IT tech convicted in 'Vatileaks'

A VATICAN court has convicted a Holy See computer technician of helping the former papal butler in the theft of confidential papal documents and given him a two-month suspended sentence.

Claudio Sciarpelletti, an Italian who is a computer program analyst in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, had testified earlier that he had played no role in helping to spirit out confidential documents in a scandal involving alleged corruption in the Vatican bureaucracy.

Pope's former butler, Paolo Gabriele, was convicted last month in a separate trial for the theft of the documents and is serving a 18-month prison sentence in Vatican City.

Top Vatican security officials, including the head of Pope Benedict XVI's bodyguards, as well as his convicted former butler were the witness list in the latest trial in the leak of confidential papal correspondence.

The witnesses had been called to testify earlier in the week in a Holy See courtroom, but the judge told them to come back Saturday to give more preparation time for the defence.

The stolen documents formed the basis of an Italian journalist's book about alleged corruption at the Vatican.

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Prince Charles thanks 'kind' Aussies

Prince Charles thanked Australians for being "wonderfully kind", as he and wife Camilla wrapped up a six-day tour which has taken them from the Outback to Bondi Beach.

Hundreds of people came to see the royal couple at their final destination in Canberra, with one woman offering the prince a packet of chocolate Tim Tams -which he had said he hoped someone would allow Camilla to try.

"You're very kind," Charles told Alyson Richards, 25, as she handed over the biscuits and wished him a happy birthday for next week.

At a lunch at Government House, Charles said it had been a joy to visit Australia, where the couple had met hundreds of community volunteers, as well as been able to see the local wildlife, including koalas and kangaroos, up close.

"When we finally get back, after a very, very, long journey, if I'm still reasonably compos mentis by then and haven't completely lost my marbles to jet lag, I will report back to Her Majesty your wonderfully kind thoughts and expressions after our visit," he said.

He said while the tour had not allowed them to visit as many places as they would have liked, it enabled them to "witness so many of the changes that have happened here since I was here last".

"And to witness... the extraordinary vibrancy of the multicultural society which Australia is and which of course has stood Australia in such remarkable stead in terms of the richness and diversity which you can see only too well."

Earlier, Charles watched as one of the terraces of Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin was named after the Queen, following a tradition of naming the terraces after Australia's monarchs since the country became a federal state in 1901.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the renaming would "remind future generations that for more than half of our journey as a united nation, Elizabeth the Second has been our monarch."

The royal couple arrived in New Zealand late onSaturday on the last leg of their tour marking the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and were met at a military air base in Auckland by Prime Minister John Key.

They will formally begin their six-day visit with a traditional Maori welcome today at the Auckland War Memorial Museum where they will also commemorate Armistice Day.

They will then travel to Wellington and tour Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop to inspect costumes and props used in The Hobbit movies before moving to Christchurch, the scene of devastating earthquakes last year that claimed 185 lives.

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China plans manned space launch

CHINA is aiming to launch its next manned space mission as early as June 2013, state media reported, as the country steps up its ambitious exploration program.

The Shenzhou-10, with three crew members, is aiming for a primary launch window in June, Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of the manned space programme, told China National Radio in an interview Friday.

Mr Niu, speaking on the sidelines of China's 18th Communist Party Congress that kicked off Thursday in Beijing, said officials had identified a back-up launch window for July or August.

He said one of the three astronauts would likely be a woman.

China sent its first female astronaut, Liu Yang, into space earlier this year on the Shenzhou-9 in the country's first manual space docking mission.

The docking procedure was a major milestone in the country's ambitious space program that has a goal of building a space station by the end of the decade.

In its last white paper on space, China said it was working towards landing a man on the moon, but did not specify a time-frame.

So far only the United States has achieved that feat, most recently in 1972.

Beijing has said it will also attempt to land an exploratory craft on the moon for the first time in the second half of 2013 and transmit back a survey of the lunar surface.

China sees its space program as a symbol of its rising global stature, growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

The country sent its first man into space in 2003. It completed a space walk in 2008 and an unmanned docking between a module and rocket last year.

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Orthodox patriarch visits Bethlehem

RUSSIAN Orthodox Patriarch Kirill visited the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and met with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, on the second day of his Holy Land trip.

After his visit to the Bethlehem church, built over the site where Christians believe Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, Patriarch Kirill met with the Palestinian president at his office in the West Bank city.

A statement from the president's office cited Mr Abbas as telling Patriarch Kirill the visit was historical and bore political meaning.

"We feel it comes from the leadership of the Russian people," Mr Abbas said of the visit, saying Moscow supported peace and justice in the Middle East.

The statement also quoted Patriarch Kirill as saying the visit was special to him, and especially important "since Christ walked here."

"I'm fully confident you are committed to real peace, and your position is welcome because the people living here know the meaning of living in unrest," the Russian patriarch was quoted as saying.

The head of a community of some 150 million Orthodox believers arrived in Jerusalem on Friday for his first visit since becoming head of the powerful church in 2009, and held prayers at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Over the course of his six-day trip, Patriarch Kirill will also meet Israeli President Shimon Peres and King Abdullah II of Jordan, in a new sign of his importance as a global religious figure.

Israel's foreign ministry called his trip "the most important (religious) visit (to Israel) since that of the Pope Benedict XVI" in 2009.

The 65-year-old patriarch will visit Christian holy sites in northern Israel as well as in Jordan.

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Million-signature petition for Malala

UN special envoy Gordon Brown on Friday presented a petition with more than a million signatures in support of shot schoolgirl education campaigner Malala Yousafzai to the Pakistan government.

The 15-year-old is recovering in hospital in Britain after being shot in the head by Taliban militants a month ago in the Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley for the "crime" of promoting girls' right to go to school.

Former British prime minister Mr Brown is visiting Pakistan to call for education for all children and to mark Malala Day - Saturday - a global "day of action" in support of Malala and girls' education.

Malala thanked people around the world for their support on Friday in a message from hospital passed on by her father.

At a meeting in Islamabad attended by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Brown, the UN's special envoy for global education, said the international community was ready to support Pakistan in its efforts to tackle poverty and ensure all children could go to school.

"Malala and her family believe that there are many many more courageous and brave girls and families in your country who want to stand up for the right of every child, in particular girls, to have the education that they deserve," he said.

Some 32 million girls around the world are denied access to education, according to UN figures, more than five million of them in Pakistan.

Education in Pakistan is under attack from Islamist militants opposed to secular schooling but also suffers from chronic underfunding: the country spends less than 2.5 per cent of GNP on education, according to UN children's agency UNICEF.

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Maitre d' wins world cup for waiters

A JAPANESE maitre d' was crowned world's best in an international competition to find the top high-end server.

Shin Miyazaki, 35, who works at Chateau Restaurant Joel Robuchon in Tokyo, proved his mettle through nine rounds that tested his ability to dress a salad, flambe a pineapple and identify which wine works well with certain flavours.

Mr Miyazaki beat off competitors from 14 different countries under the gaze of an expert jury who were examining everything from how he put customers at ease to how he made the Irish coffee after desert.

"I practised every day for years, I'm hooked, and now I get this award," an emotional Miyazaki said as he received the Georges Baptiste Cup.

"But this is only the beginning, tomorrow I go back to work to do my best."

The Georges Baptiste Cup was established in France in 1961 in honour of the chef and butler of the same name.

It expanded to include European entrants three decades later and in 2000 went global when it was held in Canada. Subsequent editions were held in France, Mexico and Vietnam.

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Politkovskaya killed for reporting: police

RUSSIAN journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed for her criticism of Russian officials, an investigator who led the murder probe says.

Politkovskaya, a sharp critic of the Kremlin and its policies in Chechnya, was gunned down in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building on October 7, 2006. The killing drew global outrage and highlighted the dangers for journalists in Russia.

Investigator Petros Garibian was quoted on Friday in the Kommersant business daily as saying the probe failed to determine who ordered her slaying, but he dismissed media claims of the possible involvement of Chechnya's Moscow-backed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, who was the target of Politkovskaya's criticism.

"Politkovskaya's death was a liability for Kadyrov," Garibian said.

"He was jockeying for the post of Chechnya's president and the high-profile killing of the journalist who criticised him was damaging rather than beneficial."

Russia's Investigative Committee said last month it has completed a probe of the suspected gunman, Rustam Makhmudov, and four others. No date for their trial has been set.

Makhmudov's two brothers and a Moscow police officer were acquitted in 2009 of helping stage the killing, but Russia's Supreme Court overruled that acquittal and sent the case back to investigators.

Politkovskaya was killed on the birthday of Vladimir Putin, who was serving his second presidential term at the time. That raised speculation about the possible involvement of authorities who were angered by Politkovskaya's exposure of atrocities in Chechnya.

Garibian said the date of the killing wasn't accidental because the perpetrators had been tracking the reporter for several days.

"I think the goal of the person who ordered the crime was not simply to take revenge on Anna Politkovskaya for her critical writing," Garibian said.

"He wanted a high profile action with the goal of scaring journalists, as well as the public and the government."

Russian officials in the past have hinted at the possible involvement of Putin's foes in Politkovskaya's killing.

Garibian said Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a Moscow police officer involved in the killing, told investigators he had heard from the gunman's uncle, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, who is accused of organising the killing, that the order had come from self-exiled mogul Boris Berezovsky and Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev.

Garibian said that claim was not backed up by any evidence.

Berezovsky and Zakayev, who live in London, have rejected earlier Russian official claims of their alleged involvement in the murder.

Garibian said Pavlyuchenkov received $US150,000 ($A144,766) from Gaitukayev to organise Politkovskaya's slaying.

Gaitukayev will face the new trial along with the Makhmudov brothers and another former Moscow police officer, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov.

Pavlyuchenkov's case is being dealt with separately as he struck a deal with investigators.

Sergei Sokolov, deputy chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper that Politkovskaya worked for, said the probe should continue until the mastermind is determined.

"It's too early to talk about ending the probe. The question of who ordered it hasn't been answered and other people also could have been involved," he said on Ekho Mosvky radio.

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UK to end aid spending in India by 2015

BRITAIN will halt all aid spending in India in 2015 in a significant shift in relations between the emerging economic giant and its former colonial ruler, Prime Minister David Cameron's government announced.

Acknowledging the country's rising wealth and status, International Development Secretary Justine Greening said Britain would change its entire relationship with India - seeking to boost trade as it ends its aid program.

Britain offered India about STG280 million ($A433 million) in assistance in 2011, focused heavily on education and health programs for impoverished children.

However, many legislators in the UK had targeted the development spending for scorn, arguing that Britain, struggling to cut its own national debt, could no longer afford to help a booming nation that has its own space program.

"Now is the time to move to a relationship focusing on skills-sharing rather than aid," Greening said in a statement.

"Our own bilateral relationship has to keep up with 21st-century India. It's time to recognise India's changing place in the world."

India, which won independence from Britain in 1947, currently has its lowest economic growth in almost a decade. Last month, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund cut their predictions for Asia's third-largest economy.

The World Bank expects India's economy to grow 6 per cent for the year, and the International Monetary Fund forecasts growth of just 4.9 per cent, down from its earlier projection of 6.1 per cent.

Britain is struggling with spending cuts worth about STG103 billion through 2017 aimed at slashing the budget deficit. The cuts will mean the loss of tens of thousands of public sector jobs and harsh welfare cuts.

Greening's department said the change in aid policy would save Britain about STG200 million by 2015.

Some aid and advocacy groups warned that millions of Indians still require aid. "India still has major challenges. Millions of Indian people live in extreme poverty and a shocking number of children under five die each year," said Adrian Lovett, executive director of the poverty campaign group ONE.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague discussed the plan on Thursday on a visit to New Delhi ahead of the public announcement. "Aid is the past and trade is the future," Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said following the talks with Hague.

India's President Pranab Mukherjee, in a previous role as finance minister, had described the British aid program as "a peanut" in India's overall spending on programs for the country's poor.

Britain's development ministry said that, despite the cuts in India, it would meet its pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product on overseas aid by 2013 - an international aid target set for the G-8 nations at a meeting in Scotland in 2005.

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Apple targets Google in patent suit

A US judge is considering a request by Apple that would pull Google from the sidelines in a long-running patent war with Samsung over mobile gadgets powered by Android software.

Apple urged a federal court in Silicon Valley to add Android 4.1, referred to by Google as Jelly Bean, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet to a patent suit on track for trial next year, according to reports.

The judge is considering the request.

Meanwhile, Samsung has countered with a legal move that says Apple's iPhone 5 infringes on patents held by the South Korean electronics giant.

Samsung and Apple have been waging patent wars in an array of countries in an indirect assault on Google's Android software.

In a separate case, a jury in August declared that Samsung should pay Apple $US1.049 billion ($A1.007 billion) in damages for illegally copying iPhone and iPad features.

Samsung has appealed to a higher court to reverse the jury verdict.

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Officer challenges NSW premier for inquiry

A SENIOR police investigator has publicly challenged NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to launch a royal commission into child sex abuse by clergy, saying the premier is lucky his own children haven't become victims too.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who has investigated clergy abuse around Newcastle for decades, wrote an open letter to the premier and then criticised the state government's continued failure to launch a judicial inquiry on national television.

"We're lucky. We haven't had to go through what some of those other families have gone through," he told ABC's Lateline on Thursday, noting that Mr O'Farrell is the father of two boys.

"He has a lot of thanks to give that his boys were never ever abused. ... If he has any compassion and humanity for some of these victims, he's got to turn around (his position)."

The comments came after the senior officer published an open letter stating that there are so many NSW sex abuse cases that he's actually lost count.

"I can testify from my own experience that the church covers up, silences victims, hinders police investigations, alerts offenders, destroys evidence and moves priests to protect the good name of the church," he wrote in his letter.

"Mr O'Farrell, please don't block your ears. Many priests don't want a royal commission, nor does the hierarchy of the church, but God knows we need one."

Det Chief Insp Fox said he has "irrefutable" evidence of a cover-up involving a number of diocese bishops.

"It potentially goes even higher than that," he told Lateline.

In 2010, a woman he said is a credible whistleblower and church insider came forward and gave him an "explosive" statement that is now with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

"There is an archbishop, a bishop and a priest that are implicated in a potential cover-up," he said.

But he said he was directed to give all of his material to a taskforce upon learning of the information.

A superior officer then stood him down from investigating child sex abuse cases further, he said.

He said he doesn't know why he was stood down, but noted that many in the NSW police force would consider him to be outspoken.

He's also not sure if he will face disciplinary action for publicly calling on the premier to act.

"But I don't care," he said.

"What I do care about is that there are so many victims out there. ... There's something very wrong when you have so many pedophile priests operating in a such a small area for such an extended period of time with immunity."

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US weekly jobless claims improve

US weekly jobless claims fell modestly last week for the third straight week, showing no immediate impact from Hurricane Sandy, the Labor Department said.

New claims for unemployment insurance, a signal of the pace of layoffs, fell to 355,000 in the week to November 2 from 363,000 the prior week, despite the massive storm which shut down much of New Jersey and the New York City area for the period.

A Labor Department analyst said the effect of the storm, which left more than 100 people dead in the US and Canada, would not show up in the data for several weeks.

The four-week moving average of claims moved higher to 370,500, still largely in the range where the data has been since the beginning of 2012.

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Commerzbank says it's back in profit

COMMERZBANK, Germany's second-biggest bank, says it returned to profit in the third quarter of this year, but the result fell short of analysts' expectations.

Commerzbank said in a statement it booked a net profit of 78 million euros ($A96 million) from July to September, compared with a loss of 687 million euros 12 months ago.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had been forecasting a bigger net profit of around 141 million euros.

Already late on Wednesday, Commerzbank had said it was unlikely to pay a dividend for either 2012 or 2013 given the difficult market environment.

The loss for the third quarter of 2011 had largely been due to writedowns on the bank's holdings of Greek sovereign bonds.

Nevertheless, the market environment "will remain volatile in the coming months", said chief executive Martin Blessing.

"We are, therefore, continuing with our strict cost management, consistently reducing non-strategic portfolios further and strengthening our profitability," he said.

At a news conference, Blessing said it was clear that deep cuts in personnel costs would be inevitable.

"But the extent of those costs will depend on the outcome of talks with the responsible bodies," such as labour representatives, he said.

A breakdown of the third-quarter earnings showed that net interest income fell, commission income was down slightly and net trading income was cut in more than half.

Investment income, on the other hand, swung back to small profit after a heavy loss last year.

At the same time, the bank increased its provisions for loan losses.

Looking ahead, "the situation in the euro zone has significantly stabilised in the third quarter. At present, it cannot be foreseen, however, whether the slight recovery of the markets will continue," said chief financial officer Stephan Engels.

In view of rising capital requirements, the ongoing low interest rate levels, and the loss of trust on the part of customers, "we expect to see further charges on revenues", Engels warned.

"However, the costs lately have developed better than originally expected due to further efficiency gains."

Investors did not appear as convinced.

Commerzbank shares were the biggest losers on the Frankfurt stock exchange on Thursday, shedding 3.32 per cent in a generally firmer market.

The weekly newspaper, Die Zeit, reported in its Thursday edition that Commerzbank is preparing to axe up to 10 per cent of its workforce in the coming years, or 5000-6000 jobs.

No such plans were unveiled on Thursday. But late on Wednesday, the bank said it would invest two billion euros in its core banking businesses between now and 2016.

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Airlines scrap flights ahead of US storm

MAJOR airlines are scrapping flights in and out of the New York area ahead of the second significant storm in little more than a week.

United, the world's largest airline, is suspending most service in the region starting at noon local time on Wednesday due to an expected winter storm.

It says bad weather will likely cause more delays and cancellations throughout the region.

American Airlines is shutting down in New York and Philadelphia.

Most other airlines, including Delta and JetBlue, are asking passengers to reschedule their flights for a later date. They are waiving the usual fees.

Superstorm Sandy last week led to about 24,000 flight cancellations.

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Man dies in Queensland dam crash

A MAN has died and another is in hospital after a car crashed into a dam near Gympie in Queensland.

Police said the car the men were in left the Gympie Kin Kin Road at Kin Kin and crashed into the dam about 7.15 pm (AEST) on Wednesday.

One of the men, who was thrown from the vehicle, died at the scene. The other man was taken to Nambour Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The forensic crash unit is investigating.

No further information is available.

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Person dies in Ghana building collapse

THE top floors of a five-story shopping centre in Ghana have collapsed, killing at least one person and trapping dozens.

A spokesman for the Ghana Fire Service, Billy Anaglate, confirmed the fatality at the Melcom Shopping Centre at Achimota, a suburb of Accra.

The collapse on Wednesday took place less than a year after the centre was completed.

Other officials told The Associated Press that the death toll was likely to rise.

"We are still working to find out the fate of others who may be trapped under," Anaglate said.

Five people have been rescued while about 35 more are known to be trapped, said police official Freeman Tetteh.

Search and rescue teams were working to free those caught in the shopping centre, said Kojo Boadi, an eyewitness.

"I was on my way to the shop when l saw it crumpling down," he said.

President John Mahama declared the scene a disaster zone and cut short his election campaign in the north of the country to visit the site.

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Good night's snooze a web click away

DO insomniacs dream of electric sleep?

The answer may not be that far off, with a new online program set to help thousands of restless Aussies get that much-needed night of shut-eye.

A US web-based training course, SHUTi, is being brought to Australia as part of a study into the effects of insomnia and depression.

It's been touted as one of the world's first online treatments to help people get a good night's sleep by changing their behaviour.

While it may sound like self-help, the program has been clinically-proven in a US study which found a number of adult insomniacs reporting significant improvement in their sleeping patterns.

Through tutorials and modules, the web course trains people to change their sleeping habits and the way they think about snoozing.

Techniques range from encouraging people to avoid sleep-blocking stimulants like caffeine and alcohol; reading or watching TV before bed; and ways to shut that annoying voice that warns of the doom that awaits insomnia.

A local version of the study was launched on Wednesday to coincide with the 2012 International Black Dog Lecture, hosted by mental health body the Black Dog Institute.

The institute aims to recruit about 1600 volunteers to take part in the study, which will research the link between insomnia, depression and other mental health issues.

The Australian study will be much bigger than the US one because it's based on a population study, and aims to prevent, rather than treat, mood disorders, anxiety and depression.

The institute's Helen Christensen, who is leading the study, said while taking an online approach to mental health was not new, the research is the first which applies psychological intervention for insomnia and depression.

Professor Christensen said that the findings of the research could have global repercussions.

"If we are able to show this (program) effectively reduces the development of depression and other disorders, then it really is a major weapon in the war against depression," she told AAP.

"That's because it can be developed to the population at large and that it can be disseminated globally."

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China boosts BMW with record sales

STRONG sales of its luxury cars in China helped boost BMW AG's net profit by 16 per cent in the third quarter.

Booming Asian sales helped the maker of the X5 sport utility vehicle and the 5-series sedan overcome a stagnant market in Europe. Consumer demand remains slack there because of the economic crisis.

Net profit rose to 1.29 billion euros ($A1.61 million). Sales jumped 13.7 per cent to a record 18.82 billion euros.

China sales rose 30 per cent, while European sales grew modestly at 2.6 per cent as sales sagged in southern Europe where the economic crisis is at its worst.

Sales were even down slightly in BMW's home market of Germany.

The company said it was sticking to its earnings forecasts despite "an increasingly uncertain market environment."

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S Korea probes false nuclear certificates

SOUTH Korea's nuclear body is investigating a forgery scandal that is forcing the shutdown of two reactors and has sparked fears of unprecedented power shortages.

Nuclear Safety and Security Commission spokeswoman Shim Eun-jung said on Tuesday her agency was checking forged safety certificates.

South Korea announced on Monday it had found five nuclear reactors running with falsely certified components.

Officials said the two reactors with the highest concentration of those parts would be shut down by Tuesday.

About 30 per cent of South Korea's electricity comes from nuclear plants and authorities have said electricity reserves could fall dangerously low if the parts were not replaced by January. No radioactive leak has occurred.

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UK's Cameron moots safe passage for Assad

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron says Syrian president Bashar Assad could be allowed safe passage out of the country if that option would guarantee an end to the nation's civil war.

In an interview with Al Arabiya television, Cameron said the international community should consider anything "to get that man out of the country and to have a safe transition in Syria".

In Abu Dhabi on the second day of a three-day tour of the Gulf and Middle East, he said: "I am certainly not offering him an exit plan to Britain, but if he wants to leave, he could leave, that could be arranged."

"Of course, I would favour him facing the full force of international law and justice for what he's done," Cameron said.

In London, diplomats said Cameron was not suggesting Assad could escape potential international prosecution if he were to be granted passage out of Syria.

Cameron has previously called the failure of world powers to halt the Assad's regime assault on its opponents a "terrible stain" on the reputation of the deadlocked United Nations, where Syria's allies Russia and China have repeatedly blocked attempts to approve harsher sanctions in the Security Council.

"I am very frustrated that we can't do more. This is an appalling slaughter that is taking place in our world today - 40,000 lives lost already and you can see, on your television screens, night after night, helicopters, airplanes belonging to the Assad regime pounding his own country and murdering his own people," Cameron said.

However, he insisted that Britain would not consider providing weapons to Syria's fractured opposition - in part, because of concerns about the growing prominence of extremist groups fighting alongside the rebels.

"My fear is, firstly, that the slaughter will continue, that the loss of life will continue. That should be our number one concern," Cameron said. "But there is another fear, which is that the longer this goes on, the more that it can promote and drive extremism and we'll see instability in the region as well."

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Seven Syrian generals defect to Turkey

SEVEN Syrian generals have defected and crossed into Turkey.

The defections on Tuesday bring to 42 the number of key Syrian military officers who have sought refuge in the neighbouring country, reported the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman.

They were taken under heavy security into a camp in the Turkish province of Hatay where military deserters are sheltered, the newspaper said.

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G20 action needed, not just planning: Swan

EDS: Not for use before 0001 AEST on Tuesday, November 6.

By Colin Brinsden, AAP Economics Correspondent

CANBERRA, Nov 6 AAP - Treasurer Wayne Swan says the Group of 20 major economies have spent too much time on discussing crisis management and not enough on action to lift growth four years on from the depths of the global financial crisis.

In an address to the G20 Finance Ministers' meeting in Mexico City on Monday, Mr Swan said actions by central banks have helped to stabilise markets and opened the window for governments to undertake decisive reforms to reduce the risk of falling back into crisis.

"But without political action, the markets will slam it closed, as we have all seen too many times before," Mr Swan said, according to a copy of his speech obtained by AAP.

He said it was disappointing that the group was still crisis managing.

"The few of us still here who sat around the G20 in the darkest days of 2008 could not have predicted that more than four years later we would be here still talking about stability mechanisms and further unconventional action by central banks," he said.

"We have spent far too much time in the subsequent four years discussing how to deal with the risks to growth and not enough time taking action to lift growth."

He said whoever won this week's US presidential election must deal urgently with the so-called "fiscal cliff" - the end of tax cuts and the adoption of severe spending cuts at the turn of the year - or risk seeing the US economy plunge back into recession.

He said it was also important that China's new leadership after this week's 18th national congress continued to deliver reforms to shift the Chinese economy towards consumption-led growth.

Mr Swan noted European policymakers were constrained by having to address significant levels of debt over the medium to long term, so they need to develop credible and effective fiscal pathways.

The US and Japan also needed credible long-term fiscal plans to address their very high debt levels, he said.

"To maintain market confidence and to support jobs growth, you need to demonstrate policies are in place which will deal with long-term fiscal pressures," he said.

"You don't need to slash and burn now to deliver sound fiscal outcomes in the medium term. Structural saves start small but grow over time, helping to deliver credible and sustainable fiscal policy."

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Homes under flight path defy common sense

THE federal government has called on NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to reconsider his plan to allow residential development under the Canberra Airport flight path, saying it "defies common sense".

The NSW government is set to approve the rezoning of the Tralee housing development, which would see 1000 homes south of Queanbeyan developed over five to six years in a $400 million venture.

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says the plan would kill off Mr O'Farrell's own plan to use Canberra Airport as a second hub for Sydney.

"Barry O'Farrell has stated he doesn't support a second Sydney airport actually being in Sydney, and the only option he would support is Canberra," Mr Albanese said in a statement.

"Today's decision renders his plan for Canberra as Sydney's second hub farcical and completely contradictory."

The federal government remained opposed to putting new greenfield housing developments under busy flight paths, Mr Albanese said.

"With passenger traffic at Canberra Airport forecast to grow by 36 per cent in the next decade, there will be an average 97 flight movements a day over the Tralee area.

"I have written to the NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard asking him to reconsider this decision."

Mr Albanese said it was extraordinary Mr O'Farrell would give the green light to a development that undermined his alternative to a second Sydney airport.

"It defies common sense that he's killed off his own idea, however absurd it might have been in the first place."

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Ukraine opposition protests election

THOUSANDS of Ukrainians massed in central Kiev on Monday to protest against alleged fraud in parliamentary elections won by the ruling party as the opposition threatened not to recognise the new legislature.

At least 2,000 opposition supporters carrying Ukrainian flags gathered outside the headquarters of the central election commission amid a heavy presence of elite Berkut anti-riot police, an AFP correspondent said.

Political tensions have surged in Ukraine as the authorities have still failed to publish final results from the October 28 elections more than a week after voting finished.

Commentators expect the ruling Regions Party of President Viktor Yanukovych to take a wafer-thin majority in the new Verkhovna Rada despite a strong challenge from the opposition led by jailed former premier Yulia Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko's Fatherland party said in a statement it was "ready to declare" the new Rada invalid unless the authorities "stopped the falsification of the electoral process".

Its threat has been backed by the other main opposition parties, the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) movement and the UDAR party of boxer Vitali Klitschko which has threatened not to take up its seats in parliament.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the leader of the Fatherland coalition in the absence of the jailed Tymoshenko, accused the Regions Party of "stealing the votes of Ukrainians and changing the results in favour of its candidates".

The firebrand leader of Svoboda, Oleg Tyagnybok, meanwhile said that the authorities were "spitting on the choice of Ukrainians".

The opposition's claims are focused on the vote count in a dozen or so districts where they say that the vote was falsified in favour of the Regions Party.

A small change in the number of seats won could make a huge difference as the Regions Party is expected to only find a slim majority with the help of loyal independent lawmakers.

According to results based on a 99.95 percent vote count, the Regions Party won 30.0 percent of the popular vote, Fatherland 25.53, UDAR 13.96, the Communists 13.18 and Svoboda 10.44.

Half of the seats in the Rada are determined on a proportional basis and the other half on first-past-the post single mandate constituencies.

The central election commission has still not projected the allocation of seats in the new parliament due to the lack of final results.

According to the Ukrainska Pravda news site, the Regions Party will win 187 seats, Fatherland 102, UDAR 40, Svoboda 38 and the Communists 32 with independents picking up a crucial 44 seats.

The European Union's top diplomat Catherine Ashton and EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule on Saturday had expressed alarm about the failure to publish final results so long after voting took place.

"Complaints should be dealt with swiftly and in full respect of rules and established procedures," the statement added.

OSCE observers have already expressed concern that the elections were a step backwards for Ukraine, a country seen as one of the most democratic in the former Soviet Union after the 2004 Orange Revolution uprising.

The observers argued that the election was skewed from the start by the jailing of Tymoshenko in an abuse of power case that the West fears is an act of revenge on the part of Yanukovych against his old political rival.

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Suicide bomber kills 50 Syrian troops

A SUICIDE car bomber has killed more than 50 Syrian soldiers and pro-government gunmen, a Syrian activist group says.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the attack in the village of Ziyara in the central province of Hama was carried out by Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic militant group.

The death toll could not be independently verified.

State-run news agency SANA said the blast occurred outside a state-run development agency.

It said Monday's blast caused deaths but gave no figure.

The Observatory also reported that an air raid on the northern town of Harem killed at least 20 rebels.

It said a rebel commander was seriously wounded in the raid.

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Miners should remain optimistic on China

AUSTRALIA'S mining companies have reason to be optimistic despite a difficult past 12 months during which profits fell and their share price suffered a big hit due to lower commodity prices and a slowing Chinese economy, a report says.

The Aussie Mine 2012 Staying the Course report from financial services company PwC found the so-called mid-tier miners made a combined net profit of $1.6 billion in 2011/12, down by 44 per cent from the previous year.

The report, in its sixth year, focused on the largest 50 mining companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with a market capitalisation of less than $5 billion at June 30, 2012.

PwC partner Wayne Huf and global mining leader Tim Goldsmith said 2012 had not been an easy time for the mid-tier 50, given the rising concerns about China's economic growth.

Those concerns, coupled with weaker commodities prices, caused the market capitalisation of these mid-tier miners to fall to $51.8 billion at June 2012, down by 31 per cent from the March 2011 post global financial crisis peak of $75.3 billion.

Despite these short-term challenges, the report said the future was bright.

"We are in no doubt that the development and urbanisation of China still has many years to run," the pair said in the foreword of the report.

"This will continue to be the biggest determinant of the prospects of the mid-tier 50."

Atlas Iron CEO Ken Brinsden said China would remain a key buyer of Australian iron ore.

"China still needs to grow and their domestic ore is lower grade and more expensive to produce, therefore they are at a competitive disadvantage," Mr Brinsden said in the report.

"Demand from China for iron ore from external sources will remain."

Meanwhile, Mr Brinsden criticised the federal government mineral resource rent tax.

He said it had impacted on investment, triggered volatility in the performance of mining companies and created a significant administrative cost for companies such as Atlas.

"Our offshore investors are now continually questioning us on what is going on in Australia and what is next," Mr Brinsden said.

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Aust's lowest paid the third lowest taxed

AUSTRALIA'S lowest paid workers are also among the lowest taxed, a report says.

A study by chartered accountant UHY Haines Norton found that a single, unmarried Australian whose take-home pay was up to $US25,000 ($A24,141) a year had the third-lowest personal tax rate.

Only Japan and the United Arab Emirates were ahead of Australia in the study, which covered 25 countries including all members of the Group of Eight (G8) nations, as well as the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

UHY tax partner James Tng said the report suggested Australia had found a balance between a progressive and competitive tax system.

"There has been a general easing of the tax rates of low- and middle-income earners over the past decade, beginning with the introduction of the GST in 2000," Mr Tng said in a statement.

"Australia also wasn't forced to raise personal taxes due to the fiscal strength of our economy prior to the global financial crisis where there was little debt and very little in the way of the social security hurdles compared to other European economies."

Australians with take home pay of $US200,000 ($A193,000) were the 14th lowest taxed in the survey.

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Kenya church attack kills policeman

A GRENADE attack on a Kenyan church has left one policeman dead and 14 other people wounded in a town near the Somalia border, where similar deadly attacks took place in July, police say.

Kenya has seen a wave of grenade attacks on cities including the capital Nairobi and the key port of Mombasa since the country sent troops into Somalia in October last year to fight al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab insurgents.

"We have one fatality," said regional police chief Philip Tuimur after a policeman died of his wounds in the attack on a church at a police camp in the town of Garissa, which lies about 140 kilometres from the Somali border.

Another police source said 14 other people were also wounded in the attack.

"We have mobilised our officers to track down the attackers," Tuimur added, without giving further details.

The grenade "ripped through the roof during prayer session", said a police officer.

The officer said the church was located inside a police camp and most of the wounded were police officers.

In July, at least 18 people were killed in attacks on two churches in the same town.

A child was also killed in a suspected grenade attack on a church in Nairobi in September, triggering reprisal attacks against the Somali community.

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Syrian rebels seize their first oilfield

SYRIAN rebels have seized one of the country's major oilfields in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a first for the opposition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

"Rebels in the Jaafar Tayyar Brigade took control of Al-Ward oilfield, east of the town of Mayadin, after a siege that lasted several days," the Britain-based watchdog said.

"This is the first time the rebels have taken control of an oilfield," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP by phone.

The fighting on Sunday began at dawn and lasted several hours, said Abdel Rahman, adding that 40 soldiers guarding the infrastructure had either been killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

The rebels, who face the superior firepower of regime forces, also seized a tank, armoured vehicles and ammunition.

Several attacks have targeted the country's oil infrastructure since the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad broke out in March 2011.

Deir Ezzor province, which borders Iraq, contains the largest energy reserves in the country, and Al-Ward field is one of the most important in the province.

Syria produced some 4000 of barrels of oil a day before the United States and the European Union banned in August and September 2011 the import of Syrian petroleum and petroleum products to put pressure on the Assad regime.

Oil exports fell from 13,500 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 7500 tonnes in the first quarter of 2012.

Europe had previously bought 95 per cent of Syrian oil, generating a third of the country's revenue.

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