Asset sales tipped at Tribune Co

US media conglomerate Tribune Co has exited bankruptcy after four years of court supervision, with the future of its assets including The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times uncertain.

The Chicago-based company said it emerged from bankruptcy protection on Monday "with a portfolio of profitable assets, strong liquidity, and a new board of directors".

The reorganisation plan allowed a group of hedge funds and banks based in Los Angeles and New York to take over the media company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2008 after a leveraged buyout left it saddled in debt.

An article in the company's flagship Chicago Tribune said virtually all the media assets are expected to eventually be sold.

Some reports have said Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is interested in purchasing the Chicago newspaper and possibly the Los Angeles Times. The Tribune article said billionaire Warren Buffett may also be seeking to add to his newspaper properties.

According to the same article, a 2012 analysis by financial adviser Lazard valued the Tribune's broadcasting assets at $US2.85 billion ($A2.76 billion) while other strategic assets, including the jobs website CareerBuilder and cable channel Food Network, are worth $US2.26 billion.

The company owns 23 television stations and a number of leading daily newspapers include The Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel along with the dailies in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Eddy Hartenstein, publisher of the Los Angeles Times and current chief executive of the company, will remain in the role until the board convenes in the next few weeks.

The Los Angeles Times and others have reported that Peter Liguori, a former executive at News Corp and Discovery Communications, will become the new chief executive.

The board also includes Ross Levinsohn, the former interim CEO at Yahoo!, and Peter Murphy, a former Walt Disney Co executive.

Reports in the Chicago Tribune said the new owners are focused on cable channel WGN, and will be looking to boost its value before an eventual sale.

On emergence, the company will receive a new $US1.1 billion loan and a new $US300 million credit facility for operations.

It will issue to former creditors approximately 100 million shares of new stock.

Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate titan, led an $US8 billion leveraged buyout of the Tribune Co in 2007 and the company declared bankruptcy the next year, with $US13 billion in debt.

It sold the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise and its iconic stadium, Wrigley Field, in 2009.

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22 killed in wave of Iraq attacks

A WAVE of bombings and shootings across Iraq has killed 22 people as the country grapples with anti-government rallies and simmering political crises ahead of major Shi'ite commemoration rituals.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks in more than a dozen towns and cities that wounded 83 people, but Sunni militants such as al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq regularly target officials and security forces in a bid to destabilise the government, and also often attack Shi'ite pilgrims.

The violence comes after anti-government protesters blocked a key highway to Syria and Jordan, amid political tensions between Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a secular Sunni-backed party in his fragile national unity government.

Much of Monday's violence targeted Shi'ite pilgrims, ahead of Arbaeen commemoration ceremonies due this week.

In the deadliest attack, seven people - three women, two children and two men - were killed when three houses were blown up in the town of Mussayib, south of Baghdad, police and a medic said. Four others were wounded.

The victims were apparently targeted because they were Shi'ites, the officials said.

Shi'ite pilgrims embarking on the traditional walk to the holy shrine city of Karbala for Arbaeen commemorations were hit by three mortar strikes south of Baghdad that killed one worshipper and wounded nine others.

A series of attacks in restive Diyala province, north of Baghdad, wounded 19 people, including 10 Shi'ite pilgrims who were walking to Karbala.

Attacks in Baghdad and north of the city, meanwhile, killed 12 people.

In the capital's central commercial district of Karrada, a car bomb detonated by a suicide attacker left at least four dead and 20 others wounded, security and medical officials said.

A series of bombings in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk and nearby towns killed five policemen and wounded 11 other people, local officials said.

And in the main northern city of Mosul, two policemen guarding an election centre were gunned down, while one policeman was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb in Tuz Khurmatu.

South of Baghdad, a car bombing outside government offices killed two people as the provincial governor was arriving.

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Venezuela axes New Year's with Chavez sick

VENEZUELA has called off public New Year's Eve festivities and social media sizzled with worry after the government revealed cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez had taken a turn for the worse.

The streets of Caracas were quiet as front-page headlines relayed that Chavez had developed "new complications" from a respiratory infection after undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery on December 11 in Havana.

His vice-president and political heir, Nicolas Maduro, broke the news from Havana on Sunday night, saying the condition of the Venezuelan leader was delicate and that he faced an uphill battle.

Chavez, the face of the Latin American left for more than a decade and a firebrand critic of what he calls US imperialism, has been in power since 1999 in Venezuela, an OPEC member that sits on top of the world's largest proven oil reserves.

For many Venezuelans, a holiday season without their ubiquitous comandante just wasn't the same.

"I do not know what will happen to Chavez, but we have never had a Christmas like this. Only God knows what will happen with him and with us," said 70-year-old retiree Miguel Enrique as he prepared to attend Mass.

Authorities cancelled a New Year's eve concert in a downtown plaza and Information Minister Ernesto Villegas urged "families in Caracas and Venezuela in general to ring in the New Year at home, praying and expressing hope for the health" of Chavez.

On Twitter, hashtags translating into expressions such as "Chavez will live and conquer" and "I love Chavez" were all the rage.

But Chavez is also deeply polarising, even though he has ruled for nearly 14 years, and his detractors spoke out too.

Chavez, 58, won another six-year term in October's presidential election, and is scheduled to be sworn in on January 10.

But his ill health has raised concerns that he won't be well enough to attend his inauguration.

Chavez's government has said that the inauguration can be postponed if the president is not fit enough to be sworn in.

Not so, said Veppex, a Miami-based association of 25,000 Venezuelans living outside their country as refugees or political exiles.

It insisted the constitution must be respected verbatim and that new elections must be held within 30 days if Chavez cannot be sworn in on the scheduled day. It said all signs were that he will not be.

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Nine shot dead during party

NINE people have been shot and killed in a rural village in northwest Colombia, apparently during a party, a police official has said.

None of the four women and five men who were slain have been identified, no suspects have been arrested and authorities have no idea what the motive of the killings might be, said Yesid Vasquez, police chief for Antioquia department.

He said the victims were apparently celebrating in a rented villa in Envigado, near Medellin, when they were shot.

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Police searching for missing Sydney man

AN appeal has been issued for information on a 48-year-old man who has gone missing from his Sydney home.

Barry Kodesh was last seen between 9am and 10.45am (AEDT) on Sunday at his home in Everton Street, Pymble.

Police and family members are concerned for his welfare as the disappearance is out of character.

"There has been no access to any bank accounts and Mr Kodesh is not believed to have taken any other cash, medication or property with him," a police statement says.

Also missing is his blue 1995 Toyota Camry with a NSW registration of UBR 354.

Mr Kodesh is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 180-185cm tall with a medium build, light brown hair, brown eyes, a beard and moustache.

Anyone with information about Mr Kodesh or his car is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Greeks want probe of tax scandal minister

GREEK MPs have called for a probe into former finance minister George Papaconstantinou's alleged role in scrubbing names from a list of accused tax dodgers, days after he was ejected from his party over the scandal.

Seventy-one MPs from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's governing coalition proposed the parliamentary inquiry, which if voted through by the 300-seat legislature will investigate whether Papaconstantinou is guilty of "falsification" of an official document and "breach of duty".

The probe could lead to charges against Papaconstantinou, who helped draw up the debt-ridden nation's first austerity drive. The 51-year-old denies all wrongdoing in the tax affair, which he called a "conspiracy" on Sunday.

The ex-minister was booted from his socialist Pasok party on Friday after it was revealed that the names of four of his family members - two cousins and their husbands - had been deleted from the list of alleged tax dodgers.

Greek prosecutors are investigating some 2000 holders of HSBC bank accounts in Switzerland for suspected tax evasion, according to media reports.

Media have dubbed the case the "Lagarde list" affair, after International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, who personally gave Papaconstantinou the list in 2010 when she was France's finance minister.

The list was originally leaked by an HSBC employee before being passed to Greece by Lagarde.

Authorities have claimed the list was illegally obtained and hence cannot be used in the battle against tax evasion, a chronic problem in the heavily indebted and recession-hit country.

But mounting anger against a new round of austerity cuts, imposed by Greece's international creditors, has put pressure on the government to act on the list.

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Two-year-old boy attacked by dog in Sydney

A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy remains in hospital after he was attacked by a Rottweiler while visiting family in Sydney's west.

The boy and his parents were visiting a home in Fullerton Street, St Helens Park about 7.30pm (AEDT) on Monday, when he was attacked by the owner's five-year-old Rottweiler, police said.

The boy was playing with other children in the backyard of the premises and suffered serious facial injuries in the attack, while his father was also bitten several times on the leg as he tried to free his son.

The boy was taken to Campbelltown Hospital before being transferred to Westmead Children's Hospital in a stable condition, while his father also was treated at hospital.

The dog was surrendered to Campbelltown Council by the owner and will be destroyed.

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China busts child trafficking rings

CHINESE police have rescued 89 children and arrested 355 suspects after busting a series of child trafficking rings, officials say.

Officers from nine regions, including Fujian, Yunnan, Sichuan, Anhui and Guangdong, took part in a joint drive beginning on December 18 against the networks, said Chen Shiqu, director of the anti-trafficking office in the public security ministry.

The children are being cared for in local nursing homes and police are searching for their parents, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

"We will collect the children's DNA and use it to find their parents within a national DNA database established for anti-trafficking purposes," it quoted Chen as saying.

Trafficking of children is a serious problem in China, blamed in part on the strict "one-child" policy that has put a premium on baby boys.

Wang Xizhang, a high-level law enforcement official in Fujian province, said potentially large profits have fuelled the trade.

A healthy male infant bought for 30,000 yuan ($A4650) in poor provinces such as Yunnan can be sold for 70,000 to 90,000 yuan in the comparatively wealthy provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, Wang was quoted as saying.

Since April 2009, when a ministry crackdown began, police have broken up 11,000 child trafficking rings and rescued 54,000 children, according to Chen.

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US stocks lower on fiscal cliff pessimism

US stocks have opened lower at the start of a shortened Christmas Eve session amid pessimism about prospects for a "fiscal cliff" deal by the end of the year.

In the first few minutes of trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 35.94 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 13,154.90.

The broad-market S&P 500 shed 3.46 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,426.69.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite lost 6.91 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 3,041.09.

The White House and lawmakers have until the end of the year to reach a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of steep tax hikes and spending cuts due to take effect in January.

Experts warn that going over the "cliff" could take the world's biggest economy back into recession.

President Barack Obama and Congress are currently on Christmas break, but are expected to return to Washington later this week.

"The looming unresolved US fiscal cliff continues to hamstring conviction, robbing the Street of holiday cheer," said analysts with Charles Schwab & Co.

On Friday, the Dow ended the session down 0.91 per cent, while the S&P 500 fell 0.94 per cent and the Nasdaq dipped 0.96 per cent.

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Two firefighters shot dead in US

THE police chief in Webster, New York, says that four firefighters were shot while responding to a blaze in the town and that two are dead.

Chief Gerald Pickering says "one or more shooters" fired at the firefighters Monday morning. Officials say they had arrived at the scene of the blaze near the Lake Ontario shore around 6am.

Officials say a fire started in one home and spread to two others and a car. Officials say there is no active shooter at the scene.

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Top Putin foe Navalny faces new charges

RUSSIAN investigators have opened their third criminal case in five months against an opposition leader who poses one of the main challenges to President Vladimir Putin in opinion polls.

The Investigative Committee said it had charged anti-corruption blogger and lawyer Alexei Navalny with "swindling committed by an organised group or on an especially large scale".

The charge - which relates to allegations over a case dating back five years - carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

Navalny spearheaded the opposition movement that emerged last year in the wake of disputed parliamentary elections that the ruling party won despite suspicions of fraud.

The 36-year-old - often ranked as the most popular opposition campaigner and an emerging politician who has not ruled out running for president - denies all the charges and views the probes against him as political.

"Lord, they have opened another criminal case against me," Navalny tweeted moments after the news was announced. "The Investigative Committee - what are you doing... Enough."

He later told Russian media that investigators were simply trying to intimidate him "by showing that they could next arrest me for crossing the street in the wrong place".

Navalny is already the focus of an embezzlement probe linked to a murky business deal conducted by a small regional timber company in which he was involved. That offence also risks a 10-year sentence.

Investigators last week also launched a money laundering investigation against Navalny and his brother related to a little-known trading firm.

The latest case concerns 100 million roubles ($A3 million at current exchange rates) allegedly stolen from a liberal political party called the Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) in 2007.

The charges say a company involving Navalny secured an SPS advertising contract that was never fulfilled.

SPS disbanded in 2008 after badly losing a series of elections and Navalny continued with other projects.

But the group's former members expressed amazement at charges that emerged five years after the alleged theft.

"If there was something dirty going on, I would have known about it," said top former party member Leonid Gozman.

An aide to current regional governor and former SPS leader Nikita Belykh also told Moscow Echo radio that no money had been stolen from the party.

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Mandela spends Christmas in hospital

AILING icon Nelson Mandela is spending Christmas Day in hospital, the South African government says, dashing hopes for a festive end to his longest stay in care since being released from prison in 1990.

"Former president Nelson Mandela will spend Christmas Day in hospital, his doctors have confirmed today, on 24 December 2012," the presidency said in a statement.

The 94-year-old Nobel Peace laureate and South Africa's first black post-apartheid president, was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on December 8. He has been treated there for a recurrent lung infection and had surgery to remove gallstones.

In a statement President Jacob Zuma said his predecessor "continues to respond to treatment".

"Knowledge of the love and support of his people keeps him strong," Zuma said.

"We urge all South Africans to keep Tata (father) uppermost in their thoughts at every place of worship or entertainment tomorrow on Christmas Day, and throughout the festive season.

"We also humbly invite all freedom loving people around the world to pray for him. He is an ardent fighter and will recover from this episode with all our support," Zuma said.

There was no indication of when he might be discharged.

"He remains in hospital, recovering," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told AFP on Monday. "I can't say when he will be discharged, doctors will make that decision."

Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president after the country's first all-race elections in 1994, has a long history of lung problems.

He contracted tuberculosis - a disease which killed his father - while in jail as a political prisoner.

He was later hospitalised for an acute respiratory infection in January 2011, when he was held for two nights.

Mandela was last seen in public in 2010, clad in a scarf during the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup, when he was wheeled into the stadium in a golf cart.

In May, footage of a smiling, grey-haired Madiba seated on a couch, was shown on television when he was visited by ruling ANC leaders to present him with a symbolic flame to mark the party's 100 years.

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Jobs estate pays to free impounded yacht

STEVE Jobs' superyacht Venus is free to leave Amsterdam port after the late Apple co-founder's estate paid a deposit to resolve a dispute with designer Philippe Starck, who had the yacht impounded.

"The Venus is no longer impounded, we have found a solution," Gerard Moussault, a Hague-based lawyer for the Jobs estate, told AFP on Monday.

"A security deposit was paid into a bank account, but I cannot say for how much," Moussault said after French designer Starck last week asked Amsterdam bailiffs to seize the sleek 70-metre yacht.

The vessel, which reportedly cost over 100 million euros ($A127 million) to build, was impounded after Starck said Jobs' estate still owed him three million euros for his contribution to its design.

Starck said he was to be paid a fixed sum of nine million euros, while lawyers for Jobs' estate said he was to be paid a percentage of the project's cost equal to six million euros.

The Dutch-built yacht, which was only unveiled in October - just over a year after Jobs died - is in Amsterdam harbour because of bad weather.

"The captain is waiting for better weather to set sail," Moussault said.

Starck's lawyer in the Netherlands, Roelant Klaassen, said on Friday that Jobs and Starck were "very close in the period that the design was made and the building proceeded.

"That's one of the reasons there was no formal agreement on the job," he said.

The yacht will reportedly be shipped by another ship to the United States, where Jobs' family, including widow Laurene Powell Jobs and their three children Reed, Erin and Eve, are to take charge of her.

The aluminium-hulled yacht was built by Royal De Vries shipbuilders in Aalsmeer, just south of Amsterdam, with interiors designed by Starck.

The bridge features a control panel made up of an array of seven iMac computers.

Starck said last year he was working on the yacht, which was mentioned in Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, who died on October 5, 2011. He said it was "sleek and minimalist", with teak decks.

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Missing teen fails to return from surfing

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy who told his parents he was going surfing on Saturday is missing from the NSW north coast.

Tyson Cetinich was last seen about 10am (AEDT) on Saturday by his parents at his home in Bogangar.

Police were told Tyson left home to go surfing, but when he failed to return by midday, his parents became concerned and contacted police.

An extensive search of nearby beaches and inquiries to hospitals and local medical centres have been made without success.

Concerns are held for Tyson's welfare and a police statement says he may be travelling to Proston in Queensland.

Tyson is of Caucasian appearance, about 190cm tall with a thin build. He has braces on his teeth and was last seen wearing a grey cap, a navy blue hooded jumper and board shorts.

Anyone who sees him or knows of his whereabouts is urged to immediately contact Tweed Heads Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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US stocks higher as fiscal cliff looms

US stocks have opened higher, two weeks before the world's biggest economy could go off the "fiscal cliff".

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 41.51 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 13,176.52 in early trade on Monday.

The broad-market S&P 500 rose 6.61 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 1,420.19.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite gained 15.10 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 2,986.43.

The action came shortly after the New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State manufacturing survey, measuring conditions in the New York region, fell for a fifth straight month in December, with both new orders and shipments lower.

"Despite the US fiscal cliff remaining unresolved and a disappointing read on regional manufacturing activity, the domestic equity markets are gaining ground," said analysts with Charles Schwab & Co.

Traders continued to fret about a series of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January if Washington fails to reach a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, which economists warn could take the United States into recession.

Apple was up 0.1 per cent. The tech giant announced it had sold more than two million of the new iPhone 5 in China during the smartphone's first weekend in stores there.

On Friday, the Dow lost 0.27 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.41 per cent, while the Nasdaq shed 0.70 per cent.

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No 2012 vintage from Chateau d'Yquem

CHATEAU d'Yquem will not be producing a 2012 vintage after harvest rain prevented the grapes from reaching the levels of concentration required to make the world's most famous sweet wine.

Pierre Lurton, who runs the celebrated estate behind the Sauternes wine for its main shareholder LVMH, said the decision, which will cost the luxury goods group tens of millions of euros, had been taken to maintain Yquem's reputation for excellence.

"We tried our best but unfortunately the weather was not with us this year," Lurton told AFP.

"A brand like Yquem has to be prepared to not make a vintage. For the image of one of the world's great white wines and for Yquem's place in history, it was a reasonable decision not to make a wine this year."

Similar decisions were taken in 1952, 1972 and 1992.

"It is as if there was a curse on us every 20 years," Lurton added with a smile.

Despite advances in technology, the production of sweet wine in the Sauternes area of southwestern France remains hugely vulnerable to the vagaries of weather.

The sweetness of the wine comes from grapes that have been left on the vines long enough to be affected by noble rot, which bolsters sugar levels and imparts the complex notes of fruit, honey and nuts that make Sauternes the benchmark for dessert wines around the world.

For the rot to develop, producers rely on a combination of autumnal morning mists and midday sunshine that occur most but not all years.

"We were cropping some good stuff at the beginning (of the harvest) this year but then we had a lot of rain," Lurton said.

"The quantity was not good and the concentration was not there."

With an average production of 100,000 bottles per year, the decision to cancel output means foregoing about 25 million euros ($A31 million) of sales, but Lurton said it had been cleared by LVMH boss Bernard Arnault.

"He takes a view on the excellence and the durability of great brands," Lurton said.

"We don't reason in terms of turnover, we take a long-term view. We may have lost sales this year but we have maintained Yquem's reputation for excellence.

"There will be many more great vintages in the future that will allow us to make up for this one."

The 2012 Yquem has been the most high-profile victim of adverse weather conditions that played havoc with wine production across much of France this year.

A combination of spring frosts and hail and harvest rain slashed yields in most areas.

Early tasting reports indicate that quality has been maintained in Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhone but 2012 is tipped to be one of the most disappointing red Bordeaux vintages of recent years.

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Italian engineer kidnapped in Syria

AN Italian engineer has been kidnapped in Syria along with two other workers from the steel works in the port city of Latakia, the foreign ministry in Rome says.

"In all such cases, the safety of our countryman is of the utmost priority and it is indispensable to be as discreet as possible," Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said in a statement, without revealing any further details about the kidnap victims.

The ministry's crisis unit has "activated all available channels" and the Italian's family has been informed, the ministry said.

Italian media named the engineer as Mario Belluomo from Catania in Sicily, who worked at the steel plant in Syria's principal port city. According to the reports, he was kidnapped in nearby Tartus, another port city.

"We are working with the utmost commitment and with the same dedication with which our embassies and consulates give assistance daily to our countrymen in difficulty, including in risky regions and situations," he said.

Terzi said his thoughts went to the kidnapped men and to Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian taken hostage in Pakistan in January, who has yet to be freed.

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Wave of Iraq attacks kills at least 47

A WAVE of attacks targeting both Iraqi security forces and civilians has killed at least 47 people and wounded at least 110, security and medical officials say.

The attacks, which hit more than a dozen different Iraqi cities and towns on Monday, came on the eve of the first anniversary of the US military withdrawal from Iraq.

Violence in Iraq is down significantly from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but while Iraqi forces have held their own since the US departure, insurgent groups still pose a significant threat, and attacks occur almost daily.

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Doomed French elephants win reprieve

TWO sick middle-aged elephants that French officials wanted to put down have been given a Christmas reprieve after an appeal to President Francois Hollande and an internet campaign to save them.

Baby and Nepal, who both have tuberculosis, had been deemed a threat to other animals at their zoo in the city of Lyon as well as to human visitors since the disease is highly contagious.

But when city authorities ordered them to be put down by December 20, Gilbert Edelstein, the French circus owner who donated them to the Parc de la Tete d'Or zoo, launched a campaign to save the 40-something females.

He even sought the "supreme intervention" of Hollande in a letter to the president, while an internet campaign to save the Asian elephants gathered 11,000 signatories.

The efforts appear to have paid off. On Monday, local authorities issued a ruling suspending the order to put the elephants to sleep with a lethal injection.

It was not immediately clear if that suspension would become permanent.

Edelstein had argued that when he donated the elephants to the zoo, they were perfectly healthy and he said that if they contracted tuberculosis, it was from the other animals.

"I want them to be treated and returned to me," he said on Friday.

Elephants have a lifespan of 60-70 years.

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US eyes Google antitrust settlement

US regulators are likely to conclude a lengthy antitrust probe of Google's dominance of internet searches with a voluntary settlement, news reports say.

The Wall Street Journal said Google was likely to agree to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that calls for unspecified changes in how it handles search queries, but would stop short of signing a consent decree that could be enforced by a court.

The Washington Post also reported that a settlement was likely this week, saying it would fall well short of what Google's rivals had sought.

Online news site Politico reported that the FTC did not have the votes to bring an enforcement action against Google, but that the settlement would include new practices on the use of "snippets" of user reviews from companies such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, companies which have said Google uses such content without permission.

Politico said Google will also pledge to make it easier for advertisers to buy ad space on its search engine and to move their ad campaigns to competing sites.

The reports said Google may agree to a separate consent decree to limit the use of patents, including those acquired when it bought Motorola Mobility, to curb competition.

These settlements would not necessarily affect a separate review of Google's practices in the European Union, or by several US states, which would be able to bring their own enforcement actions.

Critics point out that Google controls some 70 per cent of the internet search market - and the advertising that goes along with it - and may exert even more power in the mobile sector by controlling the Android operating system used on two-thirds of smartphones.

Google has been accused of "scraping" content from other services like travel and restaurant reviews while keeping consumers on its own sites.

It is also under fire for allegedly promoting its own services - including travel, restaurant reviews and YouTube videos - in its search results.

European Union competition watchdogs began an investigation into Google in 2010 and the FTC opened its own probe into the company's lucrative search and advertising business in June 2011.

A Google spokesperson, asked about the reports, said: "We continue to work co-operatively with the Federal Trade Commission and are happy to answer any questions they may have."

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US names Lebanese ex-minister as terrorist

THE United States has named former Lebanese information minister Michel Samaha a "specially designated global terrorist" for allegedly aiding the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to launch attacks in Lebanon.

Samaha was arrested on August 9 by Lebanese authorities and accused of plotting to assassinate Lebanese leaders and of transporting explosives into Lebanon for such attacks, the US Treasury said in a statement.

"The United States will continue to expose any attempts by the Assad regime to meddle in the affairs of its neighbours and further destabilise the region," said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen.

"We will continue to work with our international partners to ensure that the sovereignty of Lebanon is respected and upheld."

Samaha, 64, who has both Lebanese and Canadian nationality, was minister of information and tourism in the 1990s.

He was officially listed as a "global terrorist" by the US State Department, and the Treasury slapped economic sanctions on him that freeze any assets he holds under US jurisdiction and forbids Americans from doing business with him.

The Treasury said Samaha "reportedly" received the explosives he is accused of transporting from Ali Mamluk, the head of the Syrian National Security Bureau.

"Information available to the US government indicates that in July 2012 Mamluk was involved in a plot with Samaha to conduct bombing attacks against Lebanese political and religious figures in northern Lebanon, and Mamluk provided money and explosives to Samaha for that purpose," the Treasury said.

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Small business hopeful for 2013: MYOB

SMALL business confidence may have reached a turning point after some difficult times in the past couple of years.

An examination by software provider MYOB of its business monitor series from October 2010 to July 2012 points to a stabilisation in the first half of 2012 and an inkling that businesses feel more optimism going into 2013.

The proportion of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) expecting the economy to improve over the next 12 months had steadied at 19 per cent in March and June this year, after being in sharp decline from 47 per cent since October 2010.

"Our research indicates the small and medium business sector has reached a turning point, with economic confidence and revenue expectations steady over the second half of the previous financial year," MYOB chief Tim Reed said in a statement on Tuesday.

"With almost three in every four expecting either stable or rising revenue this financial year we could see a concurrent rise in economic confidence into 2013."

Mr Reed also said federal government changes to tax-free thresholds from July should help boost business performance.

"The tax-free threshold increase for individuals to $18,200 may see more part time workers join and stay in the workforce, allowing operators to draw from a larger group of skilled candidates when employing new staff," he said.

"Another positive contributor is the small business instant tax write-off increase to $6,500, which I encourage taking advantage of to invest in equipment that improves productivity and cash flow."

Mr Reed said 45 per cent of SMEs also viewed the tax loss carry-back scheme as positive.

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Aussie firms among least optimistic

AUSTRALIAN small businesses are currently among the least optimistic in the Asia-Pacific region, a survey shows.

Research by accounting firm CPA Australia found 60 per cent of Australian companies expect to grow their business in 2013, just pipping Hong Kong at the bottom of the table on 59 per cent.

The survey of over 1700 respondents in six Asia-Pacific economies found Indonesia was leading the way, with 94 per cent of firms expecting their businesses to grow.

It also found that just 14 per cent of the Australian businesses increased their staff numbers in 2012, compared with 61 per cent in Indonesia.

When it came to accessing money, 47 per cent of the Australian firms were forced to use a personal credit card to pay for business activities, compared with a mere 12 per cent in Indonesia.

CPA Australia CEO Alex Malley said the survey results painted a worrying picture, as small businesses act as a barometer for the broader economy.

"These results reflect the direct impact of decisions around significant national issues such as returning the budget surplus, productivity, tax reform and regulation," Mr Malley said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said the results should act as a further "wake-up call" to key decision makers of the need to focus on how Australia could be best positioned to thrive in a hyper-competitive regional and global environment.

"A large part of achieving this will be predicated on the existence of a dynamic, innovative small-business sector with a focus on the high-end knowledge economy," he said.

"Achieving this will require a combined effort by business and government."

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Surge in household energy disconnections

THERE has been a massive rise in the number of Victorians who have had their electricity or gas disconnected because they have failed to pay their energy bills.

The Essential Services Commission (ESC) reported that in 2011-12 almost 24,000 electricity customers were cut off, a jump of 33 per cent on the previous year, while more than 20,000 gas customers were disconnected - up 50 per cent.

The report found that almost half of the disconnected customers were reconnected within seven days indicating that they were residents who had trouble paying their bills.

"As the high rate of reconnections at the same address implies, most of the disconnections are of customers who struggle to pay their bills - not 'skippers' or movers from a residence," said ESC chief executive David Heeps.

"If retailers could better identify and support customers in hardship, then the adoption of a payment plan may head off disconnection as a last resort."

The Victorian Council of Social Services said energy retailers were treating customers in hardship too harshly.

The welfare body said that disconnecting people too often proves the energy industry needed to brought into line and it was time the state government stepped in.

"More people are being disconnected from their essential energy supply than at any time since the industry was privatised and the state government needs to step in to pull the industry into line," said VCOSS chief executive Penny Wilson.

She said energy retailers are entitled to be paid but they have a legal obligation to help customers in financial difficulty by offering flexible payment options or special hardship assistance.

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Tibetan, 16, who set herself on fire dies

A 16-YEAR-OLD Tibetan girl has died after setting herself on fire, Chinese state media say, in an area that has become a flashpoint for protests against Beijing's rule.

The school pupil self-immolated on Monday in the village of Dageri in China's northwestern province of Qinghai, an area with a high population of ethnic Tibetans, just before 7pm (2200 AEDT) on Sunday, Xinhua said.

Her body was cremated four hours later and returned to her family, the news agency said, adding that local government officials were investigating.

More than 90 Tibetans have set themselves ablaze since 2009 to protest China's rule of the Tibetan plateau, rights groups have said, with the frequency of incidents increasing sharply in November. Most have died.

According to a partial list drawn up by the London-based campaign group Free Tibet the teenager is among the youngest girls to have set themselves on fire.

Xinhua reported on Sunday that a monk and his nephew had been detained for inciting eight Tibetans to set themselves alight.

Many Tibetans in China accuse the government of religious repression and eroding their culture, as the country's majority Han ethnic group increasingly moves into historically minority areas.

Beijing rejects this, saying Tibetans enjoy religious freedom. The government points to huge on-going investment it says has brought modernisation and a better standard of living to Tibet.

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2Day FM 'didn't check with UK hospital'

THE London hospital that treated Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine says the Australian radio station behind a prank call did not check with them before the hoax was broadcast.

The Sydney station, 2Day FM, said it had tried to contact King Edward VII's Hospital five times to discuss the prank call conducted with two nurses, one of whom, Jacintha Saldanha, was found dead on Friday in a suspected suicide.

But a hospital spokesman said: "Following the hoax call, the station did not talk to anyone in hospital senior management or anyone at the company that handles our media inquiries."

The 2Day FM hosts who made the call last week, in which they obtained private details of Kate's acute morning sickness by pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and William's father Prince Charles, spoke on Monday of their grief at the nurse's death.

Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who have been in hiding and undergoing counselling since their hoax sparked global outrage, said they were devastated.

Saldanha, a mother-of-two originally from southern India, was found dead in nurses' accommodation near the hospital on Friday.

She had picked up the prank call and put it through to another nurse, who revealed details of Kate's condition.

Results of the post-mortem could be published later on Monday, although the timing has yet to be confirmed, a police spokeswoman said.

Kate, who is thought to be around nine weeks pregnant, spent three days being treated at the hospital.

2Day FM's owner, Southern Cross Austereo, reacted to growing alarm over the story by pulling the two hosts off air until further notice, axing their show, suspending all advertising on 2Day FM until further notice and forbidding any prank calls across its network.

The company, which faced a diving share price and threats of a cyber attack on Monday, expressed its "deep and sincere condolences" to the nurse's family.

"We are very sorry for what has happened," said CEO Rhys Holleran.

"We are also providing support to our people who are deeply saddened by this tragic and unforeseen event."

Greig said she was prepared to attend any inquest in London and see the nurse's family face to face.

"If that's something that they want to do, to get some closure, then I'll do that," she said.

"It was meant to be a silly little prank that so many people have done before. This wasn't meant to happen."

"I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened. I remember my first question was, 'Was she a mother?' I can't imagine what they (the family) would be going through."

Saldanha had two children. Her husband, Ben Barboza, expressed his sadness on his Facebook page with a short note "Obituary Jacintha."

"I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances," he wrote.

He said she will be laid to rest in Shirva, India.

Meanwhile, there were indications that the Duchess of Cambridge was still struggling with acute morning sickness, with her husband, Prince William, cancelling a Sunday night engagement.

Palace officials said her illness means she will probably not attend the UK premiere of The Hobbit film on Wednesday, where she and William are scheduled to be the guests of honour.

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Labor's stock slides in latest Newspoll

AFTER a year in which Labor made some inroads against a more popular opposition, the government is back where it started from - a measly 32 per cent of the primary vote against the coalition's 46 per cent, the latest Newspoll shows.

The Australian newspaper on Tuesday says Labor's primary support climbed as high as 36 per cent during the spring session of federal parliament on the belief the worst was over with the introduction of the carbon tax.

The paper says the AWU slush fund controversy, although fended off by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as smear and sleaze, has taken a toll, whittling its vote to 32 per cent - where it was in February.

On a two-party preferred basis, the Tony Abbott-led coalition has opened a clear election-winning lead of 54 per cent to Labor's 46 per cent.

At the August 2010 election, Labor lost its parliamentary majority with a two-party preferred result of 50.1 per cent to the coalition's 49.9 per cent.

The paper says if an election were held now, based on the Newspoll results, the Gillard government would lose at least 14 seats.

However, Ms Gillard maintains a commanding lead on who would make the better prime minister, leading Mr Abbott by 43 per cent (down three points) to 34 per cent (up one point).

Voter satisfaction for Ms Gillard's performance eased one point to 36 per cent, with dissatisfaction steady at 52 per cent, while satisfaction with Mr Abbott slipped two points to 28 per cent and dissatisfaction falling two points to 59 per cent.

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Nation cautioned against Mandela panic

SOUTH Africa's former President Nelson Mandela is "doing very, very well" while undergoing unspecified medical tests at a military hospital, the nation's defense minister said Monday.

The office of the presidency said the anti-apartheid icon was being kept in the hospital for a third day for more tests.

Mandela is revered by South Africans, and by many people around the world, for being a leader of the struggle against racist white rule in South Africa and for preaching reconciliation once he emerged from prison in 1990 after 27 years behind bars. He won South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994 that marked the end of apartheid.

South Africans tensely awaited word Monday on Mandela even as authorities tried to offer reassurances, but gave no details.

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula spoke to journalists outside 1 Military Hospital in the capital, Pretoria, after seeing Mandela, 94. She offered the first government confirmation that Mandela, who has received military medical care since 2011, is at that hospital.

"He's doing very, very well," she said. "And it is important to keep him in our prayers and also to be as calm as possible and not cause a state of panic because I think that is not what all of us need."

A statement issued later Monday by the office of President Jacob Zuma said Mandela "had a good night's rest. The doctors will still conduct further tests today. He is in good hands. "

On Saturday, Zuma's office announced Mandela had been admitted to a Pretoria hospital for medical tests and care that was "consistent for his age". Zuma visited Mandela Sunday and found the former leader to be "comfortable and in good care," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement. Maharaj offered no other details about Mandela, nor what medical tests he had undergone since entering the hospital.

In February, Mandela spent a night in a hospital for a minor diagnostic surgery to determine the cause of an abdominal complaint. In January 2011, Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but what turned out to be an acute respiratory infection.

Mandela contracted tuberculosis during his years in prison and had surgery for an enlarged prostate gland in 1985. In 2001, Mandela underwent seven weeks of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, ultimately beating the disease.

After serving one five-year term, the Nobel laureate retired from public life and later settled in his remote village of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape area. He last made a public appearance when his country hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament. He has grown increasingly frail in recent years.

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Pope takes to Twitter

POPE Benedict XVI will join Twitter from December 12, with regular tweets in eight languages from the account @pontifex in time for Christmas as the Vatican tries to woo the global internet generation.

"The first tweets will be answers to questions sent to the pope on matters of faith. The public can start sending them starting now," Vatican communications adviser Greg Burke said at a press conference on Monday.

The account carries a picture of the pope waving and its number of followers rose from around 2,400 at the time of the announcement to more than 24,000 just an hour later, with numbers continuing to rise sharply.

An introductory message of the account based in "Vatican City" read: "Welcome to the official Twitter page of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI."

"Pontifex" is a Latin word meaning "pontiff", the pope's official title.

Benedict will only follow his own account in other languages for the moment and there are no plans for a Facebook account yet, Burke said, adding: "Twitter can be more effective than Facebook in passing on the Pope's message."

The tweets will be in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish and more languages could be added in future.

Several fake Twitter accounts already set up in the pope's name have been used to mock the 85-year-old pontiff, but the Vatican said it was not worried about the risk that hostile messages would be tweeted on the real account.

Burke, a former correspondent for US channel Fox News brought in by the Vatican in June to overhaul its public-relations operation, said the pope's Twitter account would create "a free market of ideas, and that is good".

It would serve up "pearls of wisdom coming from the heart of the pope", he said, though the 140-character messages will not be written by the pope himself but by Vatican officials who will submit them to him for approval.

"We are going to get a spiritual message. The pope is not going to be walking around with a Blackberry or an iPad and no one is going to be putting words into the pope's mouth. He will tweet what he wants to tweet," Burke said.

The Vatican said: "The pope's presence on Twitter is a concrete expression of his conviction that the Church must be present in the digital arena."

Benedict wants "to ensure that the good news of Jesus Christ and the teaching of his Church is permeating the forum of exchange and dialogue that is being created by social media," it added in a statement.

The aim is to "dialogue with men and women of today wherever they are," said Cardinal Claudio Maria Celli of the Pontifical Social Communications Council.

The news of the elderly pontiff's decision to join Twitter received mixed reactions on the online community.

"Does this mean we can just tweet our sins instead of showing up for confession?" asked Twitter user Sandra Hayes.

Ryan Babel said "will he be the first priest to legally be able to follow children?" -- one of many Twitter quips on the Church's sex abuse scandals.

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Britain seeks appeal over terror suspect

BRITAIN'S interior ministry said on Monday that it has applied for permission to appeal against a decision by judges to block the extradition of terror suspect Abu Qatada to Jordan.

"We confirm that we have submitted our grounds for appeal," a Home Office spokesman told AFP.

A judge will consider the bid to challenge last month's move by Britain's Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) blocking the extradition over fears that evidence obtained through torture could be used in Abu Qatada's trial.

The radical Islamist cleric -- dubbed Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe -- was released on bail following the SIAC ruling, in a severe blow to the British government.

British authorities have kept him in custody for most of the last decade and repeatedly tried to send him to Jordan to face trial.

Abu Qatada was convicted in absentia in Jordan in 1998 for involvement in terror attacks, but both British and European judges have accepted his argument that evidence obtained by torture might be used against him in a retrial.

Prime Minister David Cameron said last month that he was "completely fed up with the fact that this man is still at large in our country".

Abu Qatada, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin in his early 50s, is currently under curfew 16 hours a day and is wearing an electronic tag, but he is free to leave his home in northwest London between 8am and 4pm.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled earlier this year that he could not be deported while there was a "real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him" in a possible retrial.

Home Secretary Theresa May ordered his extradition anyway after Jordan gave assurances that he would be treated fairly.

But SIAC, a semi-secret panel of British judges that deals with national security matters, agreed last month with the European judges that he should not be deported, and he was freed on bail.

The commission said statements from Abu Qatada's former co-defendants Al-Hamasher and Abu Hawsher may have been obtained by torture and created a risk that any trial would be unfair.

The government can only challenge the ruling if it is found that there were legal problems with SIAC's ruling.

The cleric, whose real name is Omar Mohammed Othman, arrived in Britain in 1993 claiming asylum and has been a thorn in the side of successive British governments.

Videos of his sermons were found in the Hamburg flat used by some of the hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He has also defended the killing of Jews and attacks on Americans.

A Spanish judge once branded him the right-hand man in Europe of the late Al-Qaeda leader although Abu Qatada denies ever having met bin Laden.

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Clinton lobbies Czech govt on power plant

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lobbied the Czech government on Monday to approve an American bid for a $US10 billion ($A9.63 billion) expansion of a nuclear power plant amid fierce competition from a rival Russian offer.

Clinton made her pitch for the American energy giant Westinghouse Electric Co. in meetings with Prime Minister Petr Necas and other senior Czech officials in Prague. Speaking to reporters, she stressed the need for the Czech Republic to wean itself off of a dependency on Russia for fuel.

"We are encouraging the Czech Republic to diversify its energy sources and suppliers," Clinton said. "Given how long-term and strategic this investment is, the Czech people deserve the best value, the most tested and trustworthy technology, an outstanding safety record, responsible and accountable management."

The Czechs get 60 per cent of their oil, 70 per cent of their natural gas and all of their nuclear reactor fuel from Russia. That leaves the NATO member highly susceptible to economic and political pressure from Moscow, which dominated the Central European country from the end of World War II to the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Revitalising the Temelin nuclear power plant is a big part of the Czech agenda to radically boost its nuclear power production, defying global scepticism about the use of atomic energy in the aftermath of last year's meltdown at Japan's Fukushima plant. And the Obama administration is hoping to get some of the windfall by securing Westinghouse's bid. The project could generate 9,000 American jobs, US officials said.

For the United States, the battle for the Temelin contract is an example of an increasingly prominent element of foreign policy: Going to bat for American companies. If this was once a less-promoted if widely understood element of private diplomatic relations, what Clinton calls "economic statecraft" has now become an endeavour US officials proudly promote as part of their jobs-building effort for the United States.

"We are not shy about pressing the case for Westinghouse," Clinton said. "We believe that company offers the best option for the project in terms of technology and safety. It would clearly enhance Czech energy security and further the nuclear cooperation between our countries, and it would create jobs and economic opportunity for Czechs and Americans."

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Ukraine's government, PM resign en masse

UKRAINIAN Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and the entire government resigned on Monday in a surprise move after controversial elections as the economy teeters on the brink of recession.

The presidency said President Viktor Yanukovych had accepted Azarov's request to give up his post and become an MP, a move expected to be repeated by several cabinet ministers.

It remained unclear who would fill the powerful post of premier, with some analysts speculating it could go to a member of the elite close to Yanukovych known as the "Family".

"President Viktor Yanukovych accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, satisfying the demand of the latter," the statement added.

The move comes as a new parliament prepares to meet after October 28 legislative elections which raised new concerns about democratic standards under Yanukovych.

The ruling Regions Party appears to have retained control of the Verkhovna Rada with the help of independents despite a strong challenge from the opposition parties of boxer Vitali Klitschko and imprisoned ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko.

OSCE observers slammed the polls as a setback for Ukraine, marred by the absence of Tymoshenko who is serving a seven-year sentence on abuse of power charges she says were trumped up by Yanukovych.

But economists also fear the country is entering troubled times and could be on the brink of a new recession that would see it seek billions of dollars in disbursements from an IMF standby package.

Ukraine's economy contracted by 1.2 percent in the third quarter of this year, and several banks fear the country is heading for zero growth in 2012, not to mention a sharp devaluation of the local currency.

"This (the resignation) is linked to a number of economic challenges which Ukraine has fallen into thanks to this president and this government," said opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

A Russian-speaking bureaucrat mocked by many in Ukraine for his dry and humourless image, Azarov took office in 2010 shortly after Yanukovych defeated Tymoshenko in a fiercely contested presidential election.

Azarov has always been seen as a close ally of Yanukovych, but some analysts believe his power base has been undermined by the recent rise of a "Family" of close acquaintances of the president into top positions.

Possible successors to Azarov could include First Deputy Prime Minister Valery Khoroshkovsky and National Bank chief Sergiy Arbuzov, analysts said.

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Putin holds talks in Turkey

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Monday on a trip focused on resolving sharp differences over the near 21-month conflict raging in Syria.

Protesters chanted anti-Putin slogans outside Erdogan's office and another demonstration was staged outside the Russian consulate in Istanbul before the two leaders began their meeting.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Russian strongman will raise with Erdogan the planned deployment by NATO of Patriot missiles along Turkey's volatile border with Syria, the Interfax news agency reported.

The missile deployment "worries Russia and does not facilitate stability of the already fragile situation" in the region, Peskov said.

Turkey insists the US-made Patriots would be used for purely defensive purposes but Russia has warned that such a move could spark a broader conflict that would draw in the Western military alliance.

NATO's response is expected this week.

"Russia's position is consistent and absolutely transparent: one cannot support one side in the conflict, this cannot facilitate the settlement of the situation," Peskov was quoted as saying. "Active support of one side only provokes a conflict."

Putin was originally due to travel to Turkey in early October, but the visit was postponed because of tensions over the conflict in Syria and amid speculation about Putin's health.

Turkey, once an ally of the Damascus regime, has become one of its fiercest critics over the bloody crackdown on a rebellion that has developed into civil war and that monitoring groups say has killed more than 40,000 people.

But Moscow remains one of the few allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, routinely blocking resolutions against his regime at the UN Security Council.

Last month, Erdogan said Russia held the key to the Syrian conflict, and that if Moscow took a "positive" stance in the Security Council it could push another key Damascus ally Iran to review its policies.

Russian-Turkish tensions came to a head in October when Turkey intercepted a Syrian plane en route from Moscow to Damascus on suspicion that it had military cargo, drawing an angry response from Russia.

In Istanbul on Monday, Putin and Erdogan will co-chair a high-level cooperation council meeting, a mechanism established between the two countries to foster ties.

Putin is also due to speak by telephone with Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

It is Putin's first trip outside Russia since he visited Tajikistan on October 5 and follows speculation that the normally globe-trotting leader is having health problems.

Official pictures handed out to the press for the Istanbul meeting showed the Russian leader in good health.

Russian media reports have said Putin is suffering from a back injury, caused possibly by a bad fall while playing his favourite sport judo or falling off his horse.

His aides admitted Putin was suffering from a light sports injury when he was spotted limping at an Asian summit in September, but have denied this had had any impact on his schedule.

Putin's absence from long distance travel has also dented his strongman image.

"I ask you not to be concerned. Not to worry. Everything is fine with his health," Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said on Friday, quoted by Russian news agencies.

"He had a minor sports injury," Ivanov added. "No one is immune from sports injuries."

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RBA to deliver a pre-Christmas rate cut

CONCERNS about slowing domestic growth should move the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to deliver an interest rate cut in time for Christmas.

The RBA board meets on Tuesday (December 4) for its last monthly rate decision until February next year, and an AAP survey of 15 economists shows that most expect a cut of 0.25 percentage points.

At its last board meeting on November 6, the RBA kept the cash rate unchanged at 3.25 per cent.

But data since, showing a slowdown in planned mining activity, plus continued weakness in the housing, manufacturing and retail sectors, are likely to push the central bank over the line, economists say.

The RBA cut the cash rate in May, June and October, but it appears the effect of this easing is only starting to be felt in the economy.

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Duchess of Cambridge pregnant

KATE Middleton is expecting a baby and has been admitted to hospital with acute morning sickness, St James' Palace has announced.

The BBC reports that members of the royal family are delighted by the news.

A Palace spokesman said the duchess was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in central Lnodon with very acute morning sickness and is expected to stay for several days.

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Garment workers protest 'deathtraps'

People protest outside the garment-factory where a fire killed more than 110 people on Saturday. Survivors told AFP that the factory did not have proper fire exits. Source: AP

THE builders of the nine-storey factory in which 110 workers died in Bangladesh's worst textile industry fire had only been granted permission for a three-floor construction, an official said Monday.

"We gave them permission to build a three-storey factory. But they expanded the building without any approval from us," Habibul Islam, the government's chief inspector of factories, told AFP.

Mr Islam's comments came as the government and police launched separate probes into the fire on Saturday at Tazreen Fashion that left at least 110 workers dead as many struggled to escape from upper floors.

Survivors told AFP that the factory, built outside Dhaka in 2009, did not have proper fire exits.
Bangladeshi law does not allow expansion of any factory without approval by the Office of the Chief Inspector of Factories.

Dozens of workplace fires have killed more than 600 employees in Bangladesh's booming garment industry since 2006, but none of the owners have been prosecuted for poor safety conditions.

Bangladeshi officials inspect the garment-factory. A police investigation is trying to establish if the owners were to blame for the fire.

The revelations came as garment workers staged mass protests on Monday to demand an end to "deathtrap" labour conditions after the new blaze sparked fresh panic and terror.

Ahead of the first of a series of mass funerals for the 110 victims, survivors of Saturday night's blaze joined several thousand colleagues to block a highway and march in the manufacturing hub of Ashulia.

"Workers from several factories have left work and joined the protest. They want exemplary punishment for Tazreen's owners," said Dhaka police chief Habibur Rahman, referring to a plant near the capital where the blaze broke out late Saturday.

A man takes photographs inside the blackened garment-factory.

Police said Ashulia's more than 500 factories who make apparel for top global retailers such as Walmart, H&M and Tesco declared a wild-cat "holiday", fearing that the protests could worsen and turn into large-scale unrest.

"Most workers are in shock. They want to see safety improvements to these deathtrap factories," Babul Akter, head of a garment union, told AFP.

The protesters chanted a series of slogans, including a demand for Tazreen's bosses to be brought to justice.

Firefighters and workers try to douse another fire at a garment-factory in Dhaka, two days after a similar incident killed more than 110 people.

Local police chief Badrul Alam said officers had opened a murder investigation as a result of criminal negligence. Two government inquiries and the police investigation are trying to establish if the owners were to blame for the fire.

"We won't spare anyone," Mr Alam promised as the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced a day of mourning for the dead, many of whom stitched clothes for international brands. All factories will also be closed on Tuesday.

Dozens of workplace fires have killed more than 600 employees in Bangladesh's booming garment industry since 2006, but none of the owners have so far faced prosecution for poor safety conditions.

Firefighters battled for several hours to contain the weekend blaze, which broke out on the ground floor of the nine-storey Tazreen Fashion plant 30 kilometres north of Dhaka, trapping more than 1000 workers.

Witnesses told how panicked staff, most of them women, cried for help and several leaped to their deaths from upper floors as they tried to escape.

Preparations have been made for the mass burial of the bodies of 59 workers who cannot be identified.

Their remains, most of which were burnt beyond recognition, will be laid to rest at a state graveyard in a southern suburb of Dhaka.

"We are keeping the DNA samples of the dead workers so that we can identify their relatives for compensation," said Dhaka district police commissioner Yusuf Harun who said the death toll was now 110.

Even before the first burials, a new blaze at a 12-storey building housing four factories sparked new scenes of panic as workers rushed to safety.

The latest fire caused widespread damage at the plant on the outskirts of Dhaka, but no casualties were reported after rescue teams searched the building for workers feared to have suffocated in toxic black fumes.

"Most workers broke grilles in the upper floor and escaped to a safe location at an adjacent building," Dhaka district deputy commissioner of police Nisharul Arif told AFP.

Bangladesh has emerged as the world's second-largest clothes exporter with overseas garment sales topping $US19 billion ($18 billion) last year, or 80 per cent of national exports.

The sector is the mainstay of the poverty-stricken country's economy, employing 40 per cent of its industrial workforce, but work conditions are often basic and safety standards low.

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Bieber booed by football fans

JUSTIN Bieber has had a hostile homecoming during his half-time performance at Canada's football Grey Cup, facing boos and jeers.

The Toronto crowd booed when the 18-year-old pop star's face popped up on the JumboTron screen. They booed when a host spoke his name. And they booed as he took the stage and throughout his medley of the chart-topper Boyfriend and the disco-inflected Beauty and a Beat.

If Bieber was bothered, it didn't show.

"Thank you so much Canada," Bieber said. "I love you."

Earlier in the week, Bieber was presented with a Diamond Jubilee Medal by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and caused a scene by wearing overalls, unbuttoned on one shoulder, over a white T-shirt, with a backwards baseball cap.

There was sufficient uproar that Harper even weighed in on Twitter.

"In fairness to (Bieber)," Harper tweeted, "I told him I would be wearing my overalls too."

The Canadian Football League may have been hoping to court Bieber's army of tween followers on Sunday. But recent Grey Cup half-time performers have skewed toward the comparatively heavy likes of Nickelback and Lenny Kravitz.

"J-Biebs doesn't scream football, you know? Neither does Carly Rae Jepsen," said Calgary's Ryan Prisque, 22.

The 27-year-old Jepsen also received a mixed reaction at first on Sunday but won the crowd over during an enthusiastic medley of her latest single, This Kiss, and her infectious hit Call Me Maybe.

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Thousands at funeral for Egypt activist

THOUSANDS of Egyptians have turned out for the funeral of an activist who died overnight after he was critically injured in clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square last week.

Gaber Salah, a member of the April 6 movement known by his nickname "Jika", was hurt in confrontations between police and protesters on Mohammed Mahmud street where protesters had been marking the first anniversary of deadly clashes.

Some wept, others chanted for justice as Jika's white coffin was carried from Omar Makram mosque in Tahrir Square - where activists have been camping out to protest President Mohamed Morsi's assumption of sweeping powers - towards Mohammed Mahmud street, where violence has been brewing for the past week.

Mourners comforted his devastated mother, as one protester carried a sign that read "Glory for Gaber".

"It isn't acceptable to have such killings now. We refuse all sorts of violence," said long-time activist George Ishak who attended the funeral.

"What is happening is a warning to Morsi that the country is in danger," he said.

The funeral comes on the eve of rival mass rallies in response to a decree granting Morsi broad powers that are immune from judicial review and threaten to deepen the country's divisions.

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Secret confetti confounds New York police

IT rained confetti - and secrets - on last week's Thanksgiving parade in New York.

The traditional deluge of shredded paper over the Macy's parade in Manhattan on Thursday turned out to include legible snippets of police files, including a mention of a motorcade used by Republican Mitt Romney.

Officers at the Nassau County Police Department on Long Island, where the files were traced back to, declined to give details on Monday about how the parade became a charade.

"We're not really commenting any further," a spokesman said.

Earlier, Nassau Police Inspector Kenneth Lack said he was "very concerned".

"The department will be conducting an investigation into the matter, as well as reviewing procedures for the disposing of police documents."

The New York Post reported pieces of paper tumbling down into the parade still had social security numbers, names of detectives, and details relating to Romney's campaign motorcade.

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Soft drink raises prostate cancer risk

MEN who drink one normal-sized soft drink per day are at greater risk of getting more aggressive forms of prostate cancer, according to a Swedish study.

"Among the men who drank a lot of soft drinks or other drinks with added sugar, we saw an increased risk of prostate cancer of around 40 per cent," said Isabel Drake, a PhD student at Lund University.

The study, to be published in the upcoming edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed more than 8000 men aged 45 to 73 for an average of 15 years.

Those who drank one 330-millilitre soft drink a day were 40 per cent more likely to develop more serious forms of prostate cancer that required treatment.

The cancer was discovered after the men showed symptoms of the disease, and not through the screening process known as Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA).

Those who ate a diet heavy on rice and pasta increased their risk of getting milder forms of prostate cancer, which often required no treatment, by 31 per cent, while a high intake of sugary breakfast cereals raised the incidence of milder forms of the cancer to 38 per cent, Drake told AFP.

While further research was needed before dietary guidelines could be changed, there are already plenty of reasons a person should cut back on soft-drink consumption, she noted.

The men in the study had to undergo regular medical examinations and kept a journal of their food and drink intake.

Previous studies have shown that Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the US develop prostate cancer more often than peers in their home countries.

Further research on how genes respond to different diets would make it possible to "tailor food and drink guidelines for certain high-risk groups", Drake said.

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Indian, Chinese companies sign deals

INDIAN and Chinese companies have signed agreements worth billions of dollars as the two emerging market giants sought to broaden commercial ties despite political tensions.

The deals inked in New Delhi during the countries' second strategic economic dialogue included plans for investments in clean energy, infrastructure, electric power, steel and other projects.

"We must aim at a magnitude and intensity of (economic) engagement appropriate for the world's two most populous nations," said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, one of India's most powerful government figures who led the Indian side at the talks on Monday.

"It is only through larger mutual investments that we can take the India-China economic cooperation to a higher level," Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India's economic planning commission, told reporters.

The agreements included a plan to develop renewable energy projects envisaging an investment of $US3 billion ($A2.9 billion) by India's Reliance Power and China's Ming Yang Wind Power Group, a leading wind turbine manufacturer.

India's debt-laden Lanco Infratech said the state-run China Development Bank would arrange $US2 billion worth of loans for its two power projects.

Territorial disputes, Beijing's role as arms supplier to Indian rival Pakistan and the presence in India of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, all fuel an atmosphere of mutual political suspicion.

At the same time, India and China are major trading partners with bilateral trade totalling $US75 billion with the two countries targeting a goal of $US100 billion by 2015.

Ahluwalia said the latest tiff between the neighbours over a map issued by Beijing on its new passports claiming disputed territory did not come up in the talks.

At the government-to-government level, India signed an agreement with China to explore co-operation in modernising the dilapidated, more than century-old Indian railway system.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese side but Ahluwalia said the view "emanating from the Chinese side is that they would also like a deepening of economic cooperation".

He said the large Chinese delegation, which had 180 members, indicated "how serious they are" about improving economic ties.

The economic dialogue emerged from a visit by outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010.

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Obama drafts in Geithner for budget talks

US President Barack Obama has made Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner lead White House negotiator in budget talks with Congress aimed at averting the fiscal cliff, a report says.

The Wall Street Journal said Geithner was viewed on Capitol Hill as a straight-shooter who had a better chance of brokering a deal than Jacob Lew, Obama's former budget chief, who has burnt his bridges with some Republicans.

If no deal is reached before the end of the year, a poison pill law of tax hikes and massive spending cuts, including slashes to the military, comes into effect with potentially catastrophic effects for the fragile US economy.

The report said Geithner, who is preparing to leave his post as treasury secretary early in Obama's second term, has spent months already preparing for the fiscal talks, which will begin this week in earnest in Washington.

Geithner will be joined by White House budget and tax experts, including Lew, now Obama's chief of staff, and National Economic Council director Gene Sperling, the Wall Street Journal said.

They will try to hammer out an elusive compromise with congressional aides but final decisions will be made by political leaders such as Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner, the report said.

In recent days, several leading Republicans have indicated a willingness to accept a deal that includes more revenue from ending loopholes in the tax code in return for cuts in funding to Democrats' beloved welfare programs.

Geithner, 51, is not affiliated with any party and has spent his career in government finance and on the political sidelines.

He first joined the Treasury at age 27. When George W Bush became president in 2001, he went to work for the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Monetary Fund.

At 42, he was tapped to be head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, considered the Fed's second-most influential post because the New York bank interacts directly with a powerful constituency that includes Wall Street.

Despite holding high office in the years leading up to the 2008 financial collapse, when regulatory authorities are accused of having been asleep at the wheel, he was tapped by Obama to lead the recovery.

Upon assuming office in early 2009, he was charged with overseeing two major bailout packages worth more than $US1.5 trillion ($A1.4 trillion) and aimed at shoring up the country's distressed banking sector.

The administration has said that the stimulus, while costly, averted another Great Depression, while conservative critics have branded it a costly expansion of government that has failed to revive the economy.

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Toyota tests cars that communicate

TOYOTA Motor Cop. is testing car safety systems that allow vehicles to communicate with each other and with the roads they are on in a just completed facility in Japan the size of three baseball stadiums.

The cars at the Intelligent Transport System site receive information from sensors and transmitters installed on the streets to minimise the risk of accidents in situations such as missing a red traffic light, cars advancing from blind spots and pedestrians crossing the street. The system also tests cars that transmit such information to each other.

In a test drive for reporters Monday, the presence of a pedestrian triggered a beeping sound in the car and a picture of a person popped up on a screen in front of the driver. A picture of an arrow popped up to indicate an approaching car at an intersection. An electronic female voice said, "It's a red light," if the driver was about to ignore a red light.

The 3.5 hectare test site looks much like the artificial roads at driving schools, except bigger, and is in a corner of the Japanese automaker's technology center near Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.

Toyota officials said the smart-car technology it is developing will be tested on some Japanese roads starting in 2014. Similar tests are planned for the US, although details were not decided. Such technology is expected to be effective because half of car accidents happen at intersections, according to Toyota.

Managing Officer Moritaka Yoshida said Toyota sees preventing collisions, watching out for pedestrians and helping the driving of the elderly as key to ensuring safety in the cars of the future.

"We offer the world's top-level technology," he told reporters.

All automakers are working on pre-crash safety technology to add value to their cars, especially for developed markets such as the US, Europe and Japan. But the strongest sales growth is coming from emerging markets which are eventually expected to show more interest in safety technology.

Toyota's Japanese rival Nissan Motor Co. recently showed cars that were smart enough to stop on their own, park themselves and swerve away from pedestrians who suddenly jumped into the vehicle's path.

Toyota also showed a new feature that helps the driver brake harder to prevent bumping into the vehicle in front. Toyota officials said drivers often fail to push hard on their brakes in such situations because they get into a panic.

Toyota said the technology will be available "soon," without giving a date, and hinted it will be offered for Lexus luxury models. Luxury models already offer similar safety features such as automatic braking. Technology involving precise sensors remains expensive, sometimes costing as much as a cheaper Toyota car.

Toyota has also developed sonar sensors that help drivers avoid crashing in parking lots. One system even knows when the driver pushes on the gas pedal by mistake instead of the brakes, and will stop automatically.

Rear-end collisions make up 34 per cent of car accidents in Japan, comprising the biggest category, followed by head-on collisions at 27 per cent.

Cars that stop and go on their own, avoiding accidents, are not pure science fiction, experts say.

Alberto Broggi, professor at the University of Parma and an expert on intelligent transportation systems, said the idea of the accident-free cars is "very hot," and probably within reach on some roads within several years.

"I'm sure we will arrive to such a technology even if I don't know when exactly," he said.

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US stocks rise on China trade data

US stocks have opened with modest gains after last week's slump, lifted by encouraging China trade data that signalled renewed momentum in the economy and solid earnings from a key US homebuilder.

In the first five minutes of trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 13.82 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 12,829.21.

The broad-market S&P 500 advanced 3.26 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,383.11.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 12.94 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 2,917.81.

"The support for stocks comes as China reported stronger than expected exports and US homebuilder DR Horton Inc posted better-than-expected earnings," Charles Schwab & Co analyst said.

China's export growth accelerated in October for the second straight month, the government said on Saturday, adding to evidence the world's second-largest economy is bouncing back from a slowdown.

There were no major economic data scheduled for release and the bond market was closed in observance of Veterans Day.

On Friday, US stocks eked out small gains, capping a week of solid losses amid fears about the nation's looming "fiscal cliff", automatic spending cuts and expiring tax breaks that will come at year-end unless avoided.

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Two charged over NSW child sex assaults

A CATHOLIC brother and a former Catholic teacher have been charged in NSW over alleged assaults on children dating back to the 1980s.

Sex Crimes Squad detectives investigating allegations of abuse on an eight-year-old girl in 1985 and two 13-year-old boys in 1987 made the arrests on Monday evening and later charged the pair.

Police allege some of the incidents took place at a Catholic college and a Catholic primary school in Sydney's west.

The Catholic brother, whose charges relate to the two boys, has been refused bail and will appear at Wyong Local Court on Tuesday.

The 59-year-old was arrested at a property at The Entrance on the Central Coast.

He was charged with committing an indecent act on a child under 16 and under authority, along with five counts of indecent assault on a child under 16 and under authority.

The former teacher, a 58-year-old man arrested at a Blacktown property, was charged with offences relating to a 13-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl.

The charges are sexual assault on a child under 16, indecent assault on a child under 16, committing an indecent act on a child under 16 and indecent assault on a child under 16 and under authority.

He has been granted strict conditional bail and will appear at Blacktown Local Court on December 13.

Police said their inquiries are continuing.

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China to reveal new leaders on Thursday

CHINA'S Communist Party will on Thursday unveil the new set of top leaders who will take over the reins of the country for the next decade, one day after their week-long congress ends, the party says.

The widely expected timing was confirmed by staff organising press coverage of the Communist Party congress under way in Beijing, which is held every five years to shuffle the top leadership of the party.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who has been in power 10 years, is widely expected to hand over the reins of the ruling party to his vice-president, Xi Jinping, a tradition that takes place a day after the close of the congress.

The leadership - arrived at via back-room political horse-trading among party factions - is revealed to the nation by marching out in a line before cameras at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Party staff told AFP the new Politburo Standing Committee - the top-level body now consisting of nine members that rules China - would "meet the press" on Thursday. The party had thus far not officially confirmed the timing.

Xi is widely expected to march out in first position on the committee, indicating he is the new party leader, and will then formally be named the country's president next March by the rubber-stamp parliament.

Xi's fellow Standing Committee member, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang, is also strongly expected to move up in the committee's pecking order and be put on track to be named premier in March, replacing incumbent Wen Jiabao.

They would take over at a challenging time when China's powerhouse economy is suffering a rare slowdown and amid growing demands for change from the country's vocal netizens.

If things go according to tradition, Xi and Li would be expected to be in office for 10 years. However, the Standing Committee is typically tweaked each five years with a shuffling of lower-ranking members.

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Italian prosecutor charges S&P, Fitch

AN Italian prosecutor has filed charges of market manipulation against Standard & Poor's and Fitch ratings agencies over downgrades of Italy's credit rating that helped fuel the euro debt crisis.

Following a two-year investigation, prosecutor Michele Ruggiero requested charges against seven people at two of the world's top three ratings agencies.

Five of the accused worked at S&P's, while the other two worked at Fitch at the time.

The agencies "intentionally provided financial markets with biased and distorted information", the prosecutor's office said in a statement on Monday.

It is a landmark case since rating agencies came under concentrated attack, particularly from governments as the eurozone crises intensified.

Those charged are accused of setting out to "destabilise Italy's image, prestige and credit confidence on the financial markets, alter the value of Italian bonds by depreciating them (and) weaken the euro", the statement said.

Among those charged are Deven Sharma, the head of S&P's from 2007 to 2011, and the operational director for Fitch, David Riley.

The charges have to be confirmed by a judge for any trial to go ahead - a process that could take months under the Italian judicial system.

The ratings agencies have co-operated with the inquiry but insist their economic evaluations were independent and based on objective factors.

"These claims are entirely baseless and without any merit as our role is to publish independent opinions about creditworthiness according to our public and transparent methodologies," S&P's said in a statement.

"We will continue to perform our role without fear or favour," it said.

The probe began in 2010 after an Italian consumer group lodged a complaint over a sovereign downgrade by Moody's, the other top world rating agency, which has since been cleared by investigators and is no longer part of the case.

Investigators have since focused on more recent rating actions, particularly last year, when market turmoil pushed Italy to the brink of bankruptcy.

The case is being seen as one of the first of its kind on sovereign ratings.

Standard & Poor's earlier this month lost a landmark case in Australia in the first trial of its kind over top-flight ratings given to financial products that collapsed in the build-up to the 2008 global economic crisis.

Dozens of cases have been brought around the world against rating agencies - which were widely criticised for overly optimistic assessments of financial products that turned out to be toxic - but few trials have gone ahead.

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Emirates' first-half profit up 104%

DUBAI'S Emirates airline says it posted a 104 per cent surge in net profits in the first six months of the current financial year thanks to rising passenger numbers.

"In the first half of the 2012-13 fiscal year, Emirates net profit is 1.7 billion dirhams ($A448 million), up 104 per cent from 836 million dirhams," the carrier said in a statement.

The announcement came hours after an engine problem forced an Emirates A380 superjumbo to turn back to Sydney shortly after taking off.

The government-owned airline said it had carried 18.7 million passengers since April 1, up 15.4 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Its volume of cargo was up by more than 16 per cent, the airline said, pointing out that it was a "significant growth against the market trend".

Emirates posted revenues of 35.42 billion dirhams, up 17.3 per cent from the corresponding period last year.

The group as a whole, which includes Dnata travel services, generated revenues amounting to 38.245 billion dirhams, with net profits hitting 2.1 billion dirhams.

"The Emirates Group half-year performance is the result of hard work and our drive to stay on course and continue to grow despite the precarious marketplace," said chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum.

"We have continued to invest in the infrastructure of both Emirates and Dnata and it continues to pay off."

Meanwhile, the pilot of the Dubai-bound Emirates plane carrying 380 passengers decided to turn back shortly after take-off on Sunday night due to an engine problem as passengers reported a bright orange flash and loud bang.

An Emirates spokesman told AFP the decision was a "precaution" and "there were no flames or smoke".

Emirates is the largest single customer of Airbus' A380 and Boeing's 777 widebody aircraft.

Considered the world's fastest growing carrier, it has a fleet of 183 aircraft serving 126 destinations in 74 countries.

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Russian growth slows to 2.9%

RUSSIA'S growth slowed to 2.9 per cent in the third quarter this year, the statistics office says, in a sign its economic activity is being hit by the global economic crisis.

The Russian economy, hugely reliant on oil and gas exports, enjoyed relatively buoyant growth of 4.9 per cent and four per cent respectively in the first two quarters this year.

Growth in the third quarter last year was five per cent. The figure of 2.9 per cent growth for the third quarter 2012 from the same period last year is a preliminary assessment that may be revised later.

The assessment "indicates that the pace of economic activity has moderated," said Ivan Tchakarov, chief economist at Renaissance Capital in Moscow, in a note to clients.

"The slowdown was driven, on the demand side, by softening consumer spending and, on the supply side, by weaker manufacturing activity and a poor agricultural harvest."

He forecast that the economy will endure a "soft patch" until the first quarter of next year due to the poor global economic environment but then see brisker growth from the second quarter.

Julia Tsepliaeva of BNP Paribas said in a note to clients that although the high oil price was favourable for Russia, its economic slowdown is likely to continue.

"In the long run, Russia's ability to maintain economic growth rates of 3-5 per cent will depend on its willingness to promote structural reforms and suppress corruption," she said.

Russia, which is able to run a relatively stable budget, has so far avoided the economic troubles that have befallen the euro zone and is chiefly concerned that the woes of a key trading partner will impact its economy.

"The government is clearly intent on pursuing a stable domestic policy, using budget spending to keep the economy growing at approximately 3.5 per cent annually," said economists at state-owned Sberbank who forecast 3.8 per cent growth for 2012.

Yet many commentators are worried that the failure of President Vladimir Putin to embrace wholehearted reform and wean the economy off its petrodollar dependence could consign Russia to years of mediocre growth in the future.

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Obama favoured in Kenyan village

AT Barack Obama's ancestral village in Kenya, witch doctor John Dimo has tossed some shells, bones and other items to determine who will win the US election.

After throwing the objects like so many dice outside his hut in Kogelo village, Dimo, who says he is 105 years old, points to a white shell and declares: "Obama is very far ahead and is definitely going to win."

It's not a surprising result in Kogelo, Obama's late father's hometown in western Kenya, where expectations of an Obama election victory over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney were high on Monday.

While pollsters in the US are using interviews, statistical analysis and the technology to predict the outcome of the election in America - one that is expected to be close - Dimo uses techniques he learned from his father, and is confident of his predictions.

Obama is the son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya and has five Kenyan half-brothers and a half-sister.

Half-brother Malik Obama said on Sunday the family sees no reason why Obama shouldn't be elected for a second term.

He was speaking during a sports tournament he organises every year in honour of their late father, Barack Obama Sr.

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Mining slowdown to spark Cup day rate cut

THE Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to change the cash rate on Melbourne Cup day for a seventh consecutive year.

Twelve of the 15 economists surveyed by AAP said the RBA board will decide to cut its interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to three per cent on Tuesday.

The struggling global economy and the sluggish performance of the non-mining sectors of the domestic economy have driven previous rate cuts.

However AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said the recent fall in commodity prices and the slowdown in the once-booming mining sector had also become a factor.

"Mining will still stay high, but some time next year mining investment will peak as a share of GDP (gross domestic product)," Dr Oliver said.

"That will potentially leave a bit of a hole in the economy that will need to be filled by non-mining parts of the economy, hence the need for lower interest rates."

The most recent rate cut was at the October meeting, by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25 per cent, which was the the fifth interest rate cut in the past 12 months.

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