NGA director Ron Radford retires

Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Ron Radford, has announced his retirement. Source: AAP

THE National Gallery of Australia's director has announced his retirement.

Ron Radford will have served close to a decade in the gallery's top job when he leaves at the end of September.

During his time as director, Dr Radford has overseen an extension of gallery buildings, appointment of indigenous curators, the transformation and revival of Asian and Pacific collections, and is credited with initiating numerous blockbuster exhibitions.

There is no link between his retirement and controversy surrounding the purchase of a bronze sculpture, titled Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), dating from 11th-century India.

The gallery paid $US5 million in 2008 for the statue and in 2014 has launched legal action in the United States against the selling dealer, amid allegations the artwork was stolen.

"If we are a victim of fraud then we will act," Dr Radford has said.

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Swiss Emmentaler named world's best cheese

A SWISS Emmentaler has won the title of 2014 World Championship Cheese in Wisconsin.

Cheesemaker Gerard Sinnesberger took top honours for his Original Schweizer Rohmilch Emmentaler, a large format, big wheel Swiss cheese.

Out of possible 100 points, the Emmentaler scored 97.85 in the final round of judging Wednesday. The cheese scored top honours out of 2,615 entries from 22 countries.

An Austrian entry, called Erzherzog Johann, was second. Another Swiss entry, Gruyere AOP, was third.

US cheesemakers scored big in the competition, winning gold medals in 59 of the total 90 categories judged. Switzerland came in second with seven gold medals, while the Netherlands had five.

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Qld fruit flies set to lose their manhood

ONE of Australia's worst pests could soon lose its manhood or undergo a sex change.

It's part of a bid to save the nation's $7 billion fruit and vegetable industry from the dreaded Queensland fruit fly.

Australian and New Zealand scientists are working on a plan to alter the DNA of the insect.

They are exploring how feeding certain genes to larvae can alter their DNA so they grow into sterilised male flies, whether they start out as male or female.

If the five-year study succeeds, thousands of the flies will be released into infected orchards across Australia to breed with female flies, which mate only once.

Lead CSIRO researcher Dr Paul De Barro says the large-scale research project is a "game changer" in controlling the insects.

Researchers also hope to create 1.5-millimetre sensors, which can be glued to the flies to pinpoint their location and identify where they breed.

They will also look at creating traps that can notify scientists when a fly has been caught.

"The traps will then detect the flies and send that information back to fruit fly control," Dr De Barro said.

"A call will then go out to the factory which load up thousands of flies onto drones.

"Those drones will then go out on a pre-planned mission and they will drop the fruit flies."

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Teen sneaks to top of World Trade Center

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy has bypassed security and climbed to the top of 1 World Trade Center, the US's tallest building, to take pictures in the middle of the night, police say.

The teen was arrested early on Sunday and charged with misdemeanour criminal trespass, said Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade centre site.

The teen got on the construction site of the nearly completed tower through an opening in a fence, Pentangelo said on Thursday. He then allegedly entered the tower by climbing scaffolding.

The teen eluded a guard on the 104th floor; the guard has since been fired, the spokesman said.

It was not immediately known how the teen got to the 104th floor without being noticed.

Port Authority police arrested him on the premises. His camera and mobile phone were seized after authorities obtained a search warrant.

The investigation was continuing into whether the teen may have entered other parts of the building.

"We take security and these types of infractions very seriously and will prosecute violators," Joe Dunne, chief security officer for the Port Authority, said in a statement.

"We continue to reassess our security posture at the site and are constantly working to make this site as secure as possible."

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Telco complaints hit six-year low

COMPLAINTS about telcos have hit their lowest level in six years, but the industry Ombudsman continues to receive an average of about 360 a day.

Consumers lodged 33,351 complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) between October and December, figures released on Thursday show.

That's down 6.7 per cent on the previous quarter and 12.9 per cent on the same time in 2012, making it the leanest quarter since 2008.

"It is a positive story for an industry that has very publicly committed to doing better by its customers, and has invested substantially in mobile network infrastructure," said Ombudsman Simon Cohen.

He pointed to a big drop in complaints relating to mobile phone coverage, which halved between April and December to reach their lowest level since mid-2010: about 30 a day.

Overall, the Ombudsman received about 200 new complaints regarding mobile services a day, down 4.9 per cent on the previous quarter.

Complaints about drop-outs and slow data speeds dropped compared to the previous quarter, but several other types of complaints increased.

About 20 per cent more people complained about poor information in their mobile phone contract, while complaints about excess data charges spiked 13 per cent.

Mark Callender from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network said his organisation was particularly concerned about the increase in excess data complaints.

The situation was worsened, he said, by figures showing a 14 per cent increase in complaints from people claiming they were not properly warned that they had breached their data limit.

"We'll be watching this issue closely," he said, adding that the overall results were encouraging.

For the first time, the Ombudsman also estimated the number of complaints relative to overall telco services: 313 for every 100,000.

"The clear trend over the past three years is fewer complaints per services in operation, with more services and reduced complaints," Mr Cohen said.

Victorians had the most gripes, at 1.7 per 1000 residents, while Queenslanders made the least, at 1.3.

Most complaints - about half of the total - remained about poor customer service.

The Ombudsman is an independent authority empowered to investigate complaints about telephone and internet services and make legally enforceable decisions up to a value of $50,000.

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Qantas workers to lobby pollies

QANTAS workers and their union delegates from across Australia are flying to Canberra to warn politicians of the harm they say changes to the Qantas Sale Act will bring.

The Australian Services Union (ASU) says the Qantas Sale Act protects Australian jobs by requiring that Qantas headquarters is based in Australia.

The union's Assistant National Secretary Linda White said Prime Minister Tony Abbott did not seem to comprehend how changing that would damage the local economy and the reputation of the national carrier.

"Any changes to the Sale Act will lead to mass off-shoring of white collar jobs. We know that once jobs are off-shored they never come back," she said in a statement on Wednesday.

The union said it would meet with politicians in Canberra on Thursday along with Qantas workers and ASU delegates from all parts of the Qantas group.

The federal government this month announced plans to remove foreign ownership restrictions on Qantas after the airline announced 5000 job cuts.

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Growth in spending slows

SPENDING across the Australian economy grew for the 18th consecutive month in February, but at a slower pace than in recent months.

That meant annual economy-wide spending growth eased to a more sustainable pace after strong rises in the past four months, according to the latest Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI).

The annual growth rate fell to 10.4 per cent, down from a six year high of 10.8 per cent in January.

Despite some areas of weakness, the outlook was generally positive, CommSec chief economist Craig James said.

"Although we are still rebalancing from a mining-led economy to an economy with a more diversified growth profile, there are good reasons to be optimistic as we enter a record 23rd year of uninterrupted growth," Mr James said.

He said data showed better than expected economic growth in the December quarter, and Australian companies had reported strong profit growth.

The BSI, which tracks spending across the Commonwealth Bank's point of sales terminals, also showed sales for February rose in seven of the eight states and territories, with Queensland posting the highest growth rate at 1.1 per cent, in trend terms.

Western Australia and Tasmania were close behind, with increases of 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

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NSW, Vic at risk of losing triple-A rating

NSW and Victoria are at risk of losing their triple-A ratings if the trends in rising state debt continue unabated, a think tank has warned.

The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) says while the focus has been on the rapid increase in federal debt levels over the past six years, growth in state government debt has been just as a dramatic.

In 2007, the states collectively had a negative net debt position of just under $30 billion - that is, they had a greater financial assets than debt.

By 2013, this turned to a positive net debt position of $43 billion, or about a $70 billion debt increase in six years.

"Unless action is taken now, state governments will face rising deficits and debt in the long term, just like the federal government, and will be unable to deliver the services the public wants," CIS senior fellow Robert Carling says.

Between 2007 and 2010, the global financial crisis was felt through sagging tax revenue and investment income, while infrastructure investment rose strongly.

From 2010 to 2013, the states' operating surpluses dried up and cash deficits rose even further.

In a study released on Thursday, Mr Carling said to curtail the growth in debt, states must achieve large increases in operating surpluses and greatly reduce capital expenditure, but conceded the latter would be inconsistent with demands for infrastructure investment.

"States need to contain costs such as staff numbers and pay rates, and avoid costly new program commitments," he said, adding states should follow the Queensland Newman government in cutting operating expenses, as much as it has been criticised.

"It is on the right track," he said.

South Australia and Tasmania are in the weakest positions of the states, followed by Queensland and Western Australia.

He said if the trends continued, NSW and Victoria risked joining the ranks of the others, which had lost their tripe-A credit ratings.

"Financial strength is not just desirable for its own sake," Mr Carling said.

"If the states were to return to running operating surpluses, it would mean more funds available for improved infrastructure."

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Carney names IMF official to BoE committee

THE Bank of England has appointed an International Monetary Fund official to a new job overseeing markets and banking - a position created amid allegations that bank officials condoned fixing in currency markets.

Nemat "Minouche" Shafik, the IMF's deputy managing director, will be one of two deputy governors and join the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee.

Her appointment on Tuesday helps correct a gender gap at the bank. When she takes up her post at the start of August, she will be the only woman on the nine-member MPC.

While at the IMF, Shafik oversaw much of its work in Europe during the past few crisis-fuelled years.

Bank Governor Mark Carney has pledged a "root and branch" review into how the bank monitors markets following the fixing allegations.

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Let current regulator police us: charities

SOME of Australia's biggest charities and community sector groups have banded together to warn the federal government it will commit a "huge mistake" by closing the national charity regulator.

The federal government will introduce the first of two bills disbanding the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) on its red-tape "repeal day" on Wednesday.

It will replace the commission with a smaller, charity-focused centre for excellence, which will act as an advocacy, training and development body. It will not be a regulator.

On the same day, more than 40 supporter groups - including the heads of the RSPCA, Youth Off The Streets, Lifeline and the Ted Noffs Foundation - will write an open letter to Prime Minister Tony Abbott asking the government to reconsider those plans.

"The ACNC has done what few new regulators achieve - gained widespread support across the sector it is regulating," the letter reads.

Scrapping the ACNC will be a "huge mistake" and potentially handing its powers backs to the Australian Tax Office will create more red tape and reduce services to the public and charities.

Community Council for Australia chief executive David Crosbie said returning to the "bad old days" of having the ATO determine what is and isn't a charity would create a clear conflict of interest.

"It is simply putting the fox in charge of the hen house," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

"It is a failed model from the past. It will not work."

Mr Crosbie accused the government of being dismissive of charities in assuming it knew what was better for the sector without consultation.

But Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews said the ACNC was increasing red-tape and making life harder for the sector.

"No evidence has been provided to justify establishing such a big regulatory structure with such extensive enforcement powers," he told AAP in a statement.

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Putin inks deal to incorporate Crimea

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin and leaders of Crimea and its biggest city Sevastopol have signed a treaty making the two entities new members of the Russian Federation.

The treaty goes into force immediately, but stipulates an interim period until the end of the year to formalise the accession of the 84th and 85th members of the Russian Federation.

The signing ceremony in the Kremlin on Tuesday came after an almost hour-long address to MPs and governors, in which Putin defended the move that has triggered the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

Putin stressed that Sunday's referendum in Crimea was fully legal, noting that more than 96 per cent of voters supported accession to Russia, according to official figures.

"The numbers were fully convincing," he said.

Putin compared Crimea's accession with Germany's unification after the Cold War, stressing that Moscow had explicitly supported this "unlike some other countries".

"I am convinced that the Germans will support us," he said.

Putin rejected Western accusations that Russia had invaded and annexed a part of Ukraine.

"We are being told that there was some Russian intervention in Crimea, an aggression. That's strange to hear. I do not recall a single case in history of an intervention without a shot being fired," he said.

Putin argued that while Russia did recognise Ukraine's independence in 1991, both countries never signed a treaty delineating the border between them.

He accused the West of "double standards and straight cynicism" over the issue.

"Our Western partners, led by the United States of America, prefer not to act according to international law but according to 'might is right'," he said.

He pointed to NATO-backed bombings in Yugoslavia and Libya, which went ahead without a UN Security Council mandate, as examples.

Putin again denied that Russian soldiers had invaded Crimea, saying that Russia merely "strengthened" its forces already stationed on the peninsula.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet is based in Crimea under an agreement with Ukraine.

Putin also brushed off sanctions, saying that Russia already suffered from limitations to its economy that were a legacy of the Cold War.

In a move unprecedented since the end of the Cold War, the US and the European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on Moscow that include asset freezes and travel bans on senior Russian government officials.

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Market blast kills 17 in Afghanistan

AT least 17 civilians have been killed and 46 others injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded market in northern Afghanistan.

"A pregnant woman and two children are also among the dead," said Abdul Sattar Barez, deputy governor for Faryab province.

"The bomber driving an explosive-filled auto rickshaw and wearing an explosive vest blew himself up in the crowded Maisara area in Maimana city."

Most of the victims were shopkeepers and other vendors, he said, adding: "The blast was so strong that the bodies were torn to pieces."

The wounded were taken to nearby medical facilities and also to Mazar-e-Sharif, provincial capital for Balkh.

The crowds in the area were larger than usual as people were shopping for the Afghan New Year, according to another official.

Faryab is a restive province bordering Turkmenistan in northern Afghanistan.

In November, six Afghans working for the French agency Acted were shot dead by Taliban militants in Pashtun Kot district.

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Science back on political agenda

AUSTRALIA'S science community is pushing for specialist advisers across all federal government departments.

Following the Abbott government's scrapping of a science ministry, Science and Technology Australia boss Catriona Jackson said industry leaders are hoping to follow the UK's lead and spread expert knowledge throughout federal divisions.

"We have certainly discussed the idea with the government and there has been some movement, with an appointment in agriculture," Ms Jackson told AAP.

"It is certainly something we would advocate."

While there is a federal chief scientist, and one for each state and territory, greater consultancy would be valuable, she said.

After coming to power in 2013, Prime Minister Tony Abbott reshuffled portfolios and split science between industry and employment, removing the role of dedicated science minister, which had been in place since 1931.

"It's fair to say scientists around the country were concerned when no one was appointed as a science minister," Ms Jackson said.

"But we have suspended our opinions until we see the government's first budget."

In an attempt to fuse stronger bonds between science and politicians, hundreds of the nation's industry leaders will converge on Canberra from Monday to meet with parliamentarians.

Ms Jackson denies there is a greater emphasis on the 2014 event in light of the political restructure but said increased interest and resourcing of the science sector is essential.

"Education and training opportunities leading to jobs in science and technology are a must because those are the jobs that will secure the future," she said.

While Australia is punching above its weight in the sector, more must be done to harness, grow and capitalise on the knowledge, Ms Jackson added.

Mr Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who is also Labor's science spokesman, are both due to attend the Science meets Parliament event.

"Parliament will be filled with talk of ideas and possibilities, of better ways to cure disease, to build bridges, to search for new life on other planets," Ms Jackson said.

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Defence Minister attends Jakarta meeting

THE government is taking another step towards improving strained ties with Indonesia with Defence Minister David Johnston attending a top level conference in Jakarta on building maritime collaboration.

Senator Johnston will be accompanied by Defence force chief General David Hurley and defence department secretary Dennis Richardson.

The event is the fourth annual Jakarta International Defence Dialogue (JIDD) to be held in Jakarta on Wednesday and Thursday.

The conference agenda document says maritime security and the complex issues it encompasses require collaboration among states and regional bodies for the peaceful regulation of trade, migration and military forces on the open sea.

"This cooperation is not only in the national interest of individual states but can also make the world more secure and protected from threats arising or crossing borders by sea," it says.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will make the opening remarks at an event the Indonesian government says aims to promote intergovernmental cooperation to meet common threats and challenges.

This will be President Yudhoyono's final JIDD. Under Indonesia's constitution, he can't seek a third term at the election on April 9.

Late last year relations with Indonesia were strained by media reports of Australian intelligence monitoring of the mobile phones of Indonesia's leaders.

That sparked a slowdown in defence cooperation at the time when the Abbott government was moving to implement its policy to stop the influx of asylum seeker boats.

Senator Johnston will be a panellist in a conference session on "exploring the Indo-Pacific" which will examine the shift of the global balance of power to this region.

Also attending are China's defence minister General Chang Wanquan and US secretary of defense Chuck Hagel.

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