Time limit on HSU case a worry: Abetz

OPPOSITION frontbencher Eric Abetz says the industrial umpire could have much to answer for if independent MP Craig Thomson avoids a thorough prosecution for allegations of misuse of union funds due to a three-year delay in delivering its damning report.

Fair Work Australia (FWA) began civil proceedings in the Federal Court on Monday against Mr Thomson.

The MP has been accused of using the Health Services Union (HSU) credit card for personal purchases, including prostitutes, while he was the union's national secretary between 2002 and 2007.

The statement of claim was based largely on the findings of a three-year investigation that concluded this year but also included several other allegations.

Senator Abetz said FWA would have much to answer if Mr Thomson was able to escape his day in court due to delays in delivering its report on the allegations.

"The low-paid Health Service Union members, whose money was squandered on brothels, on the high life by Mr Thomson, they will be horrified if Mr Thomson escapes full prosecution on these matters simply because Fair Work Australia has delayed it to such an inexcusable extent," he told ABC television on Monday.

Professor Andrew Stewart from Adelaide University said there could be an issue with the time limit in charging Mr Thomson as the matters occurred several years ago.

"It is possible it could be argued under state limitation laws that time has run out for him to be charged for these breaches," Prof Stewart told ABC television.

Mr Thomson said he would vehemently fight the allegations.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said that was now a matter for FWA and his own defence.

Parliamentarians could retain their jobs if found guilty in civil proceedings but not if convicted of criminal matters.

But politicians could not remain in parliament if bankrupted.

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China begins air carrier training

CHINA has begun flight training on its first aircraft carrier, with photographs posted on websites showing navy pilots practising touch-and-go landing exercises.

Military enthusiast websites have posted pictures of a J-15 fighter-bomber executing the manoeuvre, in which the plane makes brief contact with the flight deck before flying on.

It wasn't clear on Monday when the pictures were taken, and they did not appear on the Defence Ministry's website or in official media.

The exercises are the latest move to provide a combat capability for the carrier, which was launched last month without aircraft or an accompanying battle group. The next step would be the launching and recovery of aircraft, a much trickier process that may be years away.

Chinese-produced Z-8 helicopters have also been practising take-offs and landings on the carrier. Both aircraft are based on Russian and French designs. Chinese pilots are believed to have been practising carrier operations on mock flight decks located inland.

The carrier is the former Soviet navy's unfinished Varyag, which was towed from Ukraine in 1998 minus its engines, weaponry and navigation systems. Christened the Liaoning, the province where its home port is located, the ship began sea trials in August last year following years of refurbishment.

The carrier's launch underscores China's ambitions to be a leading Asian naval power amid sharpening conflicts with its neighbours over disputed island chains in the South China and East China Seas.

Beijing hasn't said what exact role it intends the carrier to fill other than helping safeguard China's coastline and sea links. The Liaoning has also been portrayed as a kind of test platform for the future development of domestically built Chinese carriers.

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US stocks lose steam

US stocks lost momentum after opening gains on Monday as investors digested upbeat retail sales data and a weak manufacturing report.

After 45 minutes of trade (1415 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10.06 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 13,338.91.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.11 point (0.01 per cent) to 1,428.48, while the tech-rich Nasdaq fell 2.55 points (0.08 per cent) to 3,041.56.

"Stocks gained after a report showed retail sales unexpectedly rose 1.1 per cent in September," Wells Fargo Advisers said.

The Commerce Department report also revised higher the retail sales increases for July and August, offering a stronger picture of the sector that is a major part of consumer spending, the main driver of the US economy.

"The best story is that even excluding both auto and gas (petrol), sales were still up 0.9 per cent in September, with a 0.2 per cent revision in August, partly thanks to the release of iPhone 5," said Mei Li at FTN Financial.

Other economic numbers disappointed. The Federal Reserve's Empire State manufacturing index for New York state showed activity continued to contract for a third straight month.

On the earnings front, Citigroup reported an 88 per cent drop in third quarter profit to $468 million Citi shares surged 3.5 per cent, with Charles Schwab & Co. analysts explaining that the fall was not as bad as expected.

Debt-laden Sprint Nextel rose 0.7 per cent after Japan's Softbank announced it would pay $20 billion to acquire 70 per cent of the third-biggest US mobile firm, behind AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Both AT&T and Verizon dropped 0.9 per cent.

Microsoft gained 0.7 per cent after unveiling Xbox Music, which offers free music streaming for computers and tablets with the new Windows operating system to be launched this month.

On Friday the major indices finished broadly lower amid concerns about the new earnings season. The S&P 500 fell 0.3 per cent.

US bond prices dropped. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 1.67 per cent from 1.66 per cent Friday, while the 30-year yield increased to 2.84 per cent from 2.83 per cent.

Bond prices move inversely to yields.

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New version of Flame virus found

A NEW cyberespionage tool linked to the Flame virus has been infecting computers in Lebanon, Iran and elsewhere, security researchers have said.

Kaspersky Lab, which was credited with revealing the Flame virus earlier this year, dubbed the new malware "miniFlame," and said it was "a small and highly flexible malicious program designed to steal data and control infected systems during targeted cyber espionage operations".

Russian-based Kaspersky said miniFlame "is based on the same architectural platform as Flame", widely reported to be part of a US-Israeli effort to slow Iran's suspected nuclear weapons drive.

The smaller version "can function as its own independent cyber espionage program or as a component" inside Flame and related malware.

Unlike Flame, which is designed for "massive spy operations", miniFlame is "a high precision, surgical attack tool", according to Alexander Gostev at Kaspersky Lab.

"Most likely it is a targeted cyberweapon used in what can be defined as the second wave of a cyberattack."

Kaspersky Lab data indicates the total number of infections worldwide is just 50 to 60, including computers in Lebanon, France, the United States, Iran and Lithuania.

MiniFlame operates "as a backdoor designed for data theft and direct access to infected systems", according to Kaspersky, which said development of the malware might have started as early as 2007 and continued until the end of 2011, with several variations.

"We believe that the developers of miniFlame created dozens of different modifications of the program," Kaspersky said. "At this time, we have only found six of these, dated 2010-2011."

Flame previously has been linked to Stuxnet, which attacked computer control systems made by German industrial giant Siemens used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other critical infrastructure.

Most Stuxnet infections have been discovered in Iran, giving rise to speculation it was intended to sabotage nuclear facilities there. The worm was crafted to recognise the system it was to attack.

Some reports say US and Israeli intelligence services collaborated to develop the computer worm to sabotage Iran's efforts to make a nuclear bomb.
 

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EU adopts new sanctions against Iran

EUROPEAN Union foreign ministers have adopted tough new financial and trade sanctions against Iran aimed at forcing a breakthrough in stalled talks on Tehran's contested nuclear program.

The new package of sanctions targets EU dealings with Iran's banks, as well as trade and gas imports.

Citing "serious and deepening concerns" over Iran's nuclear drive, a statement on Monday approved by the ministers said the EU had "agreed additional restrictive measures in the financial, trade, energy and transport sectors".

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton earlier said it was "very, very important that Iran is sent a very strong signal from this European Union foreign affairs council that we want to see a negotiated agreement".

Ashton, who represents global powers in talks with Iran on its nuclear program, said the sanctions aimed "to persuade Iran to come to the table".

Under the package, the EU bans all transactions between European and Iranian banks unless authorised in advance by national authorities, for example for humanitarian or medical reasons. It als tightens existing sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran.

Imports of Iranian gas will be prohibited, a symbolic gesture since the amounts involved are small, but the move sits alongside a much more significant ban on imports of Iranian oil introduced in July.

Sales of graphite and metals of potential use to Iran's nuclear or ballistic missile programs are also to be closed down, while other measures target Iran's shipping industry.

The package also bans the use of EU vessels for transporting or storing Iranian oil.

An EU asset freeze and travel ban will be imposed on 34 additional entities, particularly in the oil, gas and financial sectors, as well as on one person.

After long denying the impact of Western economic sanctions against Iran, Iranian leaders since last summer have changed their rhetoric and now regularly condemn the Western-imposed "economic war" against Iran.

They acknowledge that the economy is suffering, in particular due to the cut in oil exports and production, the main source of the country's revenue.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday before the EU decision that Iran's enemies are seeking to disrupt the "calmness" in the country through economic confrontation.

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Wounded Pakistani girl lands in UK

A PAKISTANI teen shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting girls' education and criticising militants has arrived in Britain, where she is to get specialised care.

The attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai a week ago horrified people across Pakistan and abroad.

Pakistan's military said doctors recommended Malala be shifted to a center in the UK that has the ability to provide "integrated" care to children with severe injuries.

Malala arrived in Britain on Monday afternoon local time.

She is to be taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in central England, which is also home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital is designated as one of the country's 16 major trauma centres.

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Thousands of Aust kids going hungry: SFFA

THOUSANDS of Australian children are suffering from hunger, health organisations have warned as they mark World Food Day on Tuesday.

The Sydney Food Fairness Alliance (SFFA) has urged the NSW government to do more to help.

"If we don't acknowledge that this is a serious issue, we can't work out ways to address it. We are calling on NSW politicians to take action because of the future impact on health and health costs," said SFFA president Liz Millen.

There are currently 680,000 people in the state going hungry every year, half of whom are children, according to a recent report from FoodBank Australia.

FoodBank NSW CEO Gerry Andersen said charitable agencies do not have enough food to supply the "working poor" families who struggle to feed their children.

The SFFA and the Australian Health Promotion Association is holding a World Food Day forum at NSW Parliament House on Tuesday to discuss food insecurity.

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South African strike talks stall

EFFORTS to end a rash of gold mine strikes that have strangled South African production have run into deadlock with no further talks planned, leaving tens of thousands of workers facing the threat of dismissal.

Mine owners and union officials reported on Monday that last-gasp talks to end weeks of rolling wildcat strikes had failed, after rank-and-file workers rejected a wage deal reached by negotiators and no further proposal was forthcoming.

After the talks broke down, employer group the Chamber of Mines declared "it is not in a position to make any further proposals", leaving it up to individual companies to find their own way out of a crisis that has seen tens of thousands of workers illegally down tools.

"One of the avenues could be the dismissal of strikers," chamber official Elize Strydom said. Another route, she said, was "retrenchment" or a radical restructuring of mine operations.

"Some companies - marginal companies in particular - have been closed and not producing for so long that they now probably need to be closed."

Tens of thousands of gold workers have been on strike for more than a month in South Africa's mines, most of them located near the commercial hub of Johannesburg.

The often violent strikes over pay have strangled production in the country, which accounts for around seven per cent of global output.

The National Union of Mineworkers told owners: "Dismissals would not be a solution to the current challenges facing the industry and that it would only serve to fuel emotions that are already high and inflame the situation further."

Workers indicated last week they could not support the wage deal, saying it was not up to their demand for salaries of roughly 12,500 rand ($A1400) a month.

The latest offer would have seen monthly wages and bonuses go up to between 7000 and 10,000 rand.

There are growing fears about the impact the labour unrest will have on the South African economy, the biggest and most advanced on the continent.

The mining industry as a whole accounts directly and indirectly for 19 per cent of economic output and employs 1.3 million people in the mines and related sectors.

Already the platinum sector, which has suffered a wave of strikes since August, saw a 2.6 per cent drop in output that month. The toll for the gold sector and for the broader economy has yet to be quantified.

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