Fossil may solve dinosaur riddle

Fifty Shades lingerie to hit Target

IN NEWS that will please fans of erotica, the lingerie line based on popular novel Fifty Shades of Grey will be stocked exclusively in Australia through Target.

Stations bid to air adult TV any time

TV stations want the right to screen adults-only shows day and night, pushing to dump the traditional ban on sex and violence before kids' bedtime.

Rolf's Queen portrait 'missing'

ROLF Harris' portrait of Queen Elizabeth is reportedly in art limbo, with no-one confirming its whereabouts.

Is One Direction's Niall in Melbourne?

FANS of boyband One Direction are in meltdown mode on Twitter tonight with news one of the fab five, Niall Horan, has touched down for a holiday visit in Melbourne.

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Russia, Syria want return of UN inspectors

RUSSIAN and Syrian foreign ministers on Monday strongly pushed for the return of United Nations inspectors to Syria to continue their probe into the use of chemical weapons and again warned Washington against launching an attack.

The statement comes as President Barack Obama, who blames President Bashar al-Assad for killing hundreds of his own people in a chemical attack last month, is pressing for a limited strike against the Syrian government.

It has denied launching the attack, insisting along with its ally Russia that the attack was launched by the rebels to drag the US into war.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after Monday's talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem that UN chemical weapons experts should complete their probe and present their findings to the UN Security Council.

"We have agreed to push for the soonest return of inspectors," Lavrov said.

Al-Muallem said his government was ready to host the UN team, and insisted that Syria is ready to use all channels to convince the Americans that it wasn't behind the attack.

He added that Syria was ready for "full cooperation with Russia to remove any pretext for aggression".

Neither minister, however, offered any evidence to back their claim of rebel involvement in the chemical attack.

Lavrov said Russia will continue to promote a peaceful settlement and may try to convene a gathering of all Syrian opposition figures to join in negotiations. He added that a US attack on Syria would deal a fatal blow to peace efforts.

Lavrov wouldn't say how Russia could respond to a possible US attack on Syria, saying that "we wouldn't like to proceed from a negative scenario and would primarily take efforts to prevent a military intervention".

President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would keep providing assistance to Syria in case of US attack, but he and other Russian officials have made clear that Russia has no intention to engage in hostilities.

Lavrov also denied allegations that Russia may have sponsored a deal between the US and Syria during the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg last week, where Putin discussed the Syrian crisis with Obama.

"There won't be and there can't be any deal behind the back of the Syrian people," Lavrov said.

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NT govt dumps minister Anderson

Aboriginal MP Alison Anderson has been dumped from the Northern Territory ministry. Source: AAP

ABORIGINAL MP Alison Anderson has been dumped from the Northern Territory ministry just two days after a federal coalition government was elected.

The Member for Namatjira was in charge of four portfolios: Children and Families, Regional Development, Local Government and Women's Policy.

But now Attorney-General John Elferink is the Minister for Children and Families, Deputy Chief Minister Dave Tollner has taken over the Local Government and Regions portfolio and Bess Price is Minister for Women's Policy.

In a statement released on Monday night, Chief Minister Adam Giles said he was "keen to re-organise the ministry to reflect the government's priorities" after a year in power.

Last month he ruled out dumping Ms Anderson, saying it was "all fiction".

Tension has been bubbling for some time between them, when in March after a failed leadership bid for the Country Liberal government Ms Anderson accused Mr Giles of behaving like a "little boy".

She threatened to leave the party and take three bush members - Bess Price, Larissa Lee and Francis Xavier - with her if Mr Giles pursued the Chief Ministership, which he successfully did with the bush members' support a week later.

Ms Anderson was elected as a Labor MLA in 2005, and served as a minister until 2009, when she left the party after a disagreement with then-Chief Minister Paul Henderson.

She was an independent until 2011 when she joined the Country Liberals, and was re-elected in last year's Territory elections.

Her dispute with Mr Giles came as she supported Terry Mills, the chief minister he rolled in March.

Opposition Leader Delia Lawrie said Mr Giles had never gotten over the slight.

"There's no doubt (he's) clinging to power without the full support of his colleagues," she said in a statement.

More recently, Mr Giles clashed with Ms Anderson over the CEO position for the Department of Children and Families, which now has its fourth leader in less than a year.

Ms Anderson appointed Jenni Collard to the acting role in March, and last week backed her for the full-time role, despite the government leaking that it wanted to appoint former Country Liberals leader Jodeen Carney, which it now has.

Mr Giles did not give a reason why Ms Anderson had been pushed out of cabinet, but said: "I thank Alison Anderson for her work in Cabinet and wish her well. (She) has worked as a minister for several years across different portfolios and governments."

He flagged a wider shuffle of the ministry, with the creation of three new portfolios - North Australia Development, Community Services and a combined Department of Local Government and Regions.

"Now is the time for northern Australia to be recognised as the key player in the energy, food and economic security of the Asian region," Mr Giles said.

"In light of this, I will be taking on the important new portfolio of North Australia Development, which will allow the Territory to work more closely with the federal, West Australian and Queensland governments on issues affecting the north."

Ms Lawrie described the government as the most dysfunctional the NT had ever had, with two chief ministers, five cabinets and multiple departmental changes in one year.

"There is no doubt deep divisions remain in the CLP camp," she said.

The NT's new ministry will be sworn in on Tuesday in Darwin.

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Iranian ministers open pages on Facebook

Iran's entire Cabinet opened Facebook pages in what may be a move toward lifting internet freedom. Source: AAP

IRAN'S entire Cabinet has opened Facebook pages in what is seen as a move toward greater government openness - even though the social media site is blocked in the Islamic Republic.

The Facebook pages of 15 ministers could be viewed in Tehran through a proxy server. Newspapers on Monday hinted the move might herald the lifting of some internet barriers.

"It seems the 'key"' - Rouhani's electoral symbol in his presidential campaign - "may turn the lock of (internet) filtering," the pro-reform Shargh daily said.

With the exception of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who joined Facebook in 2009, the Cabinet members signed up this August after the inauguration of centrist- and reformist-backed President Hasan Rouhani.

Rouhani's office has also opened a page on Facebook that was "liked" by all the ministers.

Saeed Leilaz, a Tehran-based political analyst, said it was likely the start of the lifting of internet "filters," which block specific sites. "Definitely filtering on Facebook will be lifted, and we will witness the elimination of filters (on the rest of) internet," said Leilaz.

Rouhani had promised greater openness and transparency during his presidential campaign in June. The move also suggests that his administration is looking toward social media to push its policies.

Last week, Zarif told a local news website that he sent a message on Twitter saying "Happy Rosh Hashana," the Jewish new year, in what is likely a small diplomatic step toward easing the hostilities between his nation and Israel.

Iranian hard-liners see the internet as a possible corrupting force, but many Iranians use proxies to access banned sites.

Iran imposed a ban on Facebook after disputed re-election of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, when his opponents used social media to organise protests.

Earlier in 2012, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, issued a religious decree in which Facebook was considered permissible if it was not used for corrupting or bad purposes. A page that claims to be Khamenei's is generally believed to reflect his views. He has neither disowned nor claimed it, and many consider it his unofficial voice.

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Mass blackout across eastern Melbourne

A MAJOR power outage blacked out over 100 traffic signal lights and caused around 200,000 homes in Melbourne's east to lose power on Monday evening.

A United Energy spokesman said the power outage effected its customers from 5.30pm (AEST) in areas including Burwood, Cheltenham, Brighton, Mordialloc, and Clayton with power restored after 45 minutes.

The spokesman said the outage was caused by a fault with an SP Ausnet terminal station.

VicRoads director of road operations Dean Zabrieszach said over 100 traffic signals were without power.

"It started about 5.20pm and we had just about everything back to normal by 6pm," he said.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said she had not received any reports of accidents caused by the blackout.

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Royal prank call inquest delayed again

Fifty Shades lingerie to hit Target

IN NEWS that will please fans of erotica, the lingerie line based on popular novel Fifty Shades of Grey will be stocked exclusively in Australia through Target.

Stations bid to air adult TV any time

TV stations want the right to screen adults-only shows day and night, pushing to dump the traditional ban on sex and violence before kids' bedtime.

Rolf's Queen portrait 'missing'

ROLF Harris' portrait of Queen Elizabeth is reportedly in art limbo, with no-one confirming its whereabouts.

Is One Direction's Niall in Melbourne?

FANS of boyband One Direction are in meltdown mode on Twitter tonight with news one of the fab five, Niall Horan, has touched down for a holiday visit in Melbourne.

23.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Shorten should lead Labor: Marles

FORMER trade minister Richard Marles has called on Bill Shorten to put his hand up for the Labor leadership, saying it's in the interests of the party he do so.

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Family disappointed by prank inquest delay

THE family of a British nurse who took her own life after receiving a prank phone call from two Australian radio DJs is "disappointed" the inquest into her death has been delayed for a second time.

The inquest was due to be held on Thursday and Friday this week in central London.

But a spokesman for Westminster City Council, which handles media inquiries for Westminster Coroner's Court where the inquest was first opened, said it had been adjourned again because Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox was "seeking more information".

"We will announce another date in due course, hopefully within a few days," the spokesman told AAP.

The inquest was initially scheduled for May.

British MP Keith Vaz, who's been speaking on behalf of Jacinta Saldanha's family, says they were surprised to hear the inquest was delayed again just a few days before it was due to begin.

"They are rather disappointed at the decision as they have been waiting for nine months and this is the second time the inquest has been adjourned," Mr Vaz said in a statement.

"For them the inquest represents closure. We very much hope we will have a new date set soon."

Ms Saldanha committed suicide in December 2012 just days after 2DayFM's Mel Greig and Michael Christian rang London's King Edward VII hospital posing as the Queen and Prince Charles.

The 46-year-old, a mother of two, transferred the call to a duty nurse who gave out information about Prince William's pregnant wife Kate Middleton.

Radio station 2DayFM last week said it had phone records showing it attempted to gain permission to air the now infamous prank call.

The station always maintained that four follow-up calls were made despite the hospital stating it had no records of the subsequent calls being placed.

"It has been somewhat contentious for a while, but today 2DayFM has established through its phone logs and verification by the phone company that those calls were made to the hospital after the first call, which became known as the prank call," a spokesman told AAP on Tuesday.

The inquest will hear evidence in person from Greig who confirmed earlier this year, through her lawyers, that she would travel to London for the hearing.

The coroner has granted anonymity to a duty nurse who may have been one of the last people to speak with Indian-born Ms Saldanha on the night of the call.

British police have passed a file relating to the hoax call to both the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police and asked them to consider "whether any offences were committed under Australian legislation".

UK prosecutors in February announced Greig and Christian would not be charged in the UK over the prank.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

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