NSW healthcare system 'working well'

RATES of premature death from cancer, heart disease and stroke have fallen across NSW, but further improvements could be made in the state's health care system, a report says.

Results from the third annual Healthcare in Focus 2012 report, which compares the performance of the NSW health care system with other states and countries, found fewer years of life are lost to cancer and heart disease in NSW than in most other countries, Bureau of Health Information chief Kim Browne said.

"NSW is performing quite well when we compare internationally," Ms Browne told AAP.

"(But) there are areas where we've got opportunities to improve compared to international comparators."

The report indicated NSW has one of the lowest rates of potential years of life lost to cancer, outperforming France, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the US.

Only Sweden has a lower rate, Ms Browne said.

Fewer years of life were lost to cardiovascular disease and stroke in NSW than in most other countries, the report found.

Ms Browne added fewer years of life were lost to heart attack in NSW than in any of the 10 other countries examined in the report.

But there are areas of the health care system that can be improved, she said.

"Unplanned readmissions for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are mid-range ... but they're higher than places like Canada, the UK and Switzerland," she told AAP.

NSW also has a high rate of hospitalisation for diabetic, medical and surgical care complications, a statistic Ms Browne would like to see decrease.

"It's a bit of a mixed picture but overall when we look internationally NSW tends to perform fairly well," Ms Browne said.

Health care system users were surveyed as part of the report and the majority rated their experiences and treatment positively, she said.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Opposition claims Egypt 'vote rigging'

THE opposition accused Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood of attempted "vote rigging" in today's referendum on a new constitution for Egypt.

The National Salvation Front, in a statement, expressed "deep concern... over the number of irregularities and violations in the holding of the referendum," charging it "points to a clear desire for vote rigging by the Muslim Brotherhood."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mandela undergoes gallstone surgery

SOUTH Africa's presidency says Nelson Mandela has undergone successful surgery to remove gallstones.

The presidency said the 94-year-old Mandela underwent the surgery overnight. The presidency said Mr Mandela's doctors wanted to treat a recurrent lung infection before putting him through the surgery.

The statement said: "The procedure was successful and Madiba is recovering." It referred to Mandela by his clan name as a sign of affection.

Mr Mandela has been in hospital since Dec. 8.

Mr Mandela is revered for being a leader of the struggle against racist white rule in South Africa. He served one five-year term as president before retiring from public life.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bodies removed from US massacre school

THE bodies of 20 young children and six adults massacred by a lone gunman in a quiet US town were finally removed from the blood-soaked school, police said.

The formal identification of the victims in one of America's worst mass shootings marked a new chapter for horrified residents of Newtown, Connecticut, where Friday morning a 20-year-old man walked in with at least two powerful pistols and shot everyone he could find in two rooms of the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"By early this morning, they were able to positively identify all of the victims and make formal identification to all of the families of the victims," said Connecticut State Police spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vance.

The removal of bodies, which were initially left for investigators, "has been accomplished," he said on CBS television. "That was done overnight."

The gunman shot dead 18 children inside the school and two more died of their wounds shortly afterwards. Six adults, including the school principal, perished before the gunman died - apparently in a suicide.

Authorities offered little clue as to the motive for the shootings in Newtown, a wooded and picturesque small town northeast of New York City.

Hours after the shooting, hundreds of people gathered for a vigil, the crowd filling the church to capacity and spilling outside its doors.

"This is a kind of community, when things like that happen, they really pull together," the priest, Robert Weiss, said during the Mass.

A letter from Pope Benedict XVI was also read during the service.

Pope Benedict XVI sent his condolences to the community, in a letter read aloud at a vigil in Newtown Friday evening.

The pope "has asked me to convey his heartfelt grief and the assurance of his closeness in prayer to the victims and their families, and to all affected by the shocking event," Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said in the letter.

"In the aftermath of this senseless tragedy he asks God our Father to console all those who mourn and to sustain the entire community," the letter said.

David Connors, whose triplets were at the school during the shooting but were unharmed, said he was still horrified.

"It's hard. I've never imagined a thing like that could happen here."

"Our faith is tested," state Governor Dan Malloy told the congregants.

"Not just necessarily our faith in God, but our faith in community, and who we are, and what we collectively are."

Earlier the governor had said "evil visited this community today."

US President Barack Obama, wiping away tears and struggling to maintain his composure, said he was aghast over the tragedy.

State police spokesman Vance said just one injured person survived, indicating that the gunman was unusually accurate or methodical in his fire.

The majority of killings, which began at around 9:30am local time, "took place in one section of the school, in two rooms," Vance added. The children were aged between five and 10, officials said.

The killer was identified as Adam Lanza, 20. Initially, police told media they thought the murderer was his brother, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, whose identity card had been found on the shooter's dead body.

The surviving brother was in custody and being questioned, according to US television reports.

Many news outlets said another victim found in a home in Newtown - the 28th body in the day's bloodshed - was the shooter's mother, who was a teacher at Sandy Hook and whom he had killed before driving to the school.

Mr Obama went on national television to express his "overwhelming grief." He ordered flags to be lowered to half mast.

And there were similar statements of grief and shock around the world.

The head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, spoke of his "deep shock and horror," the Queen sent a message to Mr Obama in which she said she was "deeply shocked and saddened," and French President Francois Hollande expressed his condolences to Mr Obama, saying the news "horrified me."

Of all US campus shootings, the toll was second only to the 32 murders in the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech university.

The latest number far exceeded the 15 killed in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which triggered a fierce but inconclusive debate about the United States' relaxed gun control laws.

However, the White House has scotched any suggestion that the politically explosive subject would be quickly reopened.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Queen gets art trove as jubilee gift

WHAT do you get the woman who has everything? Britain's Royal Academy of Arts has presented the Queen with works by some of the country's leading artists to mark the monarch's 60 years on the throne.

The 97 works on paper include a royal portrait by Tracey Emin, a celebratory Diamond Jubilee drawing done on an iPad by David Hockney and pieces by Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Grayson Perry.

All the artists are members of the Royal Academy, the elite artistic society founded in 1768.

The artworks will go on public display at Buckingham Palace next year.

Martin Clayton, senior curator of prints and drawings at the Royal Collection Trust, called the gift "a vivid cross-section of the best of contemporary British art."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Son-in-law of Tunisia's Ben Ali arrested in Seychelles

THE son-in-law of Tunisia's deposed former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been arrested in the Seychelles, the Tunisian authorities announced.

Sakhr El Materi, who was convicted in absentia of corruption by a Tunisian court, fled to Qatar just before the overthrow of his father-in-law's regime in last year's uprising, but the Gulf emirate agreed to expel him in September.

Fadhel Saihi, an adviser to the Tunisian justice minister, told Mosaique FM that Materi was arrested as he tried to enter the Seychelles with an expired diplomatic passport, and that he was being interrogated by police there.

Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri said Tunis was doing everything it could to get him extradited.

"Sakhr El Materi went to the Seychelles after leaving Qatar. The Seychelles authorities opened an inquiry, because he was the subject of an international arrest warrant and because his passport had expired," Mr Bhiri said.

"The Tunisian authorities will do everything they can to get Sakhr El Materi extradited," he added, speaking at a seminar on recovering the assets of the Ben Ali family.

Ben Ali and his close family used to go on holiday to the Seychelles in secret prior to the revolution.

Said to be the ex-dictator's favourite son-in-law and long seen as a possible successor, Materi was sentenced last year to 16 years in prison and fined 97 million dinars ($59 million) for corruption and property fraud.

Married to Ben Ali's eldest daughter Nesrine, the 31-year-old businessman owned Princess Holding and was active in virtually every economic sector.

His properties have either been confiscated or placed under state administration.

The Tunisian state announced in July that it would sell his 25 per cent stake in mobile phone operator Tunisiana and his 59 percent stake in car dealership firm Ennakl, the agents in Tunisia for German carmaker Volkswagen.

Tunis has called on countries hosting fugitive members of the Ben Ali family to bring them to trial and return their properties to Tunisia.

The north African country has repeatedly asked Saudi Arabia, where Ben Ali took refuge with his wife Leila Trabelsi after they fled Tunisia on January 14, 2011, to extradite him.

Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for presiding over the bloody protest crackdown that ignited the Arab Spring, and convicted on other charges that include incitement to murder, embezzlement and abuse of power.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ex-cop sentenced for journalist's murder

A MOSCOW judge has sentenced a former police officer to 11 years jail and fined him 3 million rubles ($A95,400) for his part in the 2006 murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who prosecutors claimed helped track Politkovskaya's movements and provided the triggerman with a gun, had struck a plea bargain qualifying him for a reduced sentence in exchange for co-operation.

Politkovskaya's family opposed the deal, which allowed Pavlyuchenkov to admit guilt without testifying, on the grounds it would not help find the masterminds of the killing.

The alleged gunman and four other defendants will be tried separately.

Politkovskaya, a sharp critic of Kremlin policies in Chechnya, was gunned down in her apartment building on October 7, 2006.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Inaction' not option in Syria: Cameron

DOING nothing is not an option in Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron says as his European Union counterparts pledge to look at "all options" available to support the opposition and civilians.

"Inaction and indifference are not options," Cameron, whose government has formally recognised a recently formed Syrian opposition coalition, said in Friday.

The situation in Syria, with more than 40,000 now dead, was "truly dreadful and getting worse", he said, adding that there was "no single, simple answer".

In a statement issued at the close of an EU summit, leaders said they were "appalled by the increasingly deteriorating situation in Syria" and urged their foreign ministers to "work on all options to support and help the opposition and to enable greater support for the protection of civilians".

They said President Bashar al-Assad had to go, with Cameron wanting the "speediest transition possible" to avoid more bloodshed.

Earlier, French President Francois Hollande had said Assad was losing and must be made to leave as quickly as possible.

"On the ground, the war is now turning against Assad and we should set ourselves this objective - make Assad leave as quickly as possible," he said.

The EU so far has stopped short of full recognition of the opposition, although earlier this week EU foreign ministers met the leader of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces at talks in Brussels.

Some EU member states are cautious about extending full recognition to the coalition because of doubts over how representative it is and its democratic credentials.

In their statement on Friday, EU leaders said they supported a future Syria that "is democratic and inclusive with full support for human rights and the rights of minorities.

"The European Council will continue to address the situation in Syria as a matter of priority," they said.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kidman in running for Globes double

NICOLE Kidman has scored two nominations for next year's Golden Globes awards - and other Aussies in the mix include her pal Naomi Watts, and Hugh Jackman.

Kidman was nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role, for her confronting performance in The Paperboy (in which, in one scene, she urinates on Zac Efron's foot).

She also is in the running for best performance by an actress in a made-for-TV movie or miniseries, as writer Martha Gellhorn in Hemingway & Gellhorn.

Naomi Watts was nominated for best performance by an actress, for her harrowing lead in The Impossible, about the 2004 tsunami hitting Thailand.

And Hugh Jackman was nominated for best actor in a comedy or musical, for his Jean Valjean in the big-screen Les Miserables.

The best movie nominations, considered an early indicator for Oscars favouritism, were Ben Affleck's Argo, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, Ang Lee's Life of Pi, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

US retail sales rise 0.3 per cent

AMERICANS spent more on cars, electronics and building supplies in November, and shopped more frequently online. The data suggests the economy is rebounding from disruptions caused by Superstorm Sandy.

The Commerce Department says retail sales rose 0.3 per cent in November, offsetting a 0.3 per cent decline in October. When excluding gas station sales, retail sales increased 0.8 per cent. The drop in gas station sales reflected lower prices.

The gains were widespread except at department stores, where sales dropped. That's a troubling development at the start of holiday shopping.

Still, sales at non-store retailers, which include online shopping, rose three per cent. That's the biggest monthly gain in 13 months.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Overseas adoption process takes 4 years

PROSPECTIVE parents are waiting more than four and a half years for the completion of overseas adoptions, official figures show.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) says it took an average of 56 months for the processing of an inter-country adoption in 2011-12, compared to 37 months in 2007-08.

AIHW spokesman Tim Beard said the dramatic increase could be attributed to lengthening processing times in other countries - which are now an average of 30 months, up from 19 months four years ago.

"Processing times are affected by factors such as the number and characteristics of children in need of adoption, the number of applications received and the resources of the overseas authority," he said.

"These are all factors outside the control of Australian authorities."

Despite the lengthy waits, Mr Beard said Australian adoption authorities had actually improved their own processing times.

The total number of completed adoptions in Australia in 2011-12 was just 333 - a record low and a steep decline from the 384 finalised in the previous year, the figures show.

The number was 1494 in 1987-88.

Among the adoptions finalised in 2011-12, overseas children outnumbered Australian children for the first time.

Mr Beard said the generational decline in adoptions reflected social and legislative changes.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Weekly US jobless aid applications drop

THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits has fallen sharply for a fourth straight week, in a sign the US job market may be improving.

The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, the lowest in two months. It is the second-lowest total this year.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the drop indicates that companies are cutting fewer jobs. But employers also need to increase hiring to rapidly push down the 7.7 per cent unemployment rate.

Applications spiked five weeks ago because of Superstorm Sandy. The storm's impact has faded. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 27,000 to 381,500.

Before the storm, applications had fluctuated between 360,000 and 390,000 this year.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Govts told to improve regulatory process

THE Productivity Commission believes much could be done to improve the way regulations are developed and scrutinised by Australia's governments.

The commission found evidence that proposals with the largest impacts on communities are often not rigorously examined.

In a new report released on Thursday, the commission says while regulatory impact analysis processes have been adopted by all governments, they are failing to deliver on their potential due to inadequate ministerial and agency commitment.

"While these processes are reasonably well designed and supported in all jurisdictions, there are some shortcomings and a significant gap between agreed and actual practice that must be addressed," commissioner Robert Fitzgerald said in a statement.

The commission has made a number of recommendations to improve the effectiveness of policy development, including a two-stage impact analysis process, with stakeholders being able to comment on all draft regulation impact statements.

The report also suggests opportunities to avoid assessment must be reduced, while there should be more effective targeting of regulatory impact analysis resources.

"More widespread and consistent adoption of the leading practices identified by the commission, particularly in relation to transparency and accountability, would create stronger incentives for governments to demand and officials to deliver policies that are well considered," Mr Fitzgerald said.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Australia, NZ ties a 30-year 'success'

THE success of economic ties between Australia and New Zealand could be improved through more services trade and investment, the productivity commissions of the two countries say in a report.

Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of Closer Economics Relations (CER) between the two countries, under which trade restrictions have been greatly reduced and people now move freely "across the ditch".

"CER has been a very successful venture, with initiatives that would not have been possible with any third country," New Zealand Productivity Commission chair Murray Sherwin said in a statement accompanying the report.

But he said there was more to be achieved to the benefit of both Australia and New Zealand.

Australia's Productivity Commission chair Gary Banks said a single economic market would be a desirable "direction of travel".

"But how far policy initiatives go will emerge from good public policy processes focused on achieving net benefits," Mr Banks said.

The report was handed to prime ministers Julia Gillard and John Key on Thursday.

It identifies more than 30 initiatives to promote beneficial integration, mostly addressing regulatory barriers to services trade and commercial presence and some remaining impediments to integration in goods, capital and labour markets.

The report says that the relationship should remain "outward-looking" and not impede trade opportunities with other partners, while complementing domestic policy improvement.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Record number of UK people have jobs

BRITAIN'S unemployment total has shrunk by the biggest quarterly amount for more than a decade, with a record number of people in work, official data shows.

The number of unemployed people fell 82,000 to 2.510 million in the three months to October, compared with the figure for the three months to July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. That was the biggest quarterly drop since the spring of 2001.

The ONS also revealed that the number of people in work has struck a new record high, jumping by 40,000 to 29.6 million people over the same period.

Despite the upbeat figures, British Prime Minister David Cameron cautioned that long-term unemployment remained "stubbornly high".

"Obviously, there is no room for complacency - there are still far too many people who are long-term unemployed," Cameron told parliament in his weekly question-and-answer session.

"But in these figures we can see 40,000 more people in work, vacancies are up, unemployment is down by 82,000 and the claimant count is down."

Britain's unemployment rate meanwhile stood at 7.8 per cent in the three months to the end of October, according to the ONS.

The rate was unchanged from the level in the three months to September, but marked a decrease from 8.0 per cent in the three months to July.

The numbers claiming jobless benefits slid 3000 in November to 1.58 million people, compared with October.

ING economist James Knightley said: "The UK jobs report shows some reasonably encouraging newsflow on the labour market."

"The fact that UK employment is rising, consumer confidence is up and anecdotal evidence of retail sales have not been too bad, offers some hope that the domestic situation in the UK is stabilising."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

US deadly mall shooting appears random

THE US mall shooting that left three dead and forced hundreds of Christmas shoppers to hide or flee appears to have been a random attack, authorities say.

The masked gunman, who was one of the three dead, was seemingly targeting "anyone who was in his line of sight," Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts told NBC's Today show.

"It was very apparent that he had a mission set forth to really take the lives of people in that mall," Roberts said.

Police said they have tentatively identified the gunman but would not release his name.

The shooting on Tuesday afternoon at the busy Portland, Oregon, mall started shortly after a man in a white mask carrying a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest said, "I am the shooter," as if announcing himself, said Austin Patty, 20, who works at a mall department store.

A series of rapid-fire shots followed as Christmas music continued to play. Patty said he ducked and then ran.

Witnesses said the suspect fired several times near the mall food court until the rifle jammed and he dropped a magazine onto the floor and ran into the Macy's store.

Some were close enough to the shooter to feel the percussion of his gun.

"I saw a gentleman face down, obviously shot in the head," said Jason DeCosta, the manager of company with a display on the mall's ground floor. "A lot of blood. You could tell there was nothing you could do for him."

DeCosta said he also saw a woman on the floor who had been shot in the chest.

Officials said a woman was also shot and was in serious condition at a Portland hospital.

"We have a young lady in the hospital fighting for her life right now," Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said at a news conference late on Tuesday.

Clackamas County sheriff's Lieutenant James Rhodes said the gunman was dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities went store-to-store to confirm that there was only one shooter, Rhodes said.

The mall Santa, Brance Wilson, said he heard gunshots and dove for the floor. By the time he looked up, seconds later, everyone around him had cleared out. Parents with children joined other shoppers rushing to stores' backrooms for safety.

"Santa will be back," Wilson said. "It's not going to keep Santa away from the mall."

Shaun Wik, 20, said he was Christmas shopping with his girlfriend and opened a fortune cookie at the food court. Inside was written: "Live for today. Remember yesterday. Think of tomorrow."

As he read it, he heard three shots. He heard a man he believes was the gunman shout, "Get down!" but Wik and his girlfriend ran. He heard seven or eight more shots. He didn't turn around.

"If I had looked back, I might not be standing here," Wik said.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Japan researchers invent solar-cell fabric

CLOTHES that could literally light up your life were unveiled Tuesday by Japanese researchers who said their solar-cell fabric would eventually let wearers harvest energy on the go.

The new fabric is made of wafer-thin solar cells woven together that could see people powering up their mobile phones and other electronics with their sweater or trousers.

But its creators conceded there was work to do before taking the fabric to market.

"We still have things to solve before commercialisation, such as coating for the conductive wires and improving the fabric's durability," said an official at the Industrial Technology Center in central Japan's Fukui Prefecture.

"But we've already been contacted by electronics makers, blind makers and others who showed interested in our invention."

The centre developed the fabric with a Kyoto-based solar cell maker and other private firms, the official said.

Solar power generation is attracting renewed attention in Japan as the country looks to alternative energy sources in the aftermath of last year's tsunami-sparked atomic crisis, the worst nuclear accident in a generation.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

More TV apps come to Xbox Live

MICROSOFT is rolling out dozens of new apps for the Xbox 360, building on statistics that show members of its paid online subscription service spend more time on it watching video than they do playing multiplayer games over the Internet.

The company said Tuesday that by early next year it will add more than 40 apps to its Xbox Live service, such as MTV, The CW Network and CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Many of the apps will require paid subscriptions on top of the Xbox Live Gold subscription, which costs $60 ($A57.45) a year, or $10 ($A9.58) a month.

Several services, such as the Canadian hockey app, are only offered in the country of origin.

In the US, Xbox Live subscribers spend an average of 84 hours a month on the service. Globally, the number of hours spent on the service has grown 30 percent, said the company, which is based in Redmond, Washington state.

Some of the new apps are launching Tuesday, including a Karaoke sing-along app in all regions but Japan and the United Arab Emirates, and SkyDrive, Microsoft's Internet-based document storage service.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK proposes gay marriage in civil ceremony

THE British government says it is proposing to allow same-sex couples to marry in civil ceremonies, but will ban the established Churches of England and Wales from conducting ceremonies.

Culture minister Maria Miller told parliament the new law would allow other religious institutions to "opt-in" to carry out gay marriage ceremonies.

Miller said the Church of England and Church in Wales had made clear their opposition to offering same-sex ceremonies, so the government would "explicitly state" it will be illegal for those churches to offer gay marriage.

While Roman Catholics had joined the established churches in expressing opposition to same-sex marriage, other groups such as Quakers are in favour.

"I feel strongly that, if a couple wish to show their love and commitment to each other, the state should not stand in their way," Miller said.

"European law already puts religious freedom beyond doubt, and we will go even further by bringing in an additional 'quadruple legal lock'.

"But, it is also a key aspect of religious freedom that those bodies who want to opt-in should be able to do so."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sullivan to steer Catholic Church

AN Australian Medical Association (AMA) chief will help the troubled Catholic Church deal with the "issues and ramifications" of the federal royal commission into child sex abuse.

The secretary general of the federal AMA, Francis Sullivan, will take up the Catholic Church post after five years with the medical lobby group.

The announcement from the AMA did not specify Mr Sullivan's new role, but the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia announced last month they would establish a 10-member council of lay people and members of the clergy and the church was due to announce the head of that council on Wednesday.

AMA president Steve Hambleton described his departing colleague as a "highly respected advocate".

"It is with much regret that the AMA is losing such a strong and well-connected colleague, but he is taking on a role for which he is uniquely equipped and very passionate about," Dr Hambleton said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Francis has been a diligent and hardworking leader and manager for the AMA.

"He has not only been a trusted CEO and adviser to the AMA leadership, he has been a friend and confidant."

Before joining the AMA, Mr Sullivan spent 14 years as the chief executive officer of Catholic Health Australia.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aussie firms among least optimistic

AUSTRALIAN small businesses are currently among the least optimistic in the Asia-Pacific region, a survey shows.

Research by accounting firm CPA Australia found 60 per cent of Australian companies expect to grow their business in 2013, just pipping Hong Kong at the bottom of the table on 59 per cent.

The survey of over 1700 respondents in six Asia-Pacific economies found Indonesia was leading the way, with 94 per cent of firms expecting their businesses to grow.

It also found that just 14 per cent of the Australian businesses increased their staff numbers in 2012, compared with 61 per cent in Indonesia.

When it came to accessing money, 47 per cent of the Australian firms were forced to use a personal credit card to pay for business activities, compared with a mere 12 per cent in Indonesia.

CPA Australia CEO Alex Malley said the survey results painted a worrying picture, as small businesses act as a barometer for the broader economy.

"These results reflect the direct impact of decisions around significant national issues such as returning the budget surplus, productivity, tax reform and regulation," Mr Malley said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said the results should act as a further "wake-up call" to key decision makers of the need to focus on how Australia could be best positioned to thrive in a hyper-competitive regional and global environment.

"A large part of achieving this will be predicated on the existence of a dynamic, innovative small-business sector with a focus on the high-end knowledge economy," he said.

"Achieving this will require a combined effort by business and government."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Surge in household energy disconnections

THERE has been a massive rise in the number of Victorians who have had their electricity or gas disconnected because they have failed to pay their energy bills.

The Essential Services Commission (ESC) reported that in 2011-12 almost 24,000 electricity customers were cut off, a jump of 33 per cent on the previous year, while more than 20,000 gas customers were disconnected - up 50 per cent.

The report found that almost half of the disconnected customers were reconnected within seven days indicating that they were residents who had trouble paying their bills.

"As the high rate of reconnections at the same address implies, most of the disconnections are of customers who struggle to pay their bills - not 'skippers' or movers from a residence," said ESC chief executive David Heeps.

"If retailers could better identify and support customers in hardship, then the adoption of a payment plan may head off disconnection as a last resort."

The Victorian Council of Social Services said energy retailers were treating customers in hardship too harshly.

The welfare body said that disconnecting people too often proves the energy industry needed to brought into line and it was time the state government stepped in.

"More people are being disconnected from their essential energy supply than at any time since the industry was privatised and the state government needs to step in to pull the industry into line," said VCOSS chief executive Penny Wilson.

She said energy retailers are entitled to be paid but they have a legal obligation to help customers in financial difficulty by offering flexible payment options or special hardship assistance.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tibetan, 16, who set herself on fire dies

A 16-YEAR-OLD Tibetan girl has died after setting herself on fire, Chinese state media say, in an area that has become a flashpoint for protests against Beijing's rule.

The school pupil self-immolated on Monday in the village of Dageri in China's northwestern province of Qinghai, an area with a high population of ethnic Tibetans, just before 7pm (2200 AEDT) on Sunday, Xinhua said.

Her body was cremated four hours later and returned to her family, the news agency said, adding that local government officials were investigating.

More than 90 Tibetans have set themselves ablaze since 2009 to protest China's rule of the Tibetan plateau, rights groups have said, with the frequency of incidents increasing sharply in November. Most have died.

According to a partial list drawn up by the London-based campaign group Free Tibet the teenager is among the youngest girls to have set themselves on fire.

Xinhua reported on Sunday that a monk and his nephew had been detained for inciting eight Tibetans to set themselves alight.

Many Tibetans in China accuse the government of religious repression and eroding their culture, as the country's majority Han ethnic group increasingly moves into historically minority areas.

Beijing rejects this, saying Tibetans enjoy religious freedom. The government points to huge on-going investment it says has brought modernisation and a better standard of living to Tibet.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

2Day FM 'didn't check with UK hospital'

THE London hospital that treated Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine says the Australian radio station behind a prank call did not check with them before the hoax was broadcast.

The Sydney station, 2Day FM, said it had tried to contact King Edward VII's Hospital five times to discuss the prank call conducted with two nurses, one of whom, Jacintha Saldanha, was found dead on Friday in a suspected suicide.

But a hospital spokesman said: "Following the hoax call, the station did not talk to anyone in hospital senior management or anyone at the company that handles our media inquiries."

The 2Day FM hosts who made the call last week, in which they obtained private details of Kate's acute morning sickness by pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and William's father Prince Charles, spoke on Monday of their grief at the nurse's death.

Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who have been in hiding and undergoing counselling since their hoax sparked global outrage, said they were devastated.

Saldanha, a mother-of-two originally from southern India, was found dead in nurses' accommodation near the hospital on Friday.

She had picked up the prank call and put it through to another nurse, who revealed details of Kate's condition.

Results of the post-mortem could be published later on Monday, although the timing has yet to be confirmed, a police spokeswoman said.

Kate, who is thought to be around nine weeks pregnant, spent three days being treated at the hospital.

2Day FM's owner, Southern Cross Austereo, reacted to growing alarm over the story by pulling the two hosts off air until further notice, axing their show, suspending all advertising on 2Day FM until further notice and forbidding any prank calls across its network.

The company, which faced a diving share price and threats of a cyber attack on Monday, expressed its "deep and sincere condolences" to the nurse's family.

"We are very sorry for what has happened," said CEO Rhys Holleran.

"We are also providing support to our people who are deeply saddened by this tragic and unforeseen event."

Greig said she was prepared to attend any inquest in London and see the nurse's family face to face.

"If that's something that they want to do, to get some closure, then I'll do that," she said.

"It was meant to be a silly little prank that so many people have done before. This wasn't meant to happen."

"I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened. I remember my first question was, 'Was she a mother?' I can't imagine what they (the family) would be going through."

Saldanha had two children. Her husband, Ben Barboza, expressed his sadness on his Facebook page with a short note "Obituary Jacintha."

"I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances," he wrote.

He said she will be laid to rest in Shirva, India.

Meanwhile, there were indications that the Duchess of Cambridge was still struggling with acute morning sickness, with her husband, Prince William, cancelling a Sunday night engagement.

Palace officials said her illness means she will probably not attend the UK premiere of The Hobbit film on Wednesday, where she and William are scheduled to be the guests of honour.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

What not to eat at Christmas

BRUSSELS sprouts may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they definitely should not be on some plates at Christmas.

The controversial vegetable is a traditional festive staple in countries including the UK.

But it can be a dangerous accompaniment to blood-thinning drugs like Warfarin, as one Scottish patient found out.

The Scottish man was prescribed the drug for heart failure and warned to stay away from green leafy vegetables, especially brussel sprouts.

The vitamin K in the vegetable can interfere with the drug and cause adverse effects including bleeding, which can be fatal.

Despite the advice, the man consumed 15 to 20 brussel sprouts on three to four occasions in one week during the festive period and was admitted to hospital three days after Christmas, where his condition improved.

His treating physicians from the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Glasgow warned doctors and patients about the dangers of consuming excessive quantities of brussel sprouts at the Christmas table.

"Doctors should consider counselling patients who must remain anticoagulated at all times ... against excessive consumption of this traditional Christmas fare," they wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday.

Meanwhile, those considering starting Christmas with a grapefruit breakfast or tossing a grapefruit salad might want to check their medication first.

Chemicals in grapefruit called furanocoumarins can interfere with up to 85 known medications, including cholesterol-lowering drugs, and can cause serious side effects in the case of 45 of them.

The fruit interacts with medications to increase the concentration of the drug in the bloodstream, putting patients at risk of overdose.

But Christmas can be a time of overindulgence for everyone, which carries its own risks.

Australasian College for Emergency Medicine president Dr Anthony Cross said emergency departments regularly see the effects of overindulgence at Christmas.

Often, it was a result of too much cheap food and wine, he said.

He suggested people buy a little less, but spend more on quality goods.

"Eat the good stuff and drink the expensive stuff," Dr Cross said.

Heart Foundation clinical issues director Dr Robert Grenfell said heart failure patients needed to watch their fluid intake, particularly alcohol, as it could affect their treatment.

Details about medications that react with grapefruit can be found on the website of the National Prescribing Service: www.nps.org.au

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Christmas shoppers hitting the streets

AUSTRALIAN shoppers will be weighing up who's been naughty or nice as they splash out $285 each on Christmas gifts this week.

Friends and relatives of ACT residents are in for a particular treat, though, as it is estimated they will each spend nearly $500 this week getting their Christmas shopping done.

The Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) said the penultimate week before Christmas would see shoppers flocking to the nation's stores.

Victoria is set to be a hotspot of shopping, with people spending $171 million more this week than they did the previous week, according to predictions from ANRA and the GE Capital Christmas Retail Index.

"Victoria has always been kind to the retail sector; we're hoping the surge to the shops before Christmas sets the tone for 2013," said ANRA chief executive Margy Osmond.

"Australians will spend $6.5 billion this week on Christmas gifts - $934 million on domestic online and almost $5.6 billion instore - to fill the contents of many a Christmas stocking."

Retailers are cautiously optimistic about Christmas trade despite October's flat retail figures, which were recently announced.

"October's cash rate cut didn't give the retail sector the lift we might have hoped for but the cash rate cut was not immediately passed on by the banks and consumers no longer respond immediately to a cut," added Ms Osmond.

"We are hoping as Aussies realise there is extra cash in their wallets they will splurge a little on the Christmas season or, at the very least, in the post-Christmas sales."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

New laws cause rise in child abuse reports

STRICTER child protection laws have led to a surge in Aboriginal child abuse notifications in the Northern Territory, research shows.

Notification rates for the maltreatment of Aboriginal children increased on average by about 21 per cent a year between 1999 and 2010, according to NT government child protection figures published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday.

The number of substantiated cases grew by 18 per cent a year.

The biggest increases in substantiated cases were for emotional abuse, which grew by 30 per cent a year, and neglect, which rose 22 per cent a year.

The increases began around 2002, when national attention focused on the maltreatment of Aboriginal children following two state-based inquiries in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the authors said.

Mandatory reporting obligations were strengthened in NT in 2007, the same year the 'Little children are sacred' report into the sexual abuse of Aboriginal children in the territory was released.

"The timing of these changes was consistent with the surge in notifications by many of the reporter groups, including health professionals, school personnel and police," the report's authors said.

"The spotlight placed on child maltreatment in the Northern Territory through two inquiries and the resulting legislative and service responses, including strengthened mandatory reporting obligations, created a surge in notifications."

There were more than 35,000 child protection notifications during the period and 66 per cent of those related to Aboriginal children.

The research was led by Dr Steven Guthridge from the Northern Territory department of health.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Six dead as heavy snow hits Balkans

FREEZING temperatures and heavy snowfall have killed at least six people and caused travel chaos across the Balkans.

Officials said four people have died in Croatia and two in Serbia as a result of blizzards in the region of southwestern Europe over the weekend, closing airports and roads and blocking public transportation in big cities.

People travelling in vehicles waited for hours on several roads in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina, including the main highway leading from Belgrade to the Hungarian border, before rescue teams could free them from 50cm of snow that had fallen in just a few hours.

A woman gave birth to a healthy baby in a stranded truck on her way to a hospital, and named her Snezana, or Snow White in Serbian, state TV reported.

Ivica Dacic, who serves as Serbia's prime minister and interior minister, ordered all available police personnel to take part in the rescue operations.

The airport in Zagreb, Croatia, was closed for several hours on Saturday, and some of that nation's roads were closed because of high winds and heavy snow. The situation improved in Croatia on Sunday, but a warning against driving remained in place because of icy roads.

Authorities in Serbia and Croatia warned people to stay indoors.

Blizzards have also hit Slovenia and Bosnia.

As the storms headed east across the Balkans on Sunday, Romania's army was trying to clear snowbound roads as the country voted in a parliamentary election.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More