High price for Duke of Windsor HRH letter

A LETTER in which King Edward VIII described his wife's lack of an HRH title as an "insult" has sold at auction for well over its expected price.

The 1939 letter from the Duke of Windsor sold to a private collector in Britain on Thursday for a hammer price of STG12,000 ($A20,623).

It had only been expected to fetch as much as STG8000.

The letter to Daily Express newspaper proprietor Lord Beaverbrook aimed to correct an article published in the Sunday Express which claimed the former monarch, who abdicated in 1936 to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson, wished to live in France.

In response to the article, Edward writes: "While the Duchess and I have received the greatest courtesy in all the countries, especially France, where we have resided since our marriage, I have not lived out of England for over two years by preference.

"It is true that there exists no law to prevent my returning to my country whenever I wish to do so, but I have remained away out of deference to my brother in order to leave the field clear for him to establish himself on the throne, which it is admitted he has succeeded in doing."

He also dispels claims that he had set conditions for his return to England, including that his new wife be accorded the title of Royal Highness.

Edward wrote: "I have never made any such announcement nor would I ever set conditions upon my return to England. Regarding the two stipulations I am alledged (sic) to have made, I wish to say firstly, that while naturally the matter of witholding (sic) the title of Royal Highness from the Duchess is an insult which I as her husband and a member of the Royal Family have always resented far more deeply than she has, we have too many other more important interests to worry over such a triviality.

"Secondly, whatever may be the behaviour of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth towards the Duchess, it would in no way affect any plans we might make for going to England."

The item was among 200 lots of royal memorabilia auctioned by International Autograph Auctions in Nottingham.

A letter in which George VI expresses his dislike of public speaking, written after his first Christmas broadcast as king in 1937, sold for STG3200. King George had a stutter he struggled with, captured in the film The King's Speech.

15.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Deadly wind change blamed for fire death

FIREFIGHTERS who battled a bushfire in Western Australia last summer were not warned about a deadly wind change until moments before the flames engulfed their vehicles, killing firefighter Wendy Bearfoot.

Ms Bearfoot, 45, died and several others were injured when their trucks were trapped by a fast-moving firestorm at Black Cat Creek last October.

A report into the deadly bushfire near Albany revealed vital weather forecasts showing dramatic changes in conditions were not passed on in full to the firefighters in the heat of the battle.

And the investigation, released by the state's Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), concluded firefighters were left stranded in the so-called 'Dead Man's Zone' when the wind shifted, pushing flames towards the crews in moments.

"Within about four minutes, firefighters were trapped in a burnover," the report says.

"The nature of the terrain, thick vegetation and that the fire approached the crews on an angle from behind meant that they may not have been immediately aware ... until the fire was close, giving them a short time to react."

While the fire was jointly managed by the City of Albany, DFES and the former Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) none "had a direct line of control", the report revealed.

Plus the stranded crews had no in-cab radiant heat shields to protect them from the flames, and were not recently trained in what to do when they were trapped by a burnover.

The report made 10 recommendations, including all vehicles entering the fireground to be fitted with one accessible fire blanket per person, and fire managers receive more training about how to properly interpret weather forecasts.

Ms Bearfoot, a mother of three, suffered burns to more than 60 per cent of her body, and died three weeks later despite intensive treatment in Royal Perth Hospital's world-renowned burns unit.

Colleague Charlene Hordyk, 25, suffered severe burns to 20 per cent of her body.

15.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mirabella under pressure in Indi

Sophie Mirabella is being challenged by a local independent in the Victorian electorate of Indi. Source: AAP

THE Victorian electorate of Indi is far from marginal.

But its sitting member is in serious danger of becoming one of this federal election's rarest of candidates - a coalition casualty.

Indi is represented by high-profile coalition shadow minister Sophie Mirabella who holds a nine per cent advantage after securing 52 per cent of the primary vote in the 2010 poll and who would normally benefit from the national tide of support for her party.

But thanks to a campaign based on simplicity and community values, Mrs Mirabella is under pressure from Cathy McGowan, a disaffected former Liberal and lifelong resident of the rural seat in the state's northeast.

Ms McGowan is somewhat hamstrung by her status as an independent, a group tainted in this election by the roles played in the Gillard and Rudd governments of independent MPs.

And she is confronted by opinion polls that place the Mirabella Liberal primary vote at 43 per cent to her 23 per cent.

In the face of all that, Ms McGowan is still in with a big chance of pulling off a major upset thanks to a campaign based on community involvement and well-managed preferences.

"The campaign's taken off like wildfire," Ms McGowan said.

"People have really grabbed hold of the idea of having a vision for their community."

Ms McGowan is set to receive preferential support from the Nationals candidate in what is seen as a backlash against the Liberal decision to run a candidate against high-profile National Andrew Broad in the Victorian seat of Mallee.

She will also benefit from Labor preferences.

Ms McGowan isn't joining the hopeful chorus of her supporters just yet, but she suspects the result probably won't be known on Saturday night.

"It's going to be very, very close," she said.

Indi covers the major centres south of the Murray of Wodonga, Benalla and Wangaratta, also taking in Victoria's Alpine region.

The area is also represented in state parliament by two Nationals MPs who have supported Ms McGowan.

15.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

US births levelling off

US births may finally be levelling off after falling for four consecutive years. Source: AAP

AFTER falling four years in a row, US births may finally be levelling off.

The number of babies born last year - a little shy of four million - is only a few hundred less than the number in 2011, according to a government report released on Friday.

That suggests that lately, fewer couples may be scared away from having children because of the economy or other factors, some experts say. Among the signs of a possible turning point: The birth rate for women in their early 30s inched up for the first time since 2007.

"We may be on level course or potentially even see a rise" in birth trends in the near future, said Brady Hamilton, a statistician with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some are a bit more pessimistic.

"The decline has slowed down, but it's still a decline," said Carol Hogue, an Emory University expert on birth trends.

Falling births is a relatively new phenomenon in the US. Births were on the rise since the late 1990s and hit an all-time high of more than 4.3 million in 2007. The drop that followed was widely attributed to the nation's flagging economy. Experts believed that many women or couples who were out of work or had other money problems felt they couldn't afford to start or add to their family.

The economy officially was in a recession from December 2007 until June 2009. But well into 2011, polls showed most Americans remained gloomy, citing anaemic hiring, a depressed housing market and other factors.

The new CDC report is a first glimpse at 2012 birth certificate data from state health departments, but the numbers aren't expected to change much.

15.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jockey Nikolic toe-to-toe with cop

A SENIOR police officer says he sat frozen in shock as jockey Danny Nikolic stood toe-to-toe abusing one of his colleagues in a Melbourne police station.

Nikolic is charged with assaulting Detective Senior Constable Julio Salerno after an official interview at St Kilda police station in March 2011.

Sergeant Dave Eadie told the Melbourne Magistrates Court Nikolic had participated willingly in the interview but became agitated after having a short conversation with Det Sen Const Salerno after the recording devices were switched off.

"Nikolic said he wasn't happy with Julio Salerno being present," Sgt Eadie told the court.

"He told him 'get the f*** out of here, I'm not speaking with you'."

Sgt Eadie said the two men stood up and their foreheads were touching and Nikolic was red in the face.

Det Sen Const Salerno pushed Nikolic back into his chair but the jockey immediately bounced back to his feet and continued the confrontation.

The court heard they again stood with their foreheads touching with Nikolic goading the officer urging him to "have a go".

"I sat there and froze, it was behaviour that shocked me," Sgt Eadie said.

Nikolic had come to the police station to be questioned about other matters, including an alleged assault on fellow jockey Mark Pegus with which he was duly charged.

Both assault charges are being heard by Magistrate Angela Bolger.

Pegus claims Nikolic, who is banned from riding after making threats against Victoria's chief racing steward, assaulted him at the Caulfield stables of trainer Byron Cozamanis in January 2011.

But he says he only reported the incident after Nikolic allegedly assaulted his girlfriend two months later.

Pegus told the court an altercation between the two began with a phone call in which Nikolic accused him of spreading rumours about his brother. It continued the next morning when the two arrived at the stable to ride trackwork.

In the belief that they were going to discuss their differences, Pegus said he followed Nikolic into the stable office where things turned violent.

"As I walked in Danny flew at me and started throwing punches," he told the court.

Det Sen Const Salerno is due to give evidence in the contested hearing on Friday.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld cop living 'worst nightmare': Stewart

A QUEENSLAND cop who shot dead a man wielding a machete at the scene of a double murder was living "every police officers' worst nightmare".

The officer and another officer found the bodies of a man and a woman, both aged 43, after being called to a Coolum Beach property.

He shot the machete wielding man, 42, who later died in hospital.

It is believed the homicide victims are a local couple and the alleged assailant was the man's brother, but police would not confirm it.

Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers said the officer who used deadly force did what he had to do to protect his own life.

"Things unfolded extremely quickly," Mr Leavers told AAP.

"The police officer had no other option and in instances like this, you would only use a firearm to defend your life and we support the police officers involved."

Mr Leavers described the officer as a well-respected family man who had more than 10 years experience in the service.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said as the man was armed it seemed the officer had acted appropriately, but he would still be tormented by his actions.

"This is every police officers' worst nightmare," Mr Stewart said.

"Every time they go to a call like this, they just don't know what they're going to confront.

"My heart goes out for them for what they had to face."

Mr Stewart said the man died on the 10th anniversary of slain Caboolture cop Senior Sergeant Perry Irwin's death.

It made the events overnight even more poignant, particularly given they began in similar circumstances, he said.

The Ethical Standards Command has interviewed both officers. The coroner would also investigate.

Yandina-Coolum Road, where the incident occurred, was closed for most of Thursday as police carried out their investigations.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said parliament's thoughts and prayers were with the family of the victims and the two officers involved.

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Fortescue to start paying back debt

FORTESCUE Metals Group has turned the corner, notching up a 12 per cent increase in annual profit as it prepares to make its first major debt repayment.

The heavily indebted iron ore miner has grown annual profit by $1.75 billion on the back of higher iron or prices and strong steel demand, prompting the board to declare a better than expected dividend.

But the improved cash position has led analysts to question why the company needs to push ahead with the partial sale of its port and rail assets before repaying some of its $10 billion debt.

Chief executive Nev Power said now was a good time to increase the dividend to 10 cents per share, up from four cents at the same time last year.

"We felt the dividend was right on the mark," Mr Power told analysts on Thursday.

"It reflects the strong performance that we've had."

It comes as Fortescue approaches the end of its major expansion while the iron price hovers around $US140 per tonne.

"It also reflects the fact that we didn't pay an interim dividend," Mr Power said.

Fortescue's cash balance of $US2.2 billion ($A2.46 billion) at June 30 reflected a rapid decrease in capital expenditure, and effectively commenced the company's debt reduction program, he said.

The company said it's likely to begin paying hundreds of millions of dollars off its debt this calendar year.

The 155 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) production run rate was expected to be achieved by the end of December 2013, following the commissioning of Kings mine, the company said.

Fortescue added that its proposed sale of a minority share in The Pilbara Infrastructure, its rail assets in the Pilbara, would only be undertaken at the right price and under the right terms.

"We haven't had anybody meet our expectations in terms of value and terms," Mr Power said. The company would continue with non-core assets sales, he said.

Morningstar resources analyst Mathew Hodge said the strong result was not a surprise given the favourable iron ore price in the second half and a seven per cent boost in first half Chinese steel production.

"I would argue those kind of growth rates are completely unsustainable," Mr Hodge said.

Mr Hodge expects the iron ore price to fall as demand slows and large amounts of iron ore come to market.

"If the iron ore price goes back to $US100 the complexion of this company changes completely," he said.

Fortescue shares were up 16 cents, or 3.9 per cent, at $4.25 at 1600 AEST.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man found not guilty of Sydney teen murder

A MAN charged with murdering a teenage boy during a violent home invasion in Sydney's west has been found not guilty.

Guy Michael Carroll, 23, pleaded not guilty to four charges, including murdering 17-year-old Devril Leuthwaite, shooting his older brother Robert Leuthwaite and wounding their father, Robert Leuthwaite Senior, during a robbery of their western Sydney home in August 2010.

Following less than a day of deliberations, a jury found Carroll not guilty of all offences at the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.

The crown alleged Carroll went to the Leuthwaite's home with Gavin Bell and Gary Markham to steal money and drugs.

As Markham waited outside, the crown alleged Carroll and Bell - armed with a rifle and shotgun - burst into the home wearing balaclavas.

Crown prosecutor Peter McGrath said the brothers managed to get Carroll and Bell out of the house and on to the front veranda.

It was here, the court heard, the teen was shot by Bell.

During the trial, which started last month, Robert Leuthwaite's girlfriend, Amy O'Neill told the court that she and her boyfriend were watching TV in their bedroom when two men wearing ski masks burst through the door.

A neighbour, Graham Thomas, told the trial he heard a number of bangs that night before he went outside to investigate.

"I could see one man with a gun in his hand pointing it at (Devril) and sparks coming out of the front of the gun."

He said he heard Devril crying, "Stop shooting me".

But Carroll's defence barrister Philip Strickland SC said there was no forensic evidence or positive identifications that could link Carroll to the scene.

He argued that the entire crown case rested on Markham, who initially lied about his involvement.

Markham was sentenced in 2012 for his part in the invasion after pleading guilty to manslaughter and two other charges.

In exchange for giving evidence against Carroll, he was handed a lesser sentence of six years.

Bell, who has pleaded guilty for his part in the invasion, will appear in court later this month.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chinese tourists more independent: survey

CHINESE tourists are more independent, with more choosing solo adventures over travelling in groups, a survey shows.

Results of the Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) survey, released on Wednesday, found nearly two thirds of the 3000 Chinese polled preferred to travel independently.

While 70 per cent of the 1500 hoteliers surveyed said they'd noticed a rise in the number of Chinese travelling on their own.

Chinese tourists were more confident and were able to understand and speak English better than five years ago, hotel owners said.

"Increasingly, we are seeing travellers from China looking to create their own tailor-made itineraries," Tourism Australia (TA) boss Andrew McEvoy said.

"China is the single most important market for Australian tourism to achieve its long-term plans for growth."

TA recently launched a Chinese version of its website tailored to that country's preferred Australian travel experiences.

The CITM survey also revealed Chinese tourists want more hotels to accept Chinese payment methods.

They also want translated TV shows, newspapers and magazines and would like hotel owners to hire more Madarin speaking staff.

Johan Svanstrom, boss of Hotels.com which carried out the survey, said growth in the Chinese market appeared to be outstripping the pace of change in the hotel industry.

About a quarter of hoteliers said they offered cultural awareness training to staff and just one in 10 had welcome signs and entertainment in Mandarin.

"Hoteliers are making positive steps towards catering to an increasingly mobile and savvy Chinese travel market," Mr Svanstrom said.

"But the global hotel industry needs to adapt facilities and services to cater to the world's largest market of travellers."

About one in 10 tourists to Australia now come from China.

The number of Chinese heading Down Under has almost tripled over the past decade, with more than 630,000 arriving in Australia last year.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tas forests cash to flow, deal or no deal

THE federal government is being accused of pulling the rug from under the Tasmanian forest peace deal by promising the cash regardless of the environmental gains.

Federal minister Julie Collins says $100 million which was to be paid once the agreement was finalised will now flow whether or not the state's upper house enables it.

In return for the cash, 500,000 hectares of forest was to be protected.

The money will go to around 30 job-creating projects in an attempt to diversify Tasmania's economy following the decline of the forestry industry.

It was to be the carrot used to ensure a reluctant Legislative Council rubber-stamped the historic deal between environmentalists and the timber industry that took nearly three years to negotiate.

The upper house passed legislation in April but with the proviso the agreement was shown to be workable by October.

But already one MLC has tabled a disallowance motion, adjourning the debate so the government can explain problems with the agreement's implementation, including a lack of wood supply.

Coalition leader Tony Abbott has signalled he will not stop the $100 million being spent, even though he and the state's Liberal opposition say they will tear up the agreement.

Greens leader Christine Milne reacted furiously to the apparent move by Labor to match Mr Abbott.

"Today we see federal Labor's final betrayal in their promise to ensure long-term forest conservation in Tasmania," Senator Milne said in a statement.

"As always the industry has had tens of millions poured into it while the state-based conservation outcomes hang in limbo."

The state Liberals described the ALP move as a back-down.

"Today's decision confirms that Labor has been trying to blackmail the community into accepting the forestry deal," spokesman Peter Gutwein said.

"Tasmania is entitled to its fair share of regional development funding and the funding should never have been made contingent on shutting down the forestry industry."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More