Parents of ill UK boy to remain in Spanish

A SPANISH judge has ordered the detention for 72 hours of a British couple who took their critically ill five-year-old son abroad against doctors' advice.

A SPOKESMAN at the National Court in Madrid said the judge ruled on Monday the couple must be held while the court considers whether to grant Britain an extradition request.

The judge could have opted to let the parents to go free while the case is considered.The spokesman said Ashya King's parents told the judge they don't want to return to the UK.They were arrested on Sunday in southeastern Spain after a European arrest warrant was issued by Interpol at the request of British police.Their son is receiving medical treatment for a brain tumour and is currently at a Malaga hospital.

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Christmas hopes boost business confidence

RETAILERS' hopes of a good Christmas have driven the number of companies expecting profit growth in the coming months to a 10-year high.

OF the 800 businesses surveyed by researcher Dun & Bradstreet, 40 per cent expect their profit in the final three months of 2014 to be higher than in the same period a year ago.

Just 11 per cent expect a fall.That has sent Dun & Bradstreet's profit expectations index to its highest level in a decade.Retailers were the most optimistic of those businesses, indicating they are confident consumers will spend big this Christmas.More businesses also expect to hire staff and increase investment, and Dun & Bradstreet's economic adviser Stephen Koukoulas said rising confidence could boost the economy."Not only are expected sales at an 11-year high - a sign of buoyant activity - but expected profits are at a level well above the long run average," he said."In the past, firms have only held this level of optimism when the underlying economic conditions were strong."D&B's data suggest that the economy is poised to run at, or even above, trend levels in the second half of 2014, with expected employment and capital expenditure also well above the long run average."Even better for businesses, the survey showed an increase in the number expecting prices to moderate, which would mean less pressure on the central bank to lift interest rates."A low inflation climate will be vital for the Reserve Bank of Australia to keep its interest rate settings on hold," Mr Koukoulas said.Businesses in the retail, services, finance and real estate sectors are the most optimistic about the coming three months, while there was a drop in the number of companies in the manufacturing, construction, transport and utilities sectors forecasting profit growth.Growing business confidence was backed by improving conditions in the second quarter of 2014, Dun & Bradstreet said, with profits higher among those businesses surveyed.

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UK Speaker hits pause in Aussie clerk row

AUSTRALIAN public servant Carol Mills won't be taking up the role of British parliament's senior official as planned after Speaker John Bercow announced a "modest pause" in the recruitment process.

THE Speaker on Monday tried to defuse a growing furore over the appointment of Ms Mills by announcing he would listen to MPs' concerns "in detail".

Ms Mills is currently head of the Department of Parliamentary Services in Canberra and some British politicians have voiced concerns about her lack of knowledge of Westminster procedures.They believe she is too inexperienced for the prestigious Commons position which combines the clerk's duties as a key constitutional adviser with the role of chief executive responsible for running the building and managing 2000 staff.Mr Bercow addressed the issue immediately when parliament returned on Monday after the summer recess.He acknowledged a number of MPs had expressed "disquiet" about the replacement for retired clerk Sir Robert Rogers.The members were, the Speaker said, concerned the selection panel should have instead recommended splitting the roles of clerk and chief executive.Mr Bercow on Monday said he'd been advised the panel couldn't do that without prior legislation."There is a compelling case for such a separation but any change would of course require the support of the house," the Speaker said, adding other MPs were worried about pre-appointment scrutiny."A strong case can be made for it and on this point also I wish to hear colleagues' views."In the circumstances ... I believe a modest pause in the recruitment process is desirable while such issues are explored and the views of members solicited in detail."Mr Bercow told parliament he hoped the matter could be resolved "with goodwill and by consensus".In the meantime the functions of the clerk and chief executive will be distributed among members of the Commons' management board.Ms Mills was selected by a panel of five MPs and one lay member.While the Speaker has passed the name of the recommended candidate to Prime Minister David Cameron the appointment still needs to be approved by the Queen.The issue will be discussed at a meeting of the House of Commons Commission next Monday.Australian upper house clerk Rosemary Laing has previously written to Westminster officials warning Ms Mills has little parliamentary knowledge and experience.But Mr Bercow on Monday stressed "highly skilled management" was now just as vital in the UK position as expertise in procedure.

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Children 'treated as baby convicts'

CHILDREN in institutions in Northern Ireland were exported to Australia like "baby convicts", a witness has told a public inquiry into historical abuse.

THE Sisters of Nazareth order of Catholic nuns was responsible for the removal of 111 child migrants aged as young as five before and after World War II, some of whom faced grave sexual and physical violence after arrival.

Another 20 were sent by other institutions.In some cases parental consent was not sought, migrants were separated from siblings and some deprived of their real identities by withholding of birth certificates, a lawyer for the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry said on Monday.Reasons for transport included boosting "Catholicisation" in Australia, propping up the number of white inhabitants of the Empire or saving money and emptying overcrowded workhouses, the investigation heard.A statement from one witness said: "We were exported to Australia like little baby convicts."The inquiry was established by ministers in Northern Ireland following a campaign by alleged victims.Survivors have given graphic details of their ordeals, according to inquiry chairman Sir Anthony Hart.Approximately 130 young children, in the care of religious voluntary institutions or state bodies after being orphaned or taken away from unmarried mothers, became child migrants, most in the decade after the war.The experiences of around 50 of them will be examined in person or via video-link and their statements furnished to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Australia.The Sisters of Nazareth, based in Londonderry and Belfast, sent 111 children between 1938 and 1956.Many were Queensland-bound in eastern Australia because it was seen as a very Catholic state and considered best for the girls. Others went to Fremantle near Perth or other parts of Western Australia.A witness, who has since died, submitted a statement to the inquiry.He said: "My life in institutions has had a profound impact on me. I have always wondered what it would have been like to have had a family, a mother and father and brothers and sisters."I never got the chance to find out because I was sent to Australia."I was treated like an object, taken from one place to another. I found it very hard to show affection to my children when they were young."I have a nightmare every night of my life; I relive my past."The inquiry panel, sitting in Banbridge in County Down, is limited to what happened to children in institutions in Northern Ireland and does not have the power to investigate what befell migrants in Australian institutions.Sir Anthony said: "That does not mean that their accounts of their experiences in Australia will be swept under the carpet. I want to assure them that will not be the case."The inquiry is probing claims that the process for sending young people was abusive.Christine Smith QC, barrister representing the inquiry, said the migrants allege they were seriously abused in institutions and many lost all contact with their parents and siblings.Ms Smith said the inquiry needed to consider what efforts the sisters made to keep informed about children's progress in Australia."It is a common complaint by migrants that they received no letters from home, that letters were kept from them if they were sent and that their parents in many instances were unaware that the children were sent to Australia.."

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Mine fire lessons must be learnt: Teague

THE residents of a Victorian town choked in ash during a six-week coalmine fire hope lessons will not only be learnt from the blaze, but acted upon.

THEY say the 400-page report on the Hazelwood mine fire, due to be tabled in state parliament on Tuesday, must be accompanied by a firm commitment from both the government and the opposition to adopt the recommendations.

Victorian health and environment authorities had no precedent to draw on as they dealt with the 45-day fire and the smoke and ash it produced.Mine operators GDF Suez and the Country Fire Authority faced power outages, water shortages and were poorly coordinated while battling the blaze sparked by bushfires spotting into the mine in February.Public hearings of the Hazelwood mine fire inquiry heard four substantial blazes had broken out in the open-cut mine in the past decade, with reviews and recommendations following each.During the hearings GDF Suez was accused of ignoring a report that followed a 2008 fire recommending a risk assessment of the non-operational areas of the mine, where the 45-day blaze took hold.Counsel assisting the inquiry, Peter Rozen, said the 2014 fire might not have occurred if the risk assessment had been done and proper measures put in place.The company's lawyer said there were no legal obligations to implement the recommendations and the 2008 fire was completely different to the 2014 fire.When former Supreme Court Justice Bernard Teague delivered the board's report last week, he said it was important to learn lessons from the blaze.The government has said it will move swiftly on recommendations put forward by the board of inquiry.GDF Suez has begun work to install more pipes and hydrants in the mine, remove vegetation from worked-out areas and rehabilitate part of the mine's northern batters.The company has also been working with the Country Fire Authority to improve preparedness for mine fires.A GDF Suez spokesman said more would be done when the recommendations were handed down.

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Tiger taken from Indonesia death zoo dies

Chaddy set to get even bigger

CHADSTONE shopping centre will undergo a $580 million expansion, which will include 40 new retailers, a 10-storey office building and even a hotel - and create at least 2700 jobs.

Australia slaps Russia with sanctions

AUSTRALIA has ramped up its economic and trade sanctions against Russia in protest at Moscow sending troops and heavy weaponry across the border into Ukraine.

Mystery over death after abortion

A SUNSHINE woman who died after attending an abortion clinic in Croydon may have suffered an earlier adverse reaction to anaesthetic.

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