Police end Mexico City plaza occupation

Police have raided Mexico City's historic centre to remove striking teachers from Zocalo plaza. Source: AAP

RIOT police have swept thousands of striking teachers out of the heart of Mexico City.

The authorities used tear gas, flash grenades and water cannon against protesters to bring a swift end to weeks of occupation of the Zocalo plaza over reforms to the country's dysfunctional education system.

Three days before Mexican Independence Day, the teachers armed themselves with metal pipes and wooden clubs and blocked off the Zocalo with steel grates and plastic traffic dividers, threatening to scuttle the traditional national celebration in the massive colonial-era square.

Before moving in, the government had promised that Independence Day celebrations would take place in the Zocalo as scheduled, and the head of the federal police warned on national television that police would move in at 4pm local time.

The teachers, many veterans of battles with police in poor southern states, promised not to move from the square where they have camped out since last month.

Some fixed knives and nails to wooden planks and declared themselves ready to fight.

Others set up sewage-filled portable toilets in the path of police vehicles.

Shortly after 4pm, the police swarmed in, shooting tear gas from specially equipped fire extinguishers, tossing flash grenades and spraying water from armoured trucks.

Protesters hurled sticks and chunks of pavement broken from the streets around world-famous tourist attractions including the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Templo Mayor and the National Palace.

But within a half hour, police had cleared the Zocalo and much of the surrounding historic centre of virtually all protesters.

Union organisers said they would reassemble away from the main plaza at the nearby Monument to the Revolution.

Small knots of teachers, self-described local anarchists and other supporters hurled bottles and rocks at police on some of the main avenues of downtown Mexico City.

It was a dramatic reassertion of state authority after weeks of near-constant disruption in the centre of one of the world's largest cities.

The teachers have marched through the capital at least 15 times over the last two months, decrying a plan that aims to break union control of education with a new system of standardised teacher testing that become law on Tuesday.

The teachers say blocking the reform itself is no longer the point.

They say they are now trying to maintain pressure to protect their rights and privileges as the government puts the labour reforms into effect and reduces union control over teacher hiring and assignment.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Singer Joan Regan dies aged 85

BRITISH singer Joan Regan has died in London aged 85, the BBC reports.

Regan had chart hits in the late 50s and early 60s with records including Ricochet, May You Always and If I Give My Heart To You and also had her own BBC TV series Be My Guest.

Born in Romford, Essex, she was signed up by theatre impresario Bernard Delfont and went on to star on both sides of the Atlantic with artists including Perry Como, Max Bygraves and Cliff Richard and performed on many occasions at the London Palladium.

An accident in the shower in 1984 caused a blood clot on the brain and left her paralysed and without speech, but through therapy she made a complete recovery and was able to sing again.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld prison stand-off ends peacefully

A 10-HOUR prison stand-off that began when two inmates scaled the roof of a Brisbane jail has ended peacefully.

A spokesman for Queensland corrective services said two men who climbed onto the roof of the Brisbane Correctional Centre at Wacol to protest the placement of another inmate in solitary confinement were successfully talked down by police.

"They've come down off the roof. The protest is over," the spokesman said about 10pm (AEST).

"Police and corrective services negotiated and talked them down."

The prison, in the city's west, had to be placed into lockdown as police negotiators worked to coax the men down.

The two inmates had been on their way back from an oval when they climbed on top of a building just before noon.

The corrective services spokesman said the situation was resolved peacefully.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bomber attacks funeral in Iraq

OFFICIALS in Iraq say a suicide bomber has attacked a funeral for members of an ethnic minority in the country, killing 11 people.

Police say a suicide bomber set off an explosive belt inside a funeral held by members of Shabak minority near the northern city of Mosul on Saturday afternoon. Authorities said that at least 13 were wounded in the attack.

The Shabaks are ethnic Turkomen and Shi'ite Muslims. Most of them live in villages east of Mosul, the provincial capital of the ethnically mixed Ninevah province that is predominantly Sunni Muslim.

Officials in nearby hospitals confirmed the death toll.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to journalists.

The attack came amid a surge in nationwide violence that has left more than 4000 people dead so far this year and sparked concerns Iraq is slipping back into the all-out sectarian war that plagued it in 2006 and 2007.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

No bail for worst child porn suspect

A MAN described by the FBI as being the largest facilitator of child porn on the planet has been remanded in custody after being refused bail for a second time.

Eric Eoin Marques is wanted in the United Stated on four charges linked to website images described as being extremely violent, graphic and depicting the rape and torture of pre-pubescent children.

Justice John Edwards, sitting at the High Court in Dublin where extradition proceedings are under way, accepted evidence from the FBI and Irish police that the 28-year-old is a flight risk or likely to destroy evidence if released.

Marques, who has Irish and US citizenship, is wanted in connection with four counts involving the advertising of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, conspiracy to advertise child pornography, and conspiracy to distribute child pornography.

If convicted in the US on all four counts he could be jailed for up to 100 years.

21.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

China vows air pollution cuts

China has announced plans to reduce levels of pollutants in the air by up to 25 per cent in Beijing. Source: AAP

CHINA has vowed to reduce levels of atmospheric pollutants in Beijing and other major cities by as much as 25 per cent to try to improve their dire air quality.

China's State Council, or cabinet, said on Thursday that "concentrations of fine particles" in the capital's air will fall by "approximately 25 per cent" from 2012 levels by 2017.

Other major Chinese cities on China's affluent east coast, including Shanghai and Guangzhou, will see reductions of between 10 and 20 per cent from 2012 levels over the same period, said a plan posted on the central government's website.

Cities across China have been hit by intense air pollution in recent years, much of it caused by emissions from coal-burning power stations, with levels of small particles known as PM2.5 reaching as high as 40 times World Health Organisation (WHO) limits this year.

The pollution has been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths, and has tarnished the image of Chinese cities including Beijing, which saw an almost 15 per cent drop in tourist visits during the first half of this year.

The plan said pollution levels would be cut by slowing the growth of coal consumption, so that its share of China's total energy consumption falls to 65 per cent by 2017.

China relied on coal for 67 per cent of its energy needs last year, environmental group the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a statement.

"We call on the Chinese government to set a more positive target, to more strictly limit coal consumption," WWF China's climate and energy project manager Lu Lunyan said in the statement.

China is the world's biggest coal consumer and is forecast to account for more than half of global demand next year.

Three of China's most populated coastal regions - including the areas surrounding Shanghai, Beijing, and the manufacturing hub of the Pearl River delta - should "strive to achieve a reduction in total consumption of coal", the plan said.

But it did not state any precise targets for reductions, and activists gave the proposals a mixed assessment.

The plan "takes very important steps" towards controlling rapid growth in coal consumption, said Li Yan, climate and energy campaign manager at Greenpeace East Asia.

But to reduce air pollution significantly "it will be necessary to limit coal consumption in other areas as well", she said in a statement.

The plan did not call for cuts in coal consumption in China's vast inland provinces, which researchers earlier this year said are responsible for 80 per cent of China's carbon dioxide emissions, mostly as a result of coal-burning.

China's coastal areas are "outsourcing" pollution internally to meet emissions reduction targets, researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this June.

21.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Yahoo now has 800 million users: CEO

Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer says the internet company now has about 800 million worldwide users. Source: AAP

YAHOO boss Marissa Mayer says the internet company now has about 800 million worldwide users, a 20 per cent increase since she was lured away from Google 15 months ago to steer a turnaround.

The gain disclosed on Wednesday at a technology conference in San Francisco is the latest evidence of the progress that Yahoo is making under Mayer's leadership.

The Sunnyvale, California, company's stock has nearly doubled since Mayer came aboard, though she and analysts say that gain primarily stems from the value of Yahoo's holdings in China's rapidly growing Alibaba Group.

Mayer says the figure for the 800 million Yahoo users doesn't include the traffic that the company has picked up from its $US1.1 billion acquisition of internet blogging service Tumblr earlier this year.

Despite the increased traffic, Yahoo is still struggling to boost its online advertising revenue - the main way that the company makes money. In recent quarters, Yahoo's ad revenue has been barely rising while Google and another rival, Facebook, have been thriving.

Mayer says she believes it her strategy for accelerating Yahoo's revenue growth will require at least three years to unfold.

Yahoo's stock shed 29 US cents on Wednesday to close at $US29.19.

21.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Unemployment tipped to hit four year high

Unemployment has hit a four year high and could get up to six per cent. Source: AAP

THE unemployment rate is expected to have hit a four year high in August as businesses held off on hiring until after the federal election.

Official labour force figures are to be released on Thursday morning, and the median forecast from an AAP survey of 11 economists is for the unemployment rate to rise to 5.8 per cent, from 5.7 per cent in July.

Unemployment hasn't been that high since August 2009.

The number of people with jobs is expected to have risen by 10,000 in August, compared to a fall of 10,200 in July.

But JP Morgan Australia chief economist Stephen Walters said jobs growth of 10,000 a month is not enough to absorb the increase in population and keep the unemployment rate from rising.

"It is possible that firms held back hiring decisions close to the federal election, which would depress the August numbers," he said.

"It is difficult to disentangle the impact of an election from the prevailing macro backdrop of the time, but there is circumstantial evidence of a pre-election hiring stall in one recent case."

Mr Walters there was a similar pattern ahead of the November 2007 election, when Labor's Kevin Rudd defeated the then prime minister John Howard.

The participation rate - the percentage of the working-age population either in work or looking for a job - is expected to rise to 65.2 per cent in August, from 65.1 per cent in July.

21.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Computer upgrades cut US jobless claims

THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits plummeted 31,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 292,000, but the drop was mostly due to technical issues in two states that delayed the processing of applications.

The Labor Department said on Thursday that the less volatile four-week average fell to 321,250, the lowest in six years.

A government spokesman said the steep drop occurred because two states upgraded their computer systems last week and did not process all their applications.

"This is not necessarily an indication of a change in labour market conditions," he said.

The spokesman would not identify the states, but said one was small and one large. Big states like California and Texas can swing the weekly data by 10,000 or more.

Applications will likely rebound in the coming weeks, he said.

The broader trend in unemployment benefit applications has been favourable. Prior to the glitch applications had dropped 7 per cent in the previous three months. However, the decline in jobless claims has not been followed by rapid hiring.

"It's hard to believe that claims can keep declining indefinitely without a commensurate pickup in job growth," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG. "Then again, that's exactly what they have done."

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. Layoffs have been falling since 2009 and in July reached the lowest level on records dating back to 2000, according to a separate government report released this week.

But unemployment remains painfully high at 7.3 per cent more than four years after the Great Recession ended. And the economy grew at a modest 2.5 per cent annual rate in the April-June quarter.

That's made the unemployment applications data less reliable for predicting job growth than in past recoveries.

Historically, falling applications have pointed to a pickup in hiring and stronger economic growth.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Torture weapons 'promoted at UK fair'

ILLEGAL torture weapons are being promoted at an arms fair being held in London, according to the Green Party's Caroline Lucas.

Lucas said the French company MagForce International and the Chinese company Tianjin MyWay International Trading are promoting the weapons at the DSEI arms fair in London's Docklands.

The Brighton Pavilion MP said it was not the first time illegal weapons have been found at the arms fair, being held at the ExCeL centre, and called on ministers to urgently make a statement about how it was allowed to happen.

"I have evidence here that French company MagForce International and Chinese company Tianjin MyWay international trading have been promoting illegal weapons of torture at the DSEI arms fair being held in London Docklands this week," Lucas told Britain's House of Commons.

"Can you advise me what to do to get this information to BIS (Business, Innovation and Skills) ministers as fast as possible to get them urgently to make a statement in this House about how this can have happened, especially since it is not the first time that illegal weapons have been found at DSEI?"

Speaker John Bercow confirmed that Lucas had taken the speediest action possible.

"You have found your own salvation," he replied.

"The Treasury bench will have heard what you have to say, it will be a matter only I'm sure of seconds before your remarks wing their way towards the Business Secretary (Vince Cable).

"I may simply say it is then for him to decide how to respond. It is not a matter of order for the chair but you are well aware of the opportunities that you have to call ministers to account and I feel sure that you will deploy the weapons at your disposal."

The DSEI arms fair began on Tuesday and will end on September 13.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abbott urged not to rush first 100 days

PRIME Minister-elect Tony Abbott should not be aiming for a long list of accomplishments in his first 100 days of power - he should instead use this period to set out his reform agenda timetable.

That's the view of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia in a report on Thursday of what it believes should be the priorities of a coalition government in its first 100 days.

The institute's chief executive Lee White believes economic success would be increased if the government takes the time to set up robust policy-making processes from the outset.

"Setting up good processes isn't glamorous," he said in a statement.

"It won't deliver an overnight win but it's important work and if they get it right it will pay huge dividends throughout their time in office."

However, the report urges that the fixation on a set timetable to return the budget to surplus must change because it inflicts further stress on sectors that are already doing it tough, which could result in a worse economic outcome.

It says the new government must provide a budget update or mid-year economic and fiscal outlook within the 100 days, given some of the big ticket items it intends to roll out, such as Mr Abbott's paid parental leave scheme.

The institute believes the government has a big opportunity to kick-start the tax reform agenda, but warns Australia will be taking a step backwards if the carbon price is repealed.

"Driving businesses to become more carbon efficient is critical for our future," it says.

It says repealing the carbon price 18 months or more after it has been implemented will have a significant impact on business.

"While a transition 'back in time' might sound simple enough in theory, in reality, there will be a broad range of potentially significant consequences that government and business haven't yet fully considered, such as the potential impact on financial reporting and profit results."

It also says some concessions linked to the mining tax should be kept, even if the tax itself is scrapped.

"We are not looking for a long list of accomplishments at the end of the first 100 days. Quite the reverse," Mr White says.

"We want the new government to set out its agenda, engage in consultation and work through a structured deliberative process of decision making before embarking on reforms."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Asthma prevention vital for pregnant mums

PREGNANT women with asthma should continue taking their medication to prevent complications, says an Australian professor.

The problem is some fear side effects and stop doing so.

But taking medication is safer than going without, says Professor Guy Marks of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research.

He's co-author of a report that says women who stop using their preventer medicines are at risk of developing pre-eclampsia, giving birth early or having an underweight baby.

If asthma is well controlled during pregnancy the prospects for the mother and child are the same as for women who do not have asthma, Prof Marks says.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions affecting pregnant women in Australia, yet little is known about how many continue to use their preventer medication, says the paper published by the Institute of Health and Welfare.

It calls for population-level monitoring of asthmatic women and for them to have a health check in the first trimester and every four to six weeks thereafter.

Studies of pregnant women in Western Australia, Newcastle and Melbourne suggest about 12 per cent have asthma, but many women and health professionals are concerned about the side effects of medication.

Current clinical guidelines recommend continuing to take medication throughout pregnancy.

"But we really don't know how many women are sticking to the guidelines, or how well," says Prof Marks.

Better data collection would also help paint a clearer picture of who is getting care and who is missing out.

"The problems and solutions we identify along the way could also be used to help with the management of other common chronic diseases, like diabetes and epilepsy," Prof Marks says.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Southeastern takes 12% stake in News Corp

SOUTHEASTERN Asset Management, the investment firm that along with activist investor Carl Icahn opposed the proposed buyout of Dell, says it's taken a nearly 12 per cent stake in News Corp.

According to the Tuesday Securities and Exchange Commission filing in the US, Southeastern now owns 23.8 million News Corp Class B shares for an 11.9 per cent stake in the company, making it the largest institutional shareholder of the company, according to FactSet.

Earlier this week, Southeastern and Icahn dropped their opposition to Dell's plan to sell itself to its company founder Michael Dell in a $US24.8-billion ($A26.7-billion) deal.

New York-based News Corp owns both The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

Last week, it announced a deal to sell off 33 smaller publications, including eight dailies.

In morning trading, shares of News Corp added 11 cents, to $US16.83.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Housing key to retail recovery: Deloitte

THE performance of the Australian housing sector will play a key role in any recovery in consumer spending and retail sales growth, an independent economic forecaster says.

Deloitte Access Economics believes the election of a majority government should allow for more certainty around political policy and improve general confidence.

This should see retail spending pick up in the September quarter, with a more sustainable improvement kicking into 2014/15.

Deloitte Access' quarterly retail report on Wednesday showed there was a promising start to 2013 before sales turned "tragic" by mid year, with overall weak growth.

This was likely due to a drift higher in the jobless rate and the marking down of economic growth prospects by both Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Now a retail sales recovery may be on the way as house prices start to lift.

"When people are bidding up the price of housing they are also lifting their rate of retail spending," Deloitte Access partner David Rumbens said in the report.

"With housing affordability much improved from two years ago, this channel may form a powerful driver."

Home building is also lifting on the back of population growth and low interest rates.

The forecaster expects real, or inflation adjusted, retail sales to expand by 2.4 per cent in 2013/14, after 2.8 per cent growth in the previous financial year.

Then sales should grow by up to 3.6 per cent in 2014/15, helped again by low interest rates and a modest improvement in the jobs outlook.

Mr Rumbens expects low interest rates will especially benefit NSW, Victoria and the ACT in terms of spending lifts.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Shorten should lead Labor: Marles

FORMER trade minister Richard Marles has called on Bill Shorten to put his hand up for the Labor leadership, saying it's in the interests of the party he do so.

His comments came as former health minister Tanya Plibersek urged her Labor colleagues not to rush into choosing their next leader, saying whoever is picked must be in it for the long haul.

The Labor leadership contest narrowed on Monday after former treasurer Chris Bowen announced he wouldn't have a tilt.

Mr Shorten, a former Labor minister and past head of the Australian Workers Union, or outgoing deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese, are the likely frontrunners for the top job.

Mr Marles said Mr Albanese was a strong parliamentary performer and would without question make a great Labor leader.

But Mr Shorten's leadership was crucial at this time for the Labor Party, he said.

"I actually think that it's in the interests of the Labor Party for Bill to put his hand up at this time," he told ABC's Lateline program on Monday.

If both Mr Albanese and Mr Shorten had a run at the leadership, Labor would be faced with a "difficult choice but also a wonderful choice".

If there is only one candidate, only the Labor caucus will be involved in endorsing the new leader.

If there are two or more, a new party rule means the leadership for the first time will be decided in a ballot weighted 50 per cent to the caucus and 50 per cent to grassroots members of the ALP.

Ms Plibersek said it would be "perfectly fine" to hold a ballot, and the rules allowed for "quite a long period" between the first caucus meeting and the time for choosing a leader.

The final caucus hadn't been determined yet, and prime minister-elect Tony Abbott had previously implied parliament wouldn't resume until November.

"I don't see that anybody should be in any real hurry," she told ABC's Q&A program on Monday.

"We need to choose someone who can take us to the next election and potentially win and be prime minister, but also someone who would be around for two terms of longer if that was our fate."

Mr Marles said it was important the new Labor guard learned from the past and "maturely" selected a leader without creating "baggage" and divisions within the party.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chinese man convicted via Yahoo email free

China has freed a dissident writer who was convicted of leaking "state secrets" in 2005. Source: AAP

CHINA has freed a dissident writer who was convicted of leaking "state secrets" in 2005 in a landmark case where his Yahoo emails formed key evidence against him, international writers' groups say.

Shi Tao, 45, was released on August 23 after serving nearly nine years of a 10-year sentence for "providing state secrets to overseas organisations," the Independent Chinese PEN Centre and PEN International said.

"We welcome news of Shi Tao's early release, at a time when there seem to be increasingly long shadows over freedom of expression in China," said Marian Botsford Fraser, head of PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee.

"Shi Tao's arrest and imprisonment, because of the actions of Yahoo China, signalled a decade ago the challenges to freedom of expression of internet surveillance and privacy that we are now dealing with," Botsford Fraser said.

Other dissident writers said they believed Shi was arrested because of online publications in which he criticised the ruling Communist Party.

The government said Shi had leaked details via email of a "certain important document" that he learned about through his work as a reporter in the southern city of Changsha.

Yahoo later apologised for handing over Shi's emails to Chinese authorities.

In 2007, it settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of Shi and another Chinese journalist who was convicted partly through information provided by Yahoo.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

NATO airstrike 'kills 10 Afghan civilians'

Ten civilians have been killed in a NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan, officials say Source: AAP

AT least ten civilians have been killed in a NATO airstrike on a pickup truck carrying women and children in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan provincial officials say.

ISAF said 10 enemy forces had been killed in a precision strike in the Wattapur district of Kunar province on Saturday, but that they had received no reports of any civilian casualties.

Kunar Police Chief Abdul Habib Sayedkhil said the airstrike hit a pickup truck carrying the women and children as well as four armed insurgents.

"At least four women, four children and two civilian drivers were killed in a NATO airstrike in Wattapur district of Kunar province," he said.

Kunar Provincial Governor Shujaul Mulk Jalala said 12 civilians - four women, four children and four men - were killed, along with four insurgents.

Civilians casualties in NATO operations have long been a source of tension between the Afghan government and US-led NATO troops, who are winding down operations as they prepare to withdraw by the end of next year.

President Hamid Karzai has banned his forces requesting NATO strikes during operations in residential areas.

ISAF said it was aware of the allegations and was looking into the incident.

"We can confirm Coalition Forces' conducted a precision strike yesterday... resulting in 10 enemy forces killed," it said in a statement.

"At this time, we have no reports of any civilian casualties in regards to this incident."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Berlusconi appeals case to European court

Silvio Berlusconi has turned to Europe's human rights court to avoid a ban on holding public office. Source: AAP

ITALY'S ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has turned to Europe's human rights court in a bid to avoid a ban on holding public office and other punishment for his tax fraud conviction.

His top aide, Angelino Alfano, told reporters on Sunday the petition to the tribunal "shows that the Berlusconi case isn't closed".

A Senate panel on Monday starts formal discussing if Berlusconi must surrender his Senate seat.

A recent law says those sentenced to more than two years are ineligible for six years to hold public office.

Berlusconi's lawyers contend the law doesn't apply retroactively to him.

Last month, Italy's top criminal court upheld the conviction.

A law to reduce prison overcrowding shaves the four-year prison term to one year.

Because of his age, Berlusconi, 76, is eligible for house confinement.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rolf's Queen portrait 'missing': report

AUSTRALIAN artist Rolf Harris's portrait of Queen Elizabeth is reportedly in art limbo, with no-one confirming its whereabouts.

Harris, who has been charged with a string of child sex offences, was commissioned to create the colourful painting of the monarch in 2005.

However, the UK's Daily Mail reported on Sunday that it couldn't confirm its whereabouts.

A spokesman for the Walker Art Gallery reportedly told the newspaper they had the painting on loan until August 2012 when they returned it to Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Collection, however, reportedly said it had gone back to the BBC.

Yet a BBC spokesman has told the paper that: "If the piece is not with us or the Palace, it must be in Mr Harris' personal collection."

A spokesman for the entertainer, however, did not respond to any queries from the paper.

Harris has maintained his silence since being charged last month with 13 child sex offences in the UK including the indecent assault of two teenage girls in the 1980s.

The 83-year-old, who performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert in 2012, was arrested in late March by officers from Operation Yewtree, which was established following the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

At the beginning of August he was re-arrested following further allegations and then charged later in the month.

He's due to appear at a London court this month.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More