Woman found unconscious in toilet critical

A 31-YEAR-OLD woman found unconscious with serious head injuries in a toilet remains in a critical condition in a Cairns hospital.

Investigators have spent the day combing the scene of her discovery around 8am (AEST) on Friday - an external toilet at a business on Draper Street in Cairns' CBD.

However, they are still piecing together what happened.

The injured woman's condition remained critical, a spokeswoman for Cairns Base Hospital said late on Friday afternoon.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Taliban bomb US consulate in Afghanistan

A truck bomb killed at least one person and wounded 18 outside the US consulate in Afghanistan. Source: AAP

HEAVILY armed gunmen in suicide vests have detonated a truck bomb outside the US consulate in the Afghan city of Herat, sparking a shootout with American forces, officials say.

US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said there were no American casualties and the US embassy in Kabul confirmed on Twitter that all consulate staff were safe after the attack early on Friday.

Afghan officials said at least one person had been killed and 18 others wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying there were several casualties on the Afghan and US side, but the militia is known to exaggerate its claims of deaths and injuries.

The front gate of the US consulate was "extensively" damaged, Harf told reporters.

An AFP reporter at the scene said one vehicle had been completely destroyed.

Four Afghan policemen were among the wounded, Herat hospital spokesman Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai said.

The US State Department said the attack started at 5.30am local time when the gunmen, dressed in suicide vests, drove up to the front gate in a truck, opened fire and then detonated the truck bomb.

American and contracted security personnel reacted to the attack but the assault is over, Harf said.

"It appears American and contract security personnel addressed any attackers who managed to enter the compound," she added, giving no further details.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP in a telephone call that the militia carried out the attack.

"Our mujahedeen, armed with heavy and light weapons, attacked the US consulate in Herat. There are several casualties to Afghan and US forces," he said.

Herat, in western Afghanistan near the Iranian border, is considered one of the cities in Afghanistan least troubled by the 12-year Taliban insurgency.

US-led NATO troops who have supported the Afghan government against the Taliban are due to end their combat mission next year, after Afghanistan holds key presidential elections.

The Afghan government has called on the Taliban to engage in peace talks but the militia publicly refuses to deal with President Hamid Karzai, branding him a puppet of Washington.

Roughly 100,000 foreign troops now serve in Afghanistan, two-thirds of them from the United States.

Obama has pledged to the war-weary US public to end the country's longest-ever war, which was launched to fight Al-Qaeda and their Taliban allies after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

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Uni downplayed nepotism scandal: report

THE University of Queensland put its reputation above the public interest by downplaying a scandal in which the vice-chancellor's daughter was given a scholarship ahead of worthier candidates.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) says the daughter of former Vice-Chancellor Paul Greenfield was awarded a place in the medical school over 343 more suitable applicants, despite failing a qualifying exam.

The watchdog released its review of Ms Greenfield's admission on Friday.

The scandal forced the resignation of Prof Greenfield and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Keniger in late 2011.

University staff did not immediately report their nepotism concerns because Mr Greenfield himself was the public official charged with reporting such matters to the CMC.

CMC acting assistant commissioner Kathleen Florian says the university then played down the scandal in public statements in order to protect its reputation.

"The right balance was not struck between the public interest on the one hand, and protecting the reputation of the university and the reputations of the two most senior officers on the other," she told reporters.

"After the university publicly stated that the two officers were standing down on the basis of generalised accountability rather than personal responsibility the CMC asked the university to bring forward their resignations and ultimately the university agreed."

However, the CMC found nothing to implicate Ms Greenfield in the scandal and she's still enrolled in the course.

The university admitted on Friday it should have been more open from the beginning and that the UQ senate's decision not to reveal the reasons for the resignations was difficult.

But it said the senate had to weigh up competing interests.

"... the avoidance of operational disruption and reputation damage on the one hand, and the promotion of transparency on the other hand," it said in a statement.

"The university accepts, however, that its response was not well handled and acknowledges that it lacked the transparency called for in the circumstances."

The university said it had noted the CMC's conclusions and had been working on more transparent systems to manage issues of integrity and misconduct.

Ms Florian said the public must be able to have faith that decisions on university places are based on merit and equity, but that had not happened.

She said that state laws should be changed to allow a greater number of staff in public institutions to report misconduct and corruption to the CMC.

"I encourage all public sector agencies to read this report to consider how they could manage conflicts of interest and misconduct involving senior management thus ensuring merit, equity and transparency remains core to decision making," Ms Florian said.

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William's mind on baby George

Kate and William have left baby George with his nanny for their first night out since his birth. Source: AAP

PRINCE William has joked about spending his first night away from baby son Prince George while he attended a black-tie awards ceremony in London.

William and wife Kate were guests of honour at the inaugural Tusk Trust awards, a UK-based African wildlife conservation charity of which he is patron.

William joked that he might be seen checking his mobile phone to make sure all was well back home with his son, who was in the care of William's former nanny, Jessie Webb.

It is believed Ms Webb, 71, is looking after the baby when the couple need her and is not working for them full-time.

William started his speech with a reference to seven-week-old Prince George.

"As you might have gathered, Catherine and I have recently become proud parents - of a baby who has a voice to match any lion's roar.

"This is actually our first evening out without him, so please excuse us if you see us nervously casting cheeky glances at our mobile phones to check all is well back home.

"Like any new parents, our thoughts inevitably turn to the world that our child will inherit. It is unfathomable to imagine a world in which children who have been born in the past couple of months may grow up in a world in which rhinoceros have ceased to exist in the wild."

Kate dazzled in a silver sequinned Jenny Packham dress and told Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who asked who George took after: "Like most babies, he's got a mix of both of us."

The Cambridges' night out came after William announced that he had given up his operational career in the military and was now considering options for future "public service".

This year will be a "transitional" one for William and he will be expanding his core charitable interests - including his passion for conservation - as he carries out his normal royal duties, which are not expected to increase.

In a sign of the direction his public life may take, it was also announced earlier that William had become president of a new umbrella conservation organisation he has formed called "United for Wildlife".

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