told a senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Thursday.

"The smaller ones are coming back to recoup some of that market share."

The big four banks - ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac - gained a greater share of the home lending market at the expense of smaller financial institutions following the global financial crisis.

Mr Murphy said home lending among the smaller banks had grown at more than three times the rate of the major banks in the year to November 2012.

The big banks' home lending share fell by one percentage point in that time, he said.

There have been about 7000 loan switches from one institution to another in the past six months, Mr Murphy said.

While there has been a boost in home lending for the small banks, the gap between the demand for houses and the number of premises available was estimated to have increased by 28,000 dwellings in the year to June 2011.

Treasury infrastructure general manager Brenton Thomas said the shortfall has been growing larger since 2001.

Mr Murphy said key factors causing the shortfall were planning rules and the release of land by state governments.


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French council supports euthanasia

FRANCE'S medical ethics council says euthanasia should be allowed in exceptional cases when suffering patients make "persistent and lucid requests".

Invoking a "duty to humanity," the body said euthanasia should be reserved for "exceptional cases" like putting an end to "prolonged suffering" or "unbearable" pain.


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Barclays to axe at least 3700 jobs

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 12 Februari 2013 | 17.01

British banking giant Barclays plans to axe at least 3700 jobs under a strategic overhaul. Source: AAP

SCANDAL-HIT banking giant Barclays is to axe at least 3700 jobs under a strategic overhaul.

Chief executive Antony Jenkins is shutting the bank's controversial Structured Capital Markets tax advisory division and said 1800 jobs would go in corporate and investment banking and another 1900 across its European retail and business arm as part of a plan to slash costs by STG1.7 billion ($A2.61 billion).

Nearly STG2.5 billion of cash set aside to cover mis-selling compensation claims contributed to a plunge in pre-tax profits to STG246 million in 2012 from STG5.9 billion the previous year.

The bank's bonus pot will mean each employee gets STG13,300 on average, with an average of STG54,100 for investment banking staff, although the pool is lower than the STG2.2 billion paid out last year.

Barclays said 1600 jobs have already been cut in the investment banking business since the start of the year.

Jenkins, who was appointed in August after Bob Diamond quit in the wake of the bank's STG290 million Libor rigging settlement, insisted bonuses had been reduced after last year's string of reputational blows.

He said the bank's compensation ratio - pay as a proportion of revenues - had fallen to 38 per cent from 42 per cent in 2011.

Jenkins announced he was waiving his bonus for 2012 earlier this month, but the overall staff bonus pot for 2012 is likely to stoke further controversy given the recent series of scandals to rock the group.

Barclays said profits rose 26 per cent to STG7.05 billion on an underlying basis, with mis-selling provisions stripped out and not including movements in the value of its own debt.

Bottom line profits were heavily impacted by mis-selling provisions, with STG1.6 billion put by to cover claims relating to payment protection insurance (PPI) and STG850 million for interest rate swaps sold to small businesses.

It said the average PPI claim stood at STG2750, while it added the group sold around 4000 interest rate swaps to small businesses of which around 3000 were liable to potential mis-selling claims.

Barclays said its investment banking business delivered a 37 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to STG4.1 billion in 2012.

The bank's UK retail and business banking division saw profits tumble 71 per cent to STG292 million after PPI provisions, although it said profits rose four per cent to STG1.5 billion on an underlying basis.

Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: "The chief executive's promise of a culture shift at the bank is to be welcomed but we need to see more progress to address the gap between the highest paid and the lowest paid staff at Barclays, which is huge.

"It's shocking but true that the starting salary at Barclays is just STG13,500 a year, making some workers at the bank eligible to claim tax credits.

"With pay negotiations due to start soon, Unite will be expecting the bank to reward its staff fairly for their contribution to the success of the bank."


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Bill Shorten intervenes in Pacific dispute

PACIFIC National Coal says it will return to the Fair Work Commission to solve the ongoing dispute the Rail Tram & Bus Union.

The company said federal Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten had "reached out" to help solve the dispute.

The union had been negotiating with Pacific National for more than a year.

Eight months have passed since the old enterprise bargaining agreement expired for its 840 NSW employees.

"Based on his proposal, and with the commitment of no further industrial action during the proposed discussions, Pacific National Coal has accepted the offer to return to the Fair Work Commission," the company said in a statement.

"Pacific National Coal remains committed to reaching an outcome that recognises the interests of all stakeholders and believes that the support of the commission in doing so is our best opportunity to achieve an outcome."

This comes after union members walked off the job at on Friday for 48 hours.

Pacific National, a subsidiary of transport infrastructure company Asciano, has wanted the dispute taken to Fair Work Australia, but the union has opposed this move.


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Obama rebukes North Korea over test

The US president called for "swift" international action following North Korea's nuclear test. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama says North Korea's "provocative" nuclear test does not make it more secure, calling for "swift" and "credible" international action.

Obama also vowed in a written statement on Tuesday that Washington would remain vigilant in the face of the underground detonation by the Stalinist state and steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies in Asia.

"These provocations do not make North Korea more secure," Obama said.

"Far from achieving its stated goal of becoming a strong and prosperous nation, North Korea has instead increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery."

Obama complained that the test was a "highly provocative act" that -- following the North's December 12 ballistic missile launch -- undermined regional stability and violated UN Security Council resolutions.

"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community," Obama said, ahead of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called for later on Tuesday.

"The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies," Obama said.


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Perth bushfire threat scaled back

AN alert for a bushfire burning in Perth's southern fringe has been downgraded, but authorities warn there is still a danger to residents as the unpredictable blaze rages on.

An emergency warning was issued at 4.15pm (WST) on Tuesday but was downgraded to a watch and act alert at 5.30pm for people in an area bounded by Hella Kipper Drive, Nettleton Road and Manjedal Road, in the southern part of Karrakup, in the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale.

The fire started between South Western Highway and Norman Road in Cardup at 3.20pm.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said fire crews on the ground and air support worked hard to slow the spread of the fire, which resulted in the alert level being downgraded.

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

"You need to leave or get ready to actively defend."

The bushfire, which is still out of control, is moving in a northeasterly direction towards Nettleton Road.

Burning embers were likely to be blown around homes and spot fires were starting ahead of the fire, the DFES said.

The flames have so far burnt about 28 hectares.

The cause of the fire is unknown.


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Iranians march to mark revolution

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 10 Februari 2013 | 17.01

HUNDREDS of thousands of people have marched in Tehran and other cities chanting "Death to America" as Iran marked the 34th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed shah.

In the capital on Sunday, crowds waving Iranian flags and portraits of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini walked towards the landmark Azadi (Freedom) Square, in a government-sponsored rally which is now a cornerstone of the regime.

Marchers also chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" as they headed for the square, some waving posters of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was expected to speak.

Iran is holding similar rallies nationwide, especially in large provincial capitals such as Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz and Kerman.

At the Tehran rally, foreign media were being closely monitored and allowed to cover the event from officially designated areas only.

The rally marks February 11 when the army declared solidarity with the people, turning its back on shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Ten days beforehand, Khomeini returned in triumph from exile in France to lead the revolutionaries to power.

Tehran is currently under a series of international sanctions aimed at curbing its controversial nuclear program of uranium enrichment.

World powers and Iran's arch regional foe Israel suspect that Tehran is trying to develop atomic weapons under the cover of its civilian program, a charge repeatedly and vehemently denied by the Islamic republic.

The sanctions have led to a severe economic crisis, choking Iran's banking system and limiting its oil exports, the country's main foreign revenue earner.

According to a recent survey by the US polling firm Gallup, Iran's nuclear program is supported by a large majority of its population.


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Indian Kashmiris chafe under curfew

RESIDENTS of India's Kashmir valley are upset over a curfew imposed following the hanging of a local separatist which has sparked a fresh debate on capital punishment.

Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim convicted of helping plot the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament which killed 10 people, was executed on Saturday in New Delhi's Tihar jail.

Fearing a backlash over his death, Indian authorities imposed a tight curfew on Saturday in major populated areas of Kashmir.

Internet services were shut down and they also blocked local newspapers in a bid to prevent protests.

At least four people were injured on Saturday during protests, including two who received bullet wounds when government forces fired on a crowd in a village 40km from the biggest city of Srinagar.

Abdul Hafeez, a resident of Srinagar, said his two-month-old granddaughter needed milk but they were unable to go shopping because of the strict orders restricting people to their homes which have been imposed indefinitely.

"We have seen so much violence in the past. We just hope that things return to normal as quickly as possible," he told AFP.

Guru was convicted of waging war against India and conspiring with the Islamist militants who attacked the parliament - an event that brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of another conflict.

The one-time fruit merchant and medical college dropout always insisted he was innocent and claimed he was denied a proper legal defence, while some protesters in Kashmir accused the police of framing him.

India, the world' biggest democracy uses capital punishment for the "rarest of rare" crimes.

There had not been an execution since 2004 until the hanging in November last year of Mohammed Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The two executions - both approved under new President Pranab Mukherjee - worried human rights activists who had hoped India was phasing out the practice following its informal eight-year moratorium.

"India should end this distressing use of executions as a way to satisfy some public opinion," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International was also quick to condemn Guru's hanging as a "disturbing and regressive trend" towards executions in India.

Some of India's press speculated on who could be the next to face the gallows, while respect left-of-centre newspaper The Hindu slammed the execution.

"Guru was walked to the gallows... at the end of the macabre rite governments enact from time to time to propitiate that most angry of gods, a vengeful public," it said.

"There is no principle underpinning the death penalty in India today except vengeance. And vengeance is no principle at all," the daily wrote.

In Kashmir, where a bloody separatist conflict has killed an estimated 100,000 people in two decades, some feared the execution could feed local anti-India feeling and spur more violence.

Police also prevented local newspapers from publishing on Sunday and seized copies of four dailies who managed to go to press in defiance of the restrictions.

"Police seized our newspaper from the press without any prior information to our management," Haji Hayat, editor-in-chief of the English language newspaper Kashmir Reader, told AFP.


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Curry plays cricket like John Howard

AUSSIE actor Stephen Curry says when it comes to cricket, he's like former prime minister John Howard.

At the cricket-themed premiere of the Save Your Legs! in Sydney on Sunday night, Curry said he would have a bit of a game on the green carpet if he wasn't so hopeless.

"I'm no good with the bat, so I don't really want to show off my skills here," Curry, who's best known for his roles in The Castle and The Cup, said.

"(I'm) more of a cricket tragic in the way that John Howard, our former Prime Minister was a cricket tragic - loved the game, armchair expert, couldn't play to save himself.

"And I'm a redhead in this so I'm very similar to Julia Gillard."

Directed by Boyd Hicklin, in Save Your Legs! Curry plays Teddy, the president of D-grade cricket team the Abbotsford Anglers, who find themselves on a cricket tour of India.

Wearing his blue and yellow Anglers jacket, Curry said in light of the recent cheating scandals in Aussie sports he came to the Sydney premiere prepared.

"Look, tonight I am full of peptides," he said.

"I had them injected into my stomach and I was forced to sign a waiver, so I feel like it's basically going to make my green carpet performance as good as it possibly could be, and I'll probably recover very nicely in the morning."

Based on a true story, Save Your Legs! was written by and stars Brendan Cowell, who is a self confessed "cricket nut", having played since he was five and been a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) since he was 14.

Walking the green carpet with Curry and co-star Damon Gameau, he joked that he was OK missing Australia's match against the West Indies for the premiere, because "this is where the real fixture is".

"The Abbotsford Anglers, they're the team everyone's talking about, so we're here and this film's been to London, it's been to Mumbai, so now we're at our home ground at the SCG, ready to play some strokes," he said.

For Cowell and Curry, an Aussie cricket movie has been a long time coming.

Cowell joked that with the success of 1984 Australian miniseries Bodyline, "I think people have been waiting for a great cricket movie, so it's timely".

Curry thinks it's interesting Aussies haven't tried to propel cricket onto the big screen before.

"It's fascinating that in this rich history of filmmaking in this country and our great affiliation with cricket that there actually hasn't been a feature film about cricket," Curry said.

"So I think it's about time and hopefully we've done it justice."

* Save Your Legs! releases in Australian cinemas on February 28.


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Hunt for fugitive LA cop continues

THE hunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings is continuing for a fourth day in snow-covered mountains.

Meanwhile, officials will re-examine the allegations in 2007 by Christopher Dorner, 33, that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues, Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck announced on Saturday.

"I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do," the chief said in a statement.

Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that left three people dead.

They say Dorner had vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career.

The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide protection to 50 families, Beck said.

A captain, named as a target in the manifesto posted on Facebook, told the Orange County Register he has not stepped outside his house since he learned of the threat.

"From what I've seen of (Dorner's) actions, he feels he can make allegations for injustice and justify killing people and that's not reasonable," said Captain Phil Tingirides, who chaired a board that stripped Dorner of his badge.

"The end never justifies the means."

On Saturday, a smaller search party took advantage of a break in stormy weather to look for Dorner in the San Bernardino mountains, about 130 kilometres northeast of downtown Los Angeles, where his burned-out pickup truck was discovered Thursday.

A law enforcement officer told The Associated Press that authorities found weapons in the truck.

Also, newly-released surveillance video showed Dorner tossing several items into a dumpster behind an auto parts store in National City on Monday.

The store's manager told FOX5 in San Diego an employee found a magazine full of bullets, a military belt and a military helmet.

On Friday night, authorities searched a Buena Park storage unit and collected evidence as part of their investigation but did not provide further details.

Earlier on Friday, another warrant was served at a La Palma house belonging to Dorner's mother. Officers collected 10 bags of evidence, including five electronic items.

In his online manifesto, Dorner vowed to use "every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordnance and survival training I've been given" to bring "warfare" to the LAPD and its families.

Dorner served in the US navy, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and a pistol expert medal.

He was assigned to a naval undersea warfare unit and various aviation training units, according to military records. Dorner took leave from the LAPD for a six-month deployment to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.

The flight training he received in the navy prompted the transportation security administration to issue an alert, warning the general aviation community to be on the lookout for Dorner.

February 1 was Dorner's last day with the navy and also the day CNN's Anderson Cooper received a package that contained a note that read, in part, "I never lied."

A coin riddled with bullet holes that former Chief William Bratton gave out as a souvenir was also in the package.

Police said it was a sign of planning by Dorner before the killing began.

On February 3, police say Dorner shot and killed a couple in a parking garage at their condominium in Irvine. The woman was the daughter of a retired police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his sacking.

Dorner wrote in his manifesto that he believed the retired captain had represented the interests of the department over his.

Hours after authorities identified Dorner as a suspect in the double murder, police believe Dorner shot and grazed an LAPD officer in Corona and then used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

The crime spree spanned across a wide area of Southern California, prompting several police agencies, including the FBI, to form a task force.


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