UK to start giving food stamps to poor

LOCAL governments in Britain say they will be issuing "food stamps" - vouchers for food and other essentials - to the poor to replace cash loans as part of the country's welfare reforms.

Many Britons with low incomes who qualify for emergency help will no longer be able to obtain cash from authorities, who will instead dish out payment cards for food, gas and electricity. Some will offer one-time payments for furniture and household goods.

Britain now runs a national social fund that gives small emergency loans to poor people to tide them over short-term crises, but that fund will be abolished next week. Instead, local governments must come up with their own replacement plans.

The Conservative-led government said on Wednesday the changes will make the welfare system more efficient.

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63 Malian soldiers, 600 Islamists killed

THE Malian army says 63 soldiers and some 600 Islamists have been killed since the launch of the French-led military action to regain the country's north from Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda.

"Since the start of the military offensive launched January 11, 2013 against the Islamists, the death toll is 63 Malian soldiers killed and our opponents have lost about 600 fighters," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Souleymane Maiga told AFP.

He said most Malian soldiers had been killed in the field, while the others had succumbed later to their injuries.

"The deaths among the Islamists is an estimate, because the Islamists generally take their dead away for burial," Maiga told AFP, adding that it was French and African forces who had killed "these terrorists".

He told AFP one Togolese and a Burkinabe soldier had also died. Five French soldiers have also been killed since the start of Operation Serval.

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Pistorius brother pleads not guilty

THE older brother of South African star sprinter Oscar Pistorius has pleaded not guilty at his trial over a deadly road crash five years ago.

Carl Pistorius, 28, has been charged with culpable homicide and reckless driving after a 2008 road accident in which a 36-year-old woman motorcyclist was killed.

"I plead not guilty," he told the court as the trial opened in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

The hearing came a day before his Paralympian hero brother makes a court challenge over the stringent bail conditions imposed on him after the Valentine's Day killing of his model girlfriend.

Among the conditions imposed on Oscar Pistorius, 26, last month was the surrender of his passport and mandatory drug and alcohol tests.

The athlete known as Blade Runner is also banned from returning to his upmarket gated home in Pretoria where he shot Reeva Steenkamp, claiming to have mistaken her for an intruder.

Pistorius, who became the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in last year's Olympic Games in London, is on bail of one million rand ($A103,500).

The Johannesburg court dismissed a bid by public broadcaster SABC to be allowed to run live broadcasts of the proceedings involving Carl Pistorius, saying the two brothers' cases were unrelated and should not be allowed to influence each other.

"This trial pertains to Mr Carl Pistorius not Mr Oscar Pistorius. This is what we are dealing with here," magistrate Buks du Plessis said.

"These proceedings must not be used or have an influence on any later proceeding against this accused's brother."

Lawyer Kenny Oldwage, a member of Oscar Pistorius's murder trial defence team, is also representing the brother.

Oldwage successfully defended a driver in a high-profile accident in 2010 that killed former president Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter Zenani. The driver was acquitted.

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Spending on mental health increasing

SPENDING on mental health services has ballooned by almost half a billion dollars to about $309 for every Australian, according to the latest statistics.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) says figures for 2010/11 show a rise in spending of $450 million from the previous financial year, to $6.9 billion.

Of that more than $4.2 billion was spent on state and territory services, with $1.8 billion focused on public hospitals.

"This (total spending) equates to about $309 spent per Australian on mental health-related services in 2010/11, an increase from $248 per Australian in 2006/07," AIHW spokeswoman Pamela Kinnear said.

The AIHW said the federal government's spending on mental health services was also on the rise, with $852 million paid in Medicare benefits.

"Almost nine per cent of all prescription subsidies in 2010/11 were mental health-related, totalling $834 million, or $38 per Australian," Dr Kinnear said.

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Iceland bank chief to be charged for fraud

THE former head of Iceland's once biggest bank, Kaupthing, will be charged next month with fraud and for manipulating the bank's share price which helped lead to the bank's collapse in 2008, a prosecutor says.

Special prosecutor Olafur Thor Hauksson said the charges would be filed against the bank's former chief executive, Heidar Mar Sigurdsson, and eight other former Kaupthing employees on April 24 in Reykjavik's district court.

The trial could last "up to one year", Hauksson said.

According to the charges to be filed, Sigurdsson took a loan from Kaupthing to buy shares in the bank. He then sold his shares to his own holding company for 572 million kronur ($A4.42 million), thereby artificially elevating the bank's share price.

Sigurdsson made 325 million kronur in the transaction, prosecutors said.

Two months after Sigurdsson's 2008 transaction, Kaupthing collapsed.

Charges will also be pressed against six former executives of Landsbanki, then Iceland's second biggest bank, including its former chief executive, Sigurjon Arnason, for manipulating the bank's share price by lending funds to investors on condition they buy shares, according to media reports.

Iceland's banks had gone on an international buying binge in the early 2000s fuelled by cheap foreign loans.

But the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008 froze credit markets and Iceland's banks quickly followed, plunging the island's economy into a deep recession.

Iceland's then prime minister Geir Haarde was last year found guilty of one minor charge but cleared of serious accusations relating to his handling of the banking collapse.

Haarde has argued that the government's choice to let the banks fail and repudiate their foreign debts saved the country from bankruptcy.

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S.Africa court jails Nigerian for 24 years

A SOUTH African court has jailed Nigerian national Henry Okah for 24 years after he was convicted of 13 terrorism charges over deadly twin bomb attacks in Abuja in 2010.

Twelve people were killed in the attacks as Nigeria was celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence.

The state argued that Okah showed little remorse during the trial, and that his intentions in the bombings were to "obtain maximum casualties."

"Effectively, the accused Okah is therefore sentenced to 24 years imprisonment," said Judge Neels Claassen at the Johannesburg court.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which in 2010 was a well-equipped armed group fighting for a greater share of the Delta oil wealth, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Okah, who has permanent residency in South Africa, has denied any involvement in the bombings and of being the leader of MEND, claiming the charges against him were politically motivated.

The 46-year-old was also found guilty over two explosions in March 2010 in the southern Nigerian city of Warri, a major hub in the oil-rich Delta region.

State prosecutor Shaun Abrahams told AFP that the sentence included 12 years each for the Warri and Abuja attacks. He was also sentenced to 10 years for being a threat to South Africa, a term that will run concurrently.

Abrahams said the prosecution - which had asked for a maximum of life in prison - will consider appealing the sentence.

Okah is thought to be the first foreign national to be tried for terrorism in South Africa. He has been in custody since his arrest in October 2010, a day after the Abuja bombings.

Okah did not testify during trial, prompting the judge to say that his failure to take the stand meant the evidence against him remained uncontested.

He has had several run-ins with the law. In September 2007 he was arrested for arms and explosives trafficking in Angola and later extradited to Nigeria.

Police identified him as "an international gun-runner and a major oil bunkerer (thief) in the Niger Delta."

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Child killed as mortar hits Damascus

AT least one child has been killed and several others wounded in a mortar attack on a compound housing several schools in central Damascus, a monitoring group and state news agency SANA says.

"A young girl was killed and several other students were injured when mortars fired by terrorists hit a school compound in the Baramkeh district of Damascus," SANA said, without giving the victim's age.

"Shells also landed on two (other) schools... injuring four civilians, including a teacher, and damaging the buildings," SANA added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog confirmed the report, adding that an unknown number of people were injured.

Earlier, state television reported a mortar attack on the same district, near the headquarters of state news agency SANA, describing it as "a new attack on Syrian media by terrorists".

Elsewhere in Syria, regime troops seized Baba Amr in the central city of Homs, the Observatory said, two weeks after fighting erupted in the flashpoint district.

"Syrian regime forces have recaptured total control of the district of Baba Amr, more than two weeks after rebel fighters had infiltrated the area and seized several neighbourhoods," it said.

The rebel fighters had re-entered Baba Amr after the army launched an all-out assault aimed at crushing the insurgency in besieged insurgent enclaves of central Homs.

This time last year, regime forces overran Baba Amr after a month-long siege that left the neighbourhood in ruins and claimed hundreds of lives.

In recent days, "the army used warplanes, rockets and tank shells to bombard" Baba Amr, the Observatory said, adding that residents who had fled their homes in the district returned to find them "uninhabitable".

On Monday night, the Observatory said at least 13 scorched bodies, including those of five women and four children, were found in the village of Abel, in the countryside near Homs.

The group also reported that at least 11 rebel fighters were killed in an army ambush in the majority Kurd northern province of Hasake.

On Monday alone, at least 122 people were killed in violence across Syria, said the Observatory, among them 41 civilians, 37 soldiers and 44 rebels.

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Police linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs

VICTORIAN police have launched an internal blitz to find rats in the ranks after claims that outlaw bikies have infiltrated the force.

Fairfax Media says two of Australia's leading outlaw bikies - Comanchero president and convicted drug trafficker Amad Malkoun and Bandidos sergeant-at-arms Toby Mitchell - have been cultivating police members.

It said the links have compromised the safety of undercover officers and informers and jeopardised investigations, including two major probes into Malkoun.

Fairfax says separate investigations by several law agencies have uncovered at least a dozen police who are suspected of having inappropriate links to bikies.

It says Mitchell, who was shot outside a Brunswick gym in 2011, has communicated with a Victorian police officer many times in the past two years.

It is understood that the officer has also been accused of withholding information from police about who was behind the attempted underworld hit on Mitchell.

Fairfax says the officer was recently suspended from the force and charged in connection to allegations he bought illegal steroids from a Mitchell associate.

It said Malkoun has socialised with Victorian policemen since 2010, inviting up to three officers to his Crown casino wedding, and attended a christening with two officers at a Greek restaurant.

Chief Commissioner Ken Lay told The Age police have information that a small number of officers have links with outlaw motorcycle members, amphetamines and performance-enhancing drugs.

In a statement, Mr Lay said it was a significant concern that outlaw motorcycle gangs were trying to corrupt police members.

"This will not be tolerated," Mr Lay said.

"We have introduced a number of improvements aimed at safeguarding police members from the risk of corruption, and rooting it out where it exists."

He said Task Force Eagle had been set up within the Professional Standards Command (formerly Ethical Standards Department) to uncover corrupt cops.

Bikie gangs had a clear interest in cultivating police contacts so that they could be compromised and coerced into providing information, he said.

"We are sending a clear warning to police members that they need to be alive to the threats at all times and complying with internal policies designed to protect them and the organisation," Mr Lay said.

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Few small firms happy with Gillard govt

NEW federal Small Business Minister Gary Gray has his work cut out in this election year, with a new survey showing just 14 per cent of small firms are satisfied with the support they get from the federal government.

Business software provider MYOB's 2013 business monitor found that this level of satisfaction was down from 17 per cent as of July 2012.

The survey was conducted before last week's leadership showdown that resulted in one minister being sacked and several others resigning, including former small business minister Chris Bowen - the fifth minister to hold the portfolio in 15 months.

Mr Gray was appointed as small business minister on Monday, and was also given the portfolio of resources and energy.

MYOB chief executive Tim Reed said the result of the survey of 1005 small and medium-sized business operators was "pretty appalling".

"I can only see that last week would have driven this (result) lower," Mr Reed told AAP.

"What we saw last week was a government that wasn't in control."

However, Mr Reed said despite this outcome, the government had had some good polices for small business, but hadn't been able to communicate them.

He pointed to the instant asset write-off, the increasing of the tax-free threshold, and loss carry-back scheme as great policies for small business that had failed to instil confidence.

"Small business owners look to the federal government to create a sound basis on which they can then build their business," Mr Reed said.

"They feel the government has failed on that."

However, the survey found a greater proportion (25 per cent) of businesses saw an improvement in the economy within the next 12 months compared to eight months ago (19 per cent).

A recent strengthening in consumer confidence is reflected in 72 per cent of businesses expecting to see increased or stable revenue in the next year, whereas only 58 per cent reported that actually happening in the year just past.

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Most small firms want carbon tax scrapped

ALMOST two thirds of small businesses want the carbon tax scrapped, putting it second in their top 10 wish list ahead of the May budget, a survey says.

Topping the list in business software provider MYOB's 2013 business monitor was the perennial want of a significantly simplified Business Activity Statement (BAS) process for the GST.

MYOB chief executive Tim Reed said pricing carbon had been an incredibly poorly sold policy to business, but he was surprised so many firms wanted to get rid of it.

"It would be actually more work to small business if it was abolished than if it was maintained," Mr Reed told AAP.

He said rolling back the tax changes linked to the carbon tax, such as the tax-free threshold returning to $6000 from $18,000, would mean businesses having to collect tax from part-time workers that they don't collect now.

Small business is already buried in paperwork that results from the GST, partly due to the complexity caused by exclusions from the tax, such as fresh food, education and health.

"Getting rid of the exclusions, while politically unpopular, would make it a much easier system for business owners to administer," Mr Reed said.

Business owners also have to code every transaction they conduct for audit purposes, and Mr Reed said more than two-thirds got it wrong.

But the data is only used by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as part of a database to investigate past macro-economic trends.

"It is a massive onerous burden on business owners. Any government could get rid of that without needing to legislate," Mr Reed said.

He said business had noted the ATO had become tougher in the past 12 months, having been "quite light" in allowing firms to schedule payments, in response to the hit from the global financial crisis.

Waving penalty charges on late tax payments for start-up businesses in their first two years of operation would cost the government little, but it would show it understood the challenges facing a new business, Mr Reed said

"It would be one of those points of symbolism that small business owners could think at least 'somebody understands who we are.'"

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