Tassie shooting was targeted: police

THE shooting death of a man outside a northern Tasmanian hotel was targeted, police say.

The man in his 40s was shot dead outside the Marrawah Hotel just after midnight (AEST) on Saturday.

"Investigations to date suggest this is not a random act - and that it was a targeted act," police said in a statement.

"We are following a number of lines of inquiry. We have deployed significant resources to the incident and are seeking assistance from the public."

Police have urged anyone with information relating to people acting suspiciously, vehicles moving in the area at the time, hitchhikers or people walking along the road to contact them.

They will continue to have resources in the area and have set up a command post at the scene.

"We encourage the public to be alert to what is going on around them, but not alarmed - but remember that any information could prove vital and don't hesitate to pass it on to us," a police statement said.

The man's next of kin have been notified, but police are not releasing his details at this stage.

Marrawah is a small town of about 400 people in Tasmania's northwest and is approximately 300km from Launceston.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Indonesian police hunt 131 escapees

Indonesian police have stepped up their search for 131 inmates who escaped from a Sumatran jail. Source: AAP

INDONESIAN police have expanded their search for 131 inmates including four militants who escaped from an overcrowded jail during a riot that left five dead, a spokesman says.

Inmates began rampaging through the jail in Medan city on Sumatra island on Thursday, setting fires and hurling bottles at guards in anger over power cuts and water shortages at the facility.

The Tanjung Gusta jail was engulfed in towering flames, killing three inmates and two prison staff who were trapped in their office.

"We stepped up efforts by instructing all police forces across Sumatra island to carry out a massive hunt operation," Heru Prakoso, spokesman for the North Sumatra police, told AFP on Saturday.

Security forces managed to regain control of the prison on Friday afternoon and had recaptured 81 of the 212 inmates who escaped, he said, adding that four convicted of terrorist offences were still on the loose.

"Security at all entry points bordering North Sumatra province has been intensified," he said, adding that the elite Detachment 88 counter-terrorism force was also involved in the operation.

The escaped terror convicts had been involved in militant training for Mumbai-style attacks on high-profile Indonesians and in connection with a bank robbery to fund terror activities, police said earlier. Some 1000 police and soldiers were deployed to guard the facility.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Saturday promised to ease overcrowding in prisons.

"We have allocated one trillion rupiah ($A110 million)) to improve capacity of overcrowded prisons, to avoid the prison incident in Medan from recurring," he told reporters.

"Prisoners have fundamental rights that we must fulfil, especially in this Ramadan month, when many prisoners are fasting," he said, criticising the blackout and water shortage at the jail.

A spokesman for the justice and human rights ministry, Goncang Raharjo, said earlier that most Indonesian prisons had problems with overcrowding.

In February last year, dozens of inmates at the overcrowded Kerobokan prison on the resort island of Bali rioted and set parts of the facility on fire, sending outnumbered guards running.

The riot ended days later when heavily armed police stormed the prison.

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Bull runners crushed in Pamplona

Bull-runners were crushed in a pile-up in Pamplona on the seventh day of Spain's famed festival. Source: AAP

DAREDEVIL bull-runners have been crushed in a pile-up in Pamplona on the seventh day of Spain's famed San Fermin festival, and at least one man was carried away unconscious.

Television pictures showed a chaotic pile of fallen runners on Saturday blocking the entrance to the bullring in the town, the end point of the frantic dash through the cobbled streets.

The pile-up blocked several of the half-tonne bulls from reaching the arena, causing chaos as runners tried to pull fallen companions free, while some of the bulls leapt over the pile, crushing runners under their hooves.

One man was seen being carried away unconscious by emergency workers, bleeding from the face as an anxious companion, dressed in the traditional white shirt and red neckerchief of the festival, looked on.

It was the second last day of the fiesta in this northern town, which draws festival-goers and daredevils from around the world for a week of drinking and perilous bull-runs.

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Russia mulls asylum for data spy Snowden

US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden (C) has told rights activists he will seek asylum in Russia. Source: AAP

RUSSIA has been weighing whether to grant asylum to fugitive US leaker Edward Snowden after he told activists he wanted sanctuary in the country, a move that would risk further straining its ties with Washington.

Snowden on Friday dramatically summoned activists to the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport where he has been marooned without a valid passport for the last three weeks after arriving on a flight from Hong Kong.

The United States wants the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor extradited back home to face justice over his leaking of sensational details about US surveillance activities, a demand Moscow has so far rejected.

Snowden, 30, making his first publicised appearance since arriving in Moscow, told the activists he wanted to claim asylum in Russia until he could safely travel to win permanent sanctuary in Latin America.

"I ask for your assistance in requesting guarantees of safe passage ... in securing my travel to Latin America, as well as requesting asylum in Russia until such time as ... my legal travel is permitted," Snowden told the activists at the meeting.

He said the asylum request was being made on Friday night although Russian officials have yet to confirm that they have received it.

The almost surreal meeting saw the group of less than a dozen activists arrive at the airport to be surrounded by a huge crowd of journalists. They were then ushered away by an airport official clutching a sign labelled "G9" to a secure area to meet the hitherto invisible fugitive.

Those invited, who received a personal email from Snowden sent on Thursday night, included representatives of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as prominent Moscow lawyers.

"He is not a phantom, he is a live human being," commented Russian lawyer Genri Reznik after meeting Snowden, who had not been sighted before at all since arriving at the airport.

Russian state television broadcast footage shot from a mobile phone of the meeting, which showed Snowden reading out a statement while flanked by a staffer from the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website, Sarah Harrison, and a woman interpreter.

He appeared well and spoke confidently.

"We walked in and there he was: Mr Snowden waiting for us," said Tanya Lokshina, senior researcher at HRW in Moscow in a blog on the group's website. "The first thing I thought was how young he looks - like a school kid."

Curiously, Snowden had last week withdrawn a request for asylum in Russia after President Vladimir Putin insisted he could stay only if he stopped releasing information that harmed the United States.

At the half-hour meeting with activists, Snowden vowed he did not want to harm the United States but it was not clear whether this meant he was prepared to stop leaking in order to stay in Russia.

Although several leftist Latin American states have indicated a readiness to host him, Snowden said at the meeting that Western governments would prevent him from travelling there.

In an indication that Snowden's new application may be viewed positively, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament Sergei Naryshkin and the upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko both swiftly said his request should be accepted.

Naryshkin, a powerful ally of Putin who used to head the Kremlin administration, said that Snowden was a "defender of human rights" who risked facing the "death penalty" if he was sent back to the United States.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conditions for Snowden claiming asylum were the same as before.

But the US has already rebuked China for allowing Snowden to leave for Russia from Hong Kong and Moscow would risk incurring the wrath of Washington should it dare offer him asylum.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cuts delayed Caltex leak response: union

NOT a single local firefighter was on deck when a Caltex terminal in Sydney sprung a leak, threatening a disaster similar to Canada's devastating fuel explosion.

The NSW government's cost-cutting policy of rolling station closures was scorched by critics on Friday after about 130,000 litres of fuel escaped from the terminal early on Friday morning.

Botany Mayor Ben Keneally said it was a miracle a major incident had been avoided.

"When you have millions of litres of fuel stored, anything can happen," he told reporters.

"Petrol is a volatile liquid and it can go off with a small spark."

The fuel escaped from the terminal at Banksmeadow after a valve malfunction about 1.30am (AEST).

A retaining wall managed to contain the petrol that gushed from a tank containing a total of two million litres of unleaded fuel.

The local fire station at Botany - which was only 3km away - had been closed at 6pm the night before, with its workers directed to fill vacancies at Campsie, 15km away.

Mick Nairn, from the Fire Brigade Employees Union (FBEU), said two trucks arrived at the scene from Matraville and Maroubra after about ten minutes.

"Fires can always be responded to from stations further away (but) time costs lives - no doubt about it," he told reporters.

"The decision to close any fire station is very dangerous. The government and the fire brigade can't predict where the fires and spills are going to be."

Mr Nairn warned local knowledge was also lost in the process.

"Botany Fire Station regularly conduct drills at Caltex, so they have a much better idea of the layout and the procedures with the staff down there."

Two Caltex workers carrying out maintenance at the time of the spill were doused with fuel and taken to hospital.

But Mr Keneally said it was lucky no one was killed.

"We've all seen the tragic events that occurred in Canada last week when a large amount of fuel ignited," he said.

An oil train came off its tracks and exploded into a huge fireball, destroying the centre of the town of Lac-Megantic and killing up to 50 people.

A suburb like Botany, with its concentration of petro-chemical and chemical plants plus the airport and port, had a high amount of risk, Mr Keneally added.

"If you add an extra five minutes to the response time, you add untrained resources to the response time, you are heightening the risk...

"This is an area of heightened risk and therefore an area that requires 24/7 staffing."

Caltex is now pumping the leaked fuel into a nearby holding tank. It's expected to wrap up in the early evening.

The NSW opposition, the FBEU and Mr Keneally are calling on the government to reverse its policy of temporary closures.

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Abbott ventures into Rudd homeland

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has nudged a kid out of the way during a schoolyard game of footy. Source: AAP

TONY Abbott has nudged a kid out of the way during a schoolyard game of footy.

The federal opposition leader, who's known for his competitive streak, visited a Catholic college in Kevin Rudd's electorate on Friday.

He spent time on the field with students and had just retired to the sidelines when the ball again caught his eye.

As he charged off again in quick pursuit, a skinny young kid in a wide-brimmed hat got in the way.

With a sidestep to rival Benji Marshall, Mr Abbott nudged the boy aside leaving the student with his hands on his hips and looking slightly miffed.

The visit was marked by another amusing moment as the would-be prime minister posed for photos with students at the library.

Behind the press pack, one of his staffers locked his eyes and fervently pointed to her brilliant smile, like a stage-mum trying to elicit a winning grin from her offspring.

Mr Abbott's own media antics didn't stop him from taking a dig at Mr Rudd's.

"It's all about managing the media, it's not about running the country," he said.

"That's the whole point with Mr Rudd. He's not interested in governing, he's interested in celebrity."

Mr Rudd enjoyed a rock star reception while he walked through the Queen Street Mall on Friday.

A large crowd of people shook his hand and insisted on having photos with the prime minister, including a group of squealing teenage school girls.

But not everyone was impressed, an older man in a suit stared at Mr Rudd and shouted, "Everyone gets a photo with boofy. Hey boof head," before walking off.

Earlier, Mr Rudd launched a book about Australia's culture at a Milton cafe in Brisbane's inner west.

During his speech, he referred to the Australian political television comedy series The Hollowmen.

"I've wanted to go to Antarctica for years but ever since The Hollowmen episode that made a prime ministerial trip to Antarctica a perfect media diversion, I've been too petrified to even think of it," he said.

At that moment, a promotional backdrop for the book collapsed behind him.

Flinching, Mr Rudd said that settled the case.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Deported WA man criticises fed government

AN Australian man deported from Saudi Arabia, leaving his brother behind in prison for terrorism-related offences, has criticised the federal government for not doing enough to help them.

Junaid Thorne arrived back in Perth in the early hours of Friday, having spent many months in hiding following detention for protesting his older brother Shayden's imprisonment.

After turning himself in and a week of legal wrangling, Junaid was finally allowed to leave the country, landing in Western Australia to be met by relieved family and friends.

He has described the day of his older brother's arrest as "shocking", and spoke of his frustration at efforts to prove Shayden's innocence.

"Certainly the day of his arrest was one of the most shocking days of my life. To have him abducted in front of you, without the power to interfere. That was really shocking," Junaid told indigenous broadcaster NITV.

In May, Shayden was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for extremist material that was found on a laptop in his possession, but maintains his innocence, saying he had borrowed the computer from a masjid, or mosque, in which he was staying.

When his year-long detention was revealed, Foreign Minister Bob Carr insisted the government had done all it could to help.

Junaid, however, feels differently.

"I was expecting a lot more from the Australian government. The thing is, I know they could have done more than what they actually did," he said.

Lawyer Abdul Jalil Al-Khalidy is working on an appeal for Shayden, which was due by Thursday, but an extension of up to a fortnight has been granted.

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Snowden to meet with Moscow activists

The Deputy Secretary of State says the US is "very disappointed" how China handled the Snowden case. Source: AAP

FUGITIVE US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has requested a meeting with leading rights activists and lawyers at the airport in Moscow where he has been stuck in transit for the past three weeks, Interfax news agency reports.

The agency said those invited included representatives of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Prominent Moscow lawyer Genrikh Padva confirmed to AFP that he had received such an invitation for a meeting at the airport Friday afternoon.

"We received such a letter from him and the Moscow airport telephoned as well," Padva said, adding he did not believe he would have time to attend.

Sergei Nikitin, head of Amnesty International's Russia office, confirmed the meeting.

Nikitin said Amnesty International received an email inviting his group and "we are planning to go".

Elena Panfilova of Transparency International said the "somewhat unexpected" invitation was being discussed.

Panfilova said the email had come from an apparently secure email address in Snowden's name.

Snowden is thought to be holed up at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

A source at Sheremetyevo airport where the fugitive has spent the last three weeks told Interfax earlier that the former intelligence employee wanted to make an announcement to the activists and lawyers.

"He wants to express his opinion about the manic campaign of the persecution against him unleashed by the United States which means that passengers on flights to Latin America are in danger," the source told the agency.

The source did not give further details but leftist Latin American states such as Venezuela and Ecuador are seen as the most likely destination for Snowden to seek asylum.

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Vic woman abducted in daylight sex attack

A WOMAN was threatened with a knife and a gun before being repeatedly sexually assaulted during a violent daylight abduction in Melbourne.

The 33-year-old woman had just stepped off a bus on Tuesday afternoon when the 30-minute brutal ordeal began.

Police say the man punched the woman in the face after she obeyed his demand to get into his red sedan when he said he was armed with a knife and a gun.

He then sexually assaulted her numerous times before driving her to a park and sexually assaulting her again.

He told her to get out of the car and drove off, at which point the terrified woman flagged down a passing driver.

Detective Senior Sergeant Sue Thomas from the sex crimes squad said the violent attack left the woman with significant facial injuries.

"The injuries are concerning. It was a violent offence," she said.

The man is described as having dark brown, curly hair and a distinctive star-shaped tattoo on his left hand between his index finger and thumb.

Police believe the attack may be connected to an earlier incident, involving a man in a red sedan who approached a 12-year-old girl around 3.45pm (AEST).

It was about 4.15pm when the 33-year-old woman was assaulted on Mt Dandenong Road in Croydon in Melbourne's east.

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Rudd says Lalor interview 'curious'

THE political career of an aspiring Labor candidate for Julia Gillard's seat of Lalor may be over before it begins, after a interview in which she admitted to having no connection to the party or the electorate.

Both Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and ALP National President Jenny McAllister were lukewarm in their comments about Lisa Clutterham, who is vying for the plum western Melbourne seat at the urging of Trade Minister Richard Marles.

In a bizarre interview that has drawn comparisons with other short-lived political careers, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade diplomat told ABC radio she only joined the ALP a few weeks ago and didn't have "much of a pedigree" when it came to politics.

"I don't have a connection with Melbourne and that's not something I'm shying away from," said Ms Clutterham, who is currently based in Papua New Guinea.

"I'm in the camp of a majority of Australians, 99 per cent of whom are not members of political parties."

The 29-year-old did say she had visited the Victorian capital, but added her only connection to Lalor was her partner, who had family there "and as a child he visited Werribee on many Christmas holidays".

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd elicited laughs at the National Press Club in Canberra when he admitted finding Ms Clutterham's remarks "pretty interesting".

"I don't rule out people sort of coming to a seat where they've not had a previous connection, but I thought it was a pretty curious interview, and I was a little surprised by it," Mr Rudd said, adding he'd never met Ms Clutterham.

ALP National President Jenny McAllister said she did not know Ms Clutterham, but told Sky News preselections were run to get the candidate with the right skills, life experience and connection to their area.

"It may not matter technically - it probably does matter politically," she said of the need to live locally.

The Clutterham interview revived memories of the short political career of rugby league star and now Queensland coach Mal Meninga, who quit politics moments into a radio interview to announce his candidacy for the ACT Legislative Assembly.

Ms Gillard has endorsed former local primary school principal Joanne Ryan for the seat. Other preselection candidates include Sandra Willis, daughter of former Keating-era treasurer Ralph Willis, and unionist Kimberley Kitching.

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Twin bombing kills five in Afghanistan

A TWIN bombing in southern Afghanistan has killed five people, an official says.

Three civilians died after their car struck a roadside bomb as well as two police officers who had rushed to the scene to help the victims when the second bomb went off.

A provincial government spokesman, Ummar Zawaq, says the attack occurred on Thursday morning in Helmand province.

Zawaq says the officers who died were members of the elite Afghan National Civil Order Police - the so-called ANCOPs who get special training from NATO forces.

The spokesman says a third officer was wounded in Thursday's blast.

Afghan authorities say roadside bombs and booby-traps are their worst threat in fighting the Taliban.

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CSR forecasts sustained housing recovery

BUILDING products group CSR predicts a sustained recovery in the Australian housing construction sector, led by New South Wales and Western Australia.

CSR believes conditions will improve after recent economic data confirmed an upward trend in building activity this year.

This was supported by record low interest rates, strong population growth and first home owners' grants in most states.

"We are confident we are seeing the start of a sustained recovery in housing construction, particularly in the states with strong population and job growth," managing director Rob Sindel told the company's annual general meeting (AGM) in Sydney on Thursday.

New South Wales and Western Australia were improving, while South Australia, Queensland and Victoria's detached housing market had stabilised.

Meanwhile, the company has forecast a sustained housing recovery in Queensland later this year.

CSR expects housing starts to increase from 145,000 to 147,000 in the year ending 2014 after the sector reached the bottom of the cycle during 2012.

In May the group recorded a full-year statutory net loss of $146.9 million, which included $255.6 million in write-downs and the restructuring of its loss-making Viridian glass business.

The glass business posted a $39 million loss and earnings at its aluminium smelter slumped by 38 per cent to $50 million.

CSR said the restructuring of Viridian would be a key focus over the next 12 months.

"We're targeting a significant improvement in the substantial losses we made this year and we're absolutely confident we can get there," Mr Sindel said.

The company expects earnings in the property division to return to normal later this year as it hedges 40 per cent of its aluminium products.

Chairman Jeremy Sutcliffe added that a significant decline in the value of the Australian dollar would be positive for the company which still had the biggest market share for the popular Gyprock plasterboard product.

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Schools funding momentum builds

Kevin Rudd (L) can't understand why the NT government is walking away from extra school funding. Source: AAP

MOMENTUM is building on education reform with independent schools the latest to agree to the federal government's funding plan ahead of the sign-up deadline.

While independent and Catholic schools are covered in the legislation for the new funding system, based on the Gonski recommendations, on Wednesday the Independent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA) and the Commonwealth reached formal agreement.

ISCA executive director Bill Daniels said considerable progress had been made over the past couple of weeks to address the sector's concerns.

"ISCA has always been concerned with the impact of the new funding model at the individual school level," Mr Daniels said on Wednesday.

"To its credit, the government has acknowledged these concerns and constructively worked with the sector to seek solutions."

Education Minister Bill Shorten said the deal meant independent schools would get about $625 million extra from the commonwealth over the next six years.

Another $190 million will flow from the NSW, ACT, South Australian and Tasmanian governments for independent schools in those states.

If all state and territory governments sign up, independent schools will gain more than $1 billion by 2019.

The government has given ISCA its latest funding calculator and modelling so individual schools can work out how much money they'll get in 2014.

"The independent schools have had a look at what this government's done ... and they have put up their hand and said we want to do a deal with you," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne.

However opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said the announcement was pure farce because all private schools were effectively signed up to the new funding model when the legislation passed parliament in June.

"Far from being historic, what we saw on display was typical Rudd over-promising and under-delivering," he said.

The independent sector agreement comes a day after Tasmania became the fourth jurisdiction to sign on to the plan.

Negotiations continue with Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and the Catholic sector.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday accused the NT government of "stonewalling" on negotiations for their signing up.

"I don't know what's going on up here but in previous times if a prime minister of Australia came to Darwin and said 'I want to invest $300 million in your schools' they would take probably about 45 seconds to get an immediate and positive response," he told reporters in Darwin.

Victorian premier Denis Napthine said the federal government was "playing ducks and drakes" during negotiations, despite Mr Shorten insisting talks with that state continued to be constructive.

Dr Napthine said his state wouldn't back down from its demand of $7 billion in federal funding, almost triple what the Commonwealth has put on the table.

The Queensland government says it won't budge in its disagreements over the funding model despite the independent schools deal.

WA Premier Colin Barnett said Mr Rudd should push the deadline for a new funding model back by a year.

But Mr Shorten said he didn't want to "relinquish any deadlines".

The hold-out states have until Sunday to sign up.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA faces wafer-thin surplus, premier hints

KEEPING Western Australia's budget in surplus is going to be a close call, Premier Colin Barnett warns.

The budget, to be delivered on August 8, is expected to show a sharp drop in revenue due to volatile iron ore royalties and lower payroll tax receipts.

On top of falling revenue, the state government is spending big on new hospitals, a stadium and the controversial Elizabeth Quay waterfront development.

Since a prediction in last year's budget of a $196 million surplus for 2012/13, the WA government has changed its forecast three times.

In the Mid Year Economic Review released in December, it was reduced to $140 million.

In February's Pre-election Financial Projections Statement, a $241 million surplus was forecast.

But in May, Treasurer Troy Buswell said the surplus wouldn't be that high.

On Wednesday, Mr Barnett said the state government was doing everything it could to keep the budget in the black for the 2012/13 and current financial years.

"That's tough and it's going to be a tight call, and it's going to impact on public services - not greatly - but there will be an impact," he told ABC radio.

He expected "debate" around the impact but defended his government's cuts - which have ranged from axing public service jobs to a pre-June 30 ban on stationery purchases - saying other states hadn't made tough decisions to balance its books and were simply selling off assets.

He also defended former Energy Minister Peter Collier over the botched Muja power plant refurbishment, which wasted $280 million.

"This was a bungled project in every respect and I'm terribly embarrassed because I think it's the first major financial problem we've had as a state government," Mr Barnett said.

Opposition treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt said the Liberal leader had conveniently ignored almost $1 billion worth of cost blowouts, in the energy portfolio alone, under his watch.

"Colin Barnett displays extremely selective memory when it comes to his government's financial mismanagement," Mr Wyatt said.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Greek public TV signal back on air

GREECE'S public television signal is back on air, nearly a month after the government shut down the country's state broadcaster ERT to cut costs.

A backdrop reading 'Greek public television' (EDT) and featuring a globe and coloured waves was being broadcast on the main digital frequency formerly occupied by ERT.

"This is a transitional phase. Very soon the new public television program will be on air," Pantelis Kapsis, the deputy minister responsible for public TV, told private Mega channel.

The government intends to run a temporary program until it can hire staff for a new broadcaster by autumn.

The government turned off ERT on June 11, claiming the historic broadcaster was hopelessly inefficient and ate up 300 million euros ($A421.96 million) a year.

The shutdown caused over 2600 layoffs.

Greece's top administrative court later ruled that ERT's shutdown was within the state's rights, but it told the government it still needed to have public broadcasts in some form as soon as possible.

ERT's demise caused a major political crisis and nearly brought down the government, which was accused by international media groups of authoritarianism.

ERT staff refused to accept their dismissal. They took over the station's headquarters north of Athens and have maintained a rogue broadcast since June 11, with assistance from the European Broadcasting Union.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

One dead in Sydney fire

A PERSON has died in a house blaze in Sydney's north.

The body of the missing person, originally reported as a child but now believed to be an adult, was found following the Mount Colah fire, a Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said on Wednesday afternoon.

Police say a mother and son have been taken to Hornsby Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

The fire has been extinguished and investigators are on the scene.

Lancelot Street, where the fire broke out, has been closed.

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Palmer announces Tasmanian candidates

Clive Palmer has named three candidates to stand for his Palmer United Party in Tasmania. Source: AAP

MINING magnate and prime ministerial hopeful Clive Palmer has named his first Tasmanian candidates for the federal election.

The announcement furthers his promise to stand candidates from his fledgling Palmer United Party in all 150 lower house seats and field a senate team in every state.

Festival organiser Marti Zucco, electoral officer Debra Thurley and security business owner Quinton von Steiglitz will vie for the lower house seats of Franklin, Denison and Lyons respectively.

The Tasmanian senate ticket will be led by former Australian soldier Jacquie Lambie.

She'll be joined by Waratah-Wynard councillor and former police officer Kevin Deakin.

"The Palmer United Party wants to make a difference for Tasmania, which is often forgotten by the major parties," Mr Palmer said in a statement on Sunday.

He said more than 120 candidates in other states had already been announced.

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Both Koreas agree to reopen joint zone

North and South Korea have agreed in principle to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex. Source: AAP

NORTH and South Korea have made a crucial step forward by agreeing to reopen a joint industrial zone seen as the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.

The deal follows months of friction and threats of war by Pyongyang after its February nuclear test attracted tougher UN sanctions, further squeezing its struggling economy.

At the end of a gruelling 15-hour talk, the two sides said in a joint statement on Sunday they had agreed to let South Korean firms restart their shuttered plants at the Kaesong complex near the border when conditions are ripe.

"The South and the North will let business companies at Kaesong resume operation when (they are) ready to do so," said the joint statement.

The two sides will meet again on Wednesday at the Kaesong industrial zone to discuss details over reopening the zone, including a demand from Seoul that the North guarantees it will never again unilaterally shut down the estate.

The North, however, will likely find it hard to accept such a demand as it would amount to Pyongyang accepting full responsibility for the suspension.

The complex - built in 2004 about 10km north of the border as a rare symbol of inter-Korea cooperation - had previously remained largely resilient to turbulence in relations.

But the North, citing military tensions and Seoul's hostility, pulled out all its 53,000 workers from the 123 Seoul-owned factories in April, prompting the South to withdraw the managers of around 120 companies in early May.

After signing the agreement, Suh Ho, Seoul's chief delegate for the latest talks, said the North's officials had appeared "very enthusiastic" in negotiations to rescue the complex - a valuable source of hard currency for the impoverished communist state.

Neither side declared the complex officially closed, instead referring to a temporary shutdown, while blaming each other for its suspension.

"I've got an impression that the North was making very active efforts to solve the issue of the Kaesong complex," Suh told journalists.

Under the agreement Seoul businessmen will be allowed to cross the border to check on their facilities at Kaesong from Wednesday.

The news was warmly welcomed by the South Korean firms at Kaesong.

"I was overcome with emotions and shed tears for a while," Moon Chang-Seop, a top representative of the 123 companies said.

But other businessmen expressed concern that it would be difficult for them to solicit buyers who have left them during the past three months of suspension.

The zone had become the most high-profile casualty of recent elevated tensions on the peninsula.

Representatives of South Korean companies based there had repeatedly urged the two sides to open talks to revive the moribund industrial park.

Some firms have threatened to withdraw from Kaesong, complaining they have fallen victim to political bickering between the two rivals.

After repeatedly threatening Seoul and Washington with conventional and nuclear attack, Pyongyang has appeared in recent weeks to want to move towards dialogue.

Analysts say North Korea is mindful of a US demand that it improve ties with Seoul before there can be any direct talks with Washington.

The North made a surprise move last Wednesday by restoring a cross-border military hotline and promising to let South Korean businessmen visit the Kaesong complex.

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Bahrain bomb kills policeman

A BOMB attack has killed a Bahraini policeman and wounded two others in a Shi'ite Muslim village outside the capital, a police statement carried by the official BNA news agency says.

"Terrorist groups targeted a police station in Sitra" late on Saturday, public security chief General Tariq Hasan said on Sunday.

"As police attempted to secure the area ... the terrorists blew up an improvised bomb against security forces in an attack that killed policeman Yasser Dhaib and wounded two others."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Deported cleric Abu Qatada lands in Jordan

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada has been deported from Britain and is on his way to Jordan. Source: AAP

RADICAL Islamist cleric Abu Qatada has arrived in Amman after Britain deported him to face terrorism charges, ending a decade-long legal battle, a Jordanian government official said.

"Abu Qatada landed at Marka airport in east Amman," a Jordanian government official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Sunday.

"He was escorted by British and Jordanian guards, who handed him over to state security court prosecutors."

The military tribunal lies just outside the airport.

Abu Qatada's father, brothers and other family members stood outside the courthouse waiting for his arrival, an AFP photographer reported.

The Palestinian-born preacher, 53, was taken from prison in an armoured police van to a military airfield on the outskirts of London, from which he was flown out of Britain at 0146 GMT.

Abu Qatada was condemned to death in absentia by a Jordanian court in 1999 for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks including on the American school in Amman but the sentence was immediately reduced to life imprisonment with hard labour.

In 2000, again in his absence, he was sentenced to 15 years for plotting to carry out terror attacks on tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations.

His deportation came after Jordan and Britain ratified a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters aimed at removing any remaining concerns about the use of tainted evidence in Abu Qatada's retrial.

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