Hollande marks unhappy victory anniversary

BELEAGUERED French President Francois Hollande marked the first anniversary of his election win with a promise to launch a major investment programme that will transform the country.

Under fire from right and left, Hollande outlined what amounts to a comeback strategy constructed around a ten-year programme of investment in digital and other new technologies, alternative energy, health and infrastructure.

"We have achieved a lot in a year, but there remains a considerable amount to do," Hollande told his ministers, asserting that "the coming year will be a year of results."

"The reforms undertaken will change the face of France - profoundly."

Hollande marked the anniversary of his May 6, 2012 win over right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy as the most unpopular president in modern French history.

The Socialist leader has paid a heavy political price for his failure to revive a flagging economy and prevent unemployment rising to a 16-year high.

Newspapers marked Monday's anniversary with harsh criticism, with even the left-wing daily Liberation's front-page headline depicting the president as "A Man Alone".

"A year after the election of Francois Hollande, France is in crisis -- political, economic, social and moral," Liberation wrote, saying Hollande "has not been able, for the moment, to win the confidence of his countrymen."

Right-wing daily Le Figaro said: "The Socialist Party is in hiding for the first anniversary".

With criticism of the government mounting, some are predicting a cabinet reshuffle before the summer. Polls suggest voters would support the widening of the government to include some prominent centrist figures.

But that is unlikely to go down well with the left, both inside and outside of the Socialist Party.

Tens of thousands of left-wing protesters took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to accuse Hollande of turning his back on Socialist principles, while thousands more demonstrated across the country against a government bill legalising gay marriage.

Hollande's opponents rounded on him again on Monday, with the head of the right-wing UMP's parliamentary faction, Christian Jacob, telling France Info radio: "Simply put, right now the boat is sinking and we have a president who is incapable of taking action."

Since his election, Hollande's approval rating has fallen faster and further than any other president's since the founding of France's Fifth Republic in 1958.

His popularity has been especially dented by two recent crises -- a tax-fraud scandal involving his ex-budget minister Jerome Cahuzac and the deeply divisive debate on gay marriage.

A new TNS Sofres poll for i-Tele released Monday showed more than 76 of respondents saying they were disappointed with Hollande's performance and 56 percent of those who voted for him considering his record negative.

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Newspoll shows Labor's rating unchanged

LABOR'S plan for a national disability insurance scheme has been well supported by voters but it has not done anything to rescue Prime Minister Julia Gillard's poor ratings in the polls.

The latest Newspoll in The Australian newspaper shows there has been virtually no change in the primary vote of the two major parties.

Seventy-eight per cent of voters support the disability scheme, named DisabilityCare, with just nine per cent opposed.

However, there was no boost in the poll for Labor and voters were evenly split as to whether the ALP or the Coalition would be better at managing the $15 billion a year disability support program.

The Newspoll survey, conducted on the weekend, shows the Coalition's primary vote is virtually unchanged from two weeks ago on 47 per cent, as is Labor's at 31 per cent.

The Australian says the Coalition's lift of one point and Labor's fall of one point are both within the margin of error.

Based on preference flows at the 2010 election, the Coalition has kept a clear election winning lead, with 56 per cent to Labor's 44 per cent.

On who would make the better prime minister, support for Ms Gillard rose from 35 to 37 per cent while Opposition leader Tony Abbott also got a two per cent boost.

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New BBC probe into 'predator' Hall

THE BBC has announced a "freestanding investigation" into how disgraced TV star Stuart Hall was able to abuse his victims while working for the corporation.

The fact-finding mission will feed into Dame Janet Smith's Jimmy Savile inquiry, but will be led by a "different individual" because of a "potential conflict of interest".

A BBC spokesman said: "In light of a potential conflict of interest with Dame Janet Smith there will be a freestanding investigation covering Stuart Hall's conduct at the BBC which will feed into her Review.

"This work will be led by a different individual appointed by the BBC."

The potential conflict of interest has arisen because Dame Janet Smith knows Ray Colley, who worked with Hall at the BBC in Manchester.

Hall, 83, has admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls during the 1960s, 70s and 80s, including one aged just nine.

Speaking yesterday on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, the chairman of the BBC Trust Lord Patten admitted the corporation was likely to face compensation claims from Hall's victims.

Asked by guest presenter Jeremy Vine whether the BBC would be liable, he said: "I imagine so, but that will be a matter for the lawyers and conceivably the courts.

"I think it would be incredible to be able to do that (estimate the cost of compensation) now because first of all what needs to happen is that we need to be able to get a grip on what happened and of course, in the meantime, co-operate with the police.

''It's a different case from the Savile case because the main person who is alleged to have committed these crimes - who has committed these crimes, he has owned up to some of them - is actually alive.''

Lord Patten added: "If we need to do more, we will."

"At the end of the day, what we have to do is to provide answers which will satisfy people that we have been prepared to deal with our own dirty washing", he said.

Hall faces a possible jail sentence and was described as an "opportunistic predator" after he appeared at Preston Crown Court last Thursday.

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Bieber bumped in onstage scuffle in Dubai

ONLINE footage has emerged showing megastar singer Justin Bieber involved in a scuffle with a fan during a concert in Dubai.

Mobile phone video popped up across the web on Monday showing a male fan rushing toward the 19-year-old performer, who was sitting at a piano on the edge of the stage.

Security guards tackled the young man from behind, spilling into Bieber and tipping over the piano.

Bieber twisted away and then strolled offstage while the guards dragged away the fan.

The concert Sunday - the second of a two-performance stand in Dubai - resumed after a short break and Bieber appeared calm and unharmed.

He later tweeted: "Dubai. Nothing stops the show."

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WA under siege by Canberra, premier says

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett he feels he's been under siege by the federal Labor government.

He says he hopes a government led by Tony Abbott could be a bit more flexible.

WA has been at odds with the Commonwealth on a range of issues including Gonski education funding, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the amount of GST the state receives.

"Each of those are separate issues and as a premier I must say I have felt under siege by the Labor government in Canberra," he told ABC television on Monday night.

Mr Barnett said this started with health reform and WA agreed in principle with the NDIS.

He said something like 70 to 80 per cent of funding for disability services came from state governments and that was ignored in the discussion.

Mr Barnett said from WA's viewpoint, they were cooperating on education reforms.

"But when you have a prime minister who says that schools, primary schools for example, will be funded to the level of $9200 a student and in Western Australia we are already spending $13,900 a student, it is not very attractive," he said.

Mr Barnett said WA received 55 cents in the GST dollar back last year and that would fall to 45 cents next financial year.

"It could get down to 17 cents in the dollar. What that would mean would be that WA would effectively become a financially independent state within the Commonwealth. It is weakening the Australian federation," he said.

Mr Barnett said WA was more prosperous than the nation as a whole and should get at least 75 cents in the dollar.

"We are willing to give up a quarter, maybe even a third of our GST to support Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory. But I don't believe it is fair on the WA people," he said.

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Taliban bomb kills 14 at Pakistan rally

A BOMB tore through a Pakistan political rally Monday, killing 14 people and wounding 56 in one of the deadliest attacks on the campaign for Pakistan's historic elections.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility, saying its target had been a lawmaker elected as an independent but allied to the outgoing government. Officials said the lawmaker escaped unhurt.

The killings bring to 83 the number of people killed in attacks on politicians and political parties since April 11, according to an AFP tally.

The device hit a rally by the right-wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), a religious party in the outgoing government coalition. It exploded in Kurram, part of Pakistan's Taliban-infested tribal belt on the Afghan border.

"At least 14 people have been confirmed dead and 56 injured," Riaz Khan, the top administrative official in Kurram, told AFP.

"I fear the death toll could rise further because several of the injured are in a critical condition," he added.

Khan said the bomb was planted at a rally by two national assembly candidates representing the JUI faction led by cleric Fazul-ur-Rehman.

The apparent target, Munir Orakzai, escaped unhurt while Khan said the other, Ain u Din Shakir, was slightly injured.

It was the first deadly attack on a political party in the tribal belt since campaigning began for what will be the country's first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has completed a full term in office.

Interim Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso strongly condemned the attack and said another national assembly candidate had been injured.

Repeated calls for candidates to be granted more security have failed to stop a wave of attacks, most of them claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

"Basically it was an attack on Munir Orakzai, who was a part of the past government for five years," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The Pakistani Taliban have condemned the elections as unIslamic and directly threatened the main parties in the outgoing coalition, the Pakistan People's Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party (ANP).

"He supported the People's Party and ANP government which launched several operations against us," Ehsan told AFP.

Rehman and his JUI faction -- known as JUI-F -- have been a mediator between the authorities and the Taliban, blamed for killing thousands of Pakistanis in a domestic insurgency over the last six years.

Orakzai is a senior tribal politician who is standing for JUI-F for the first time. The Taliban denied that JUI-F itself was the target.

Elections have been postponed in three constituencies, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi and in the southern city of Hyderabad, where candidates have been killed.

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Going to Mars 'destiny', says NASA

SETTING foot on Mars by the 2030s is human destiny and a US priority, and every dollar available must be spent on bridging gaps in knowledge on how to get there, NASA's chief says.

Addressing a conference of space experts at George Washington University, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said that despite hard economic times the United States is committed to breaking new boundaries in space exploration.

"A human mission to Mars is today the ultimate destination in our solar system for humanity, and it is a priority for NASA. Our entire exploration program is aligned to support this goal," Bolden said.

President Barack Obama has proposed a $17.7 billion dollar budget for NASA in 2014, and he supports a "vibrant and coordinated strategy for Mars exploration," Bolden said.

Among the first steps to sending astronauts to Mars are NASA's plans to capture and relocate an asteroid by 2025, a process that should inform future efforts to send humans into deep space, the former astronaut said.

Also, US astronaut Scott Kelly has volunteered to spend one year at the International Space Station in 2015 to allow doctors to assess how long-duration zero gravity exposure affects bone density, muscle mass and vision.

Currently, a rotating cast of global astronauts each spend a maximum of six months aboard the orbiting outpost.

But despite increasing interest in landing on Mars, and a newly diverse space race that involves many countries instead just of old Cold War foes the United States and Russia, there is plenty that experts just do not know about how to reach Mars.

For instance, there is no existing space vehicle to carry people on the seven-month or longer journey there, not to mention no plan for returning people to Earth.

Medical experts are unsure what the physical ramifications would be for people who attempt to travel in high-radiation environments for such extended periods.

And just how people would survive, breathe, eat and drink on the dry, red planet are significant obstacles that have yet to be overcome.

"The US has demonstrated that we know how to get to the Moon," Bolden said.

"What we have not demonstrated and what I think everyone in this room -- well most people in this room will concede, is that there are technological gaps to sending humans to an asteroid and to Mars," he added.

"And so every single moment of our time and every single dollar of our assets must be dedicated to developing those technologies that allow us to go beyond low Earth orbit, beyond the Moon."

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EU sets out post-horsemeat food standards

THE European Commission has set out what it says will be a revolution in food safety from farm to fork, drawn up in response to the scandal of horsemeat sold as beef.

But the EU executive was careful to underline that the new rules would not in and of themselves prevent willful future mis-selling.

The agri-food industry is the European Union's second biggest, in the world's largest tariff-free market of half a billion consumers.

It is worth, the Commission says, some 750 billion euros per year and employs nearly 50 million people across Europe.

If passed by EU member governments and the European Parliament, the proposed revamp, boiling down existing legislation and sharpening testing regimes, will introduce:

-- financial penalties directly related to profits from "fraud";

-- and mandatory spot-check testing, as opposed to the power only to recommend inspections, as now.

In a departure, national authorities will be encouraged to publish league tables where consumers can check food data from everything from big-brand producers to individual restaurants, the Commission's proposals said.

But the changes will not affect, in the main, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or "micro-businesses," a large part of the post-industrial food chain.

Neither will stipulations governing the important seed sector be applied to "private gardeners," who will still be able to buy seeds "in small quantities" on open markets.

"The recent horsemeat scandal has shown that there is room for improvement," said EU Health and Consumer Commissioner Tonio Borg, in announcing the rulebook rewrite.

He said the changes "take on board" some of the lessons of a scandal that stunned consumers in large part due to links to organised crime.

Borg's office spelled out that the labelling of food, as seen in the horsemeat scandal, is a problem of fraud, not origin -- already covered in legislation due to take effect from December 2014.

"This fraud could have occurred, even if there was mandatory origin labelling in place," it said of the equine scandal.

The Commission is to report to the European Parliament by December on whether or not it is desirable or feasible to extend origin labelling to meat provenance, it added.

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