Australian military hit by 1,000 abuse claims (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – More than 1,000 people have made allegations of sexual and other abuse against the Australian Defence Force, lawyers assessing the complaints for the government said Tuesday.

The review was ordered in the wake of a scandal at the elite Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra in which a teenage female cadet alleged that she was unwittingly broadcast having sex with another cadet to classmates.

DLA Piper, the law firm conducting the review on behalf of Defence Minister Stephen Smith, said more than 1,000 people had since come forward with allegations, including complaints made in the media and direct to the minister.

"The allegations range from relatively minor matters to very serious matters," DLA Piper said in a statement.

"Some of the allegations are made by victims or parents or partners of victims, some are made by witnesses and some are made by people who have no direct knowledge of the incident which they allege/report."

"We need to proceed with care because the issues involved are serious and sensitive. We are taking advice on our processes from an expert in dealing with victims of sexual abuse," the firm added.

DLA Piper said there was a surge in complaints after fresh allegations were broadcast by the media last week, and extra lawyers were drafted in to take calls.

The firm said it was now carefully considering how best to gather more detailed information, responding to criticism that the process was too formal or that the review was a "cover-up" exercise.

"The Minister expects the Review to provide our own honest assessment and recommendations, regardless of whether or not doing so may involve criticism of aspects of Defence's response to allegations," DLA said.

"The Review members would not be participating in the Review if we thought it was a sham."

The Australian Defence Force has been stung by a string of allegations, some decades old, of abusive and sexist behaviour in its ranks.

Cases aired in the media involve the hushing up of gang rape and the brutal bashing and bullying of military cadets.

Minister Smith has called the allegations "very concerning" and promised they would be "methodically and exhaustively" assessed.

Australia's top military brass have stressed that such practices are completely unacceptable, and that the defence force has improved and reformed over the years.

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Ill penguin stranded in NZ is offered a lift home (AP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A young emperor penguin stranded in New Zealand has survived two medical procedures and now has an offer of a lift home.

Yet the aquatic bird that many are calling Happy Feet — after the lighthearted 2006 movie — is not out of danger yet. The penguin remained on an intravenous drip Saturday and faces another procedure Monday to remove more sand from its digestive system.

If it does pull through, a businessman wants to take it by boat to Antarctica next February.

Happy Feet arrived on Peka Peka Beach, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Wellington, last Monday, the first time in 44 years that an emperor penguin has been spotted in the wild in New Zealand. Typically, emperors spend their entire lives in and around Antarctica.

At first Happy Feet seemed fine, but as the week progressed, the bird became more lethargic. It ate a lot of sand, apparently mistaking it for snow, which emperor penguins eat in Antarctica to hydrate themselves during the frozen winters.

By Friday, conservation officials decided its condition had worsened to the point that it would likely die without intervention. So they transported the penguin in a tub of ice to the Wellington Zoo.

Zoo spokeswoman Kate Baker said the bird was put on anesthesia for 2 1/2 hours Friday while veterinarians flushed its throat and stomach with water to remove sand. A second procedure on Saturday was more of the same, yet the penguin's digestive system still remained clogged.

Baker said staff want to give the bird a break Sunday but plan a third flushing procedure Monday. The bird remained on an intravenous drip Saturday to help it rehydrate.

New Zealand investment adviser Gareth Morgan, who is leading an expedition to Antarctica next February, on Saturday offered Happy Feet a trip home aboard a Russian icebreaker. But it would not be for another eight months.

"Of course until that time Happy Feet will have to be cared for here in Wellington, where we're lucky enough to have a great community of wildlife experts, capable not just of pumping sand but also ensuring this wayfaring fellow is hosted appropriately until it's time to set sail," Morgan wrote on his website.

"A sea passage is far more akin to the animal's natural rite of passage across the Southern Ocean than any trip in a Globelifter jet might be, with no risk of deep vein thrombosis," Morgan added jokingly.

Whether officials choose to take Morgan up on his offer may depend on Happy Feet's health.

Peter Simpson, a program manager for New Zealand's Department of Conservation, said earlier in the week that there was a chance the bird might have picked up a disease in warmer climes which staff wouldn't want to introduce back into the Antarctic colony.

If a trip back to the Antarctic doesn't pan out, there's always the offer of a more sheltered life.

Lauren DuBois, assistant curator of birds at SeaWorld in San Diego, which has the only colony of emperor penguins in North America, said SeaWorld would be willing to step in and help. Thirty birds live there in a 25-degree Fahrenheit (minus 4 Celsius) habitat that simulates Antarctica, with up to 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilograms) of snow blown in every day.

Estimated to be about 10 months old, Happy Feet probably was born during the last Antarctic winter and may have been searching for squid and krill when it got lost. Experts haven't yet determined whether it is male or female.

The rare venture north captured the public's imagination, with school groups, sightseers and news crews coming to the beach to see the penguin and photograph it from a distance.

The amazing journey of emperors, the tallest and largest species of penguin, to breeding grounds deep in the Antarctic was chronicled in the 2005 documentary "March of the Penguins," which highlighted their ability to survive — and breed — despite the region's brutal winters.

___

Associated Press writer Sue Manning in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Aborigine jail rate a 'tragedy': Australian report (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – Aborigines account for one quarter of Australia's prisoners despite making up just 2.5 percent of the population, a report found Tuesday, describing the figures as a "national tragedy".

The "Doing Time" report, prepared by a government committee on Aboriginal affairs, said entrenched social and economic disadvantages meant younger generations were following their forebears into the criminal justice system.

Young Aborigines were 28 times more likely to be jailed than non-Aborigines, the report found, a "shameful state of affairs" that saw them accounting for 59 percent of the juvenile prison population.

A landmark inquiry 20 years ago into Aboriginal prison deaths aimed to reduce jail rates, "yet the incarceration rate of indigenous Australians... is worse now than at any other time since", it added.

"Although indigenous Australians make up only approximately 2.5 percent of the population, 25 percent of prisoners in Australia are indigenous," the report said.

"This is a national tragedy, and questions must be raised as to why the situation has worsened so dramatically after the sweeping reforms recommended by the Royal Commission."

The number of Aboriginal men in custody had spiked 55 percent in the past 10 years, while there were 47 percent more indigenous women in prison -- a "disturbing" trend for community and family stability, the report said.

As a proportion of the Aboriginal population, total imprisonment rates grew 66 percent from 2000 levels, with 1,891 in every 100,000 indigenous people now behind bars.

"Intergenerational dysfunction" meant many young Aborigines were exposed to domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, poor housing, health and school attendance and a lack of job skills and employment opportunities.

"This situation is a national disgrace," it said, adding that government at all levels had "failed to adequately address this problem".

The committee urged "rapid and effective" action, including a review of alternatives to detention for Aboriginal youth and better programmes both inside prisons and post-release, aimed at successful reintegration into the community.

It called for quotas or dedicated seats in the nation's parliament for Aborigines and said greater engagement with and empowerment of indigenous leaders was key to reversing disadvantage.

The committee also recommended flying the Aboriginal flag in schools and using local indigenous languages to name school sports teams and classrooms so as to boost pride in, and respect for, the nation's first people.

The Australian Human Rights Commission welcomed the report.

"We must act now before we lose another generation to the criminal justice system," said Aboriginal commissioner Mick Gooda.

Australia's original inhabitants, the country's most impoverished minority, are believed to have numbered around one million at the time of white settlement, but there are now just 470,000 in a nation of 22 million.

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Foster's rejects $10 billion SAB Miller bid (AFP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

MELBOURNE (AFP) – Australian beer giant Foster's on Tuesday rejected an initial Aus$9.51 billion (US$10 billion) takeover bid from SABMiller, but the global brewer said it would still pursue the group.

Foster's said it had received an unsolicited, incomplete, non-binding and conditional proposal from SABMiller for all of its stock at Aus$4.90 per share.

The offer represented an 8.2 percent premium on Monday's closing price but is below the firm's Aus$5.14 finish on Tuesday as it surged 13.47 percent on the prospect of a sweetened offer or a rival bid.

"The board of Foster's believes that the proposal significantly undervalues the company in the context of a change of control and, as such, it does not intend to take any further action in relation to it," it said in a statement.

Foster's, which owns Australia's largest brewer Carlton and United Breweries, recently split its beer division from the underperforming wine assets which had suffered because of a grape glut and soaring local dollar.

The prospect of a takeover of Foster's, one of Australia's best known brands, had been anticipated since the demerger and the move follows consolidation within the Australian beverage industry.

SABMiller said the proposal to buy the Australian company was in line with it strategy to create a global spread of businesses and it would continue to pursue discussions with Foster's.

It said Australia had a strong, wealthy and growing economy, was well positioned to benefit from continued economic growth in Asia, and had a profitable beer market in which Foster's was the leading brewer.

"SABMiller can conclude a transaction quickly and will continue to seek engagement with the board of Foster's to put an agreed proposal to Foster's shareholders," chief executive Graham Mackay said in a statement.

He said the company had a proven track record of acquiring and integrating brewing companies and it aimed to strengthen the Foster's brand.

The Australian company has been battling intense competition in the beer industry, affecting its flagship brands VB, Crown and Carlton Draught. Foster's estimated the domestic beer market shrank 7.0 percent in the second half of 2010.

SABMiller is one of the world's largest brewers and its brands include Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft and Grolsch.

Citigroup analyst Andy Bowley said in a note: "We expect SABMiller to return with a higher bid though question whether it can meet our view of the board's expectations given limited synergies, low post-deal returns, and added risk given current Australian dollar strength."

In 2009, Japan's Kirin Holdings acquired Australia's second largest beer-maker Lion Nathan Ltd. for about Aus$3.3 billion and some analysts view fellow Japanese brewer Asahi Breweries as a potential bidder for Foster's.

SABMiller said it had an agreement with its Australian partner Coca-Cola Amatil to buy its share of their Pacific Beverages joint-venture if the Foster's transaction completes.

-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story --

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Former Australian PM Hawke hospitalised (AFP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – Former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke has been admitted to hospital for pneumonia but was recovering, the hospital said Wednesday.

The 81-year-old, who was leader for eight years until the end of 1991, making him Australia's longest serving Labor prime minister, was hospitalised last week after picking up a virus on an international flight.

A statement from St Vincent's Private Hospital in Sydney said Hawke was "sitting up in bed recovering from pneumonia".

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Cathay, Virgin flights 'minutes from crash' (AFP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – A commercial jet from Hong Kong came within minutes of a mid-air crash with an Australian flight in 2009 after air traffic control failed to notice they were on collision course, a report found on Friday.

The Melbourne-bound Cathay Pacific A330 was two minutes from smashing head-on into a Melbourne-Darwin Virgin flight over Australia's arid north when it radioed in to request advice on the plane, which was directly in its path.

"The flight crews of both aircraft reported that they considered the situation to be significant enough to commence diversions right of track without obtaining clearance prior to their respective manoeuvres," the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said, handing down its final report into the December 2009 incident.

It found the air traffic controller on duty had failed to identify the problem and had been insufficiently trained to recognise potential collisions "particularly in relation to opposite direct traffic".

He also had received just 11 weeks initial training in recognition of his prior studies and started "final field training with a level of knowledge and skills that was below the required standard," it said.

"The air traffic controller managing the airspace did not effectively control the resolution of the developing confliction," the ATSB said.

"The flight crews of both aircraft identified the traffic confliction and initiated avoidance action to maintain separation."

The ATSB also found that the controller was monitoring a "large volume of airspace" at the time and using a wide-range screen rather than one appropriate for spotting the type of collisions he was almost faced with.

The planes were just 55 kilometres or two minutes apart when the Cathay crew radioed the tower for advice.

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Danger heats up for Australia's platypus (AFP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – Global warming could shrink the habitat of Australia's duck-billed platypus by a third, researchers warned Friday, with hotter, drier temperatures threatening its survival.

A confusion of bird, mammal and reptile characteristics, the timid platypus is one of Australia's most cryptic creatures, feeding at night and living in deep waterside burrows to dodge predators such as foxes and eagles.

But its thick, watertight fur coat -- one of the key tools to ensuring its survival in the cool depths of rivers and waterholes -- could spell disaster in a warming climate, according to a new study from Melbourne's Monash University.

Using weather and platypus habitat data stretching back more than 100 years, researchers were able to map declines in particular populations in connection with droughts and heat events.

The team then extrapolated their findings across a range of climate change scenarios laid out by the government's science research agency, CSIRO, to model how global warming would affect the unusual native species.

"Our worst case scenario at the moment suggested a one-third reduction in their suitable habitat," researcher Jenny Davis told AFP of the work published in the journal Global Change Biology.

Other human impacts, including land clearing and the damming of waterways for hydroelectric projects, had and would continue to diminish platypus homes, she added.

"Under a drying climate we'll be taking more water away from the environment because of our human needs, and predators are going to become more of an issue for (the) platypus," she said.

The most dire predictions suggested the platypus would disappear from Australia's mainland entirely, able only to live on Tasmania and the southern King and Kangaroo islands, said Davis.

Davis said the nocturnal creature already appeared to be responding to increases in Australia's average temperature, with certain populations receding from the 1960s, when a warming trend first became evident.

"Compared with 50 years ago some places have become too warm for them. Their habitat is shrinking," she said.

Classed as "common but vulnerable", the platypus is already extinct in the wild in South Australia state, and Davis said she feared it could meet a similar fate to the Tasmanian devil, whose numbers had dwindled rapidly.

"What could happen is that we could see a crash in an iconic animal and by the time that happens it's too late to do something about it," she said.

Platypus fur is finer and denser than that of a river otter or polar bear, and it has two layers: a long sleek outer and a woolly undercoat, ensuring it stays dry even when fully submerged in water.

Their average body temperature is 32 degrees Celsius (89 Fahrenheit) -- lower than most other mammals -- and they overheat rapidly when exposed to warm conditions out of the water.

Of most concern, however, is the drying up of waterways where they forage for aquatic invertebrates, with the platypus needing to eat about 30 percent of their own body weight every day to survive.

Davis said the creature's demise was "just another warning sign" of global warming's impact on Australia's unique wildlife.

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Australia's AG condemns surge in black prisoners (AP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's attorney general on Tuesday condemned as unacceptable the burgeoning number of young Aboriginal prisoners that a parliamentary report branded a "national crisis."

Aboriginal children are 28 times more likely than other young Australians to be sent to a juvenile detention center, according to the report on indigenous youth in the criminal justice system released Monday.

Attorney General Robert McClelland said the "alarming statistics" would redouble his efforts with state governments to find alternatives to jail, particularly for less serious offenses such as failure to pay fines and unlicensed driving.

"The rate of incarceration of indigenous Australians is plainly unacceptable," he said.

"There has been an increasing trend with law and order severity which I think the general community accepts, particularly in respect to violent crimes, but I think locking people up for fine defaults and driving offenses in circumstances where Aborigines in remote communities ... find it almost impossible to get a driver's license is really taking that philosophy far too far," he said.

The report comes as the government strives to close the life expectancy gap of more than a decade between Aborigines and other Australians by addressing poor health, unemployment, low education levels, and alcohol and drug abuse among indigenous people.

While Aborigines make up an impoverished minority of only 2.5 percent of Australia's population of 22 million, 25 percent of the nation's prisoners are indigenous.

Incarceration rates are far worse for the young, with Aboriginal children accounting for 59 percent of inmates in Australian juvenile detention centers.

"The overrepresentation of indigenous youth in the criminal justice system is a national crisis," the report said.

In the past decade alone, the imprisonment rate for Aborigines has soared 66 percent, the report said.

The 346-page report by a committee of seven government and opposition lawmakers specializing in indigenous issues made 40 wide-ranging recommendations that attack many underlying causes for young indigenous Australians getting in trouble with police.

Paul Henderson, chief minister of the Northern Territory, which has Australia's highest proportion of Aborigines, said his government would crack down on alcohol abuse by banning problem drinkers from buying it beginning next month.

"The vast majority of indigenous people who find themselves in jail are there because of alcohol-fueled and alcohol-related crime," Henderson told reporters.

"If you don't crack down on alcohol, you don't improve indigenous incarceration rates," he said.

Wayne Martin, chief justice of the Western Australia Supreme Court, said the report made "depressing reading," but was not surprising.

"The one thing you can conclude, I think, from the way the figures are getting steadily worse is that whatever the solutions are, we haven't yet found them," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

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Australian university celebrates $20m Picasso sale (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – The University of Sydney was celebrating Wednesday after a Picasso painting it was given sold for more than US$20 million at a London auction, with the funds to be used for scientific research.

"Jeune fille endormie", an intimate portrait of the Spanish-born artist's lover Marie-Therese Walter, whom he met when he was 45 and she was 17, was one of three works at Christie's Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale.

It sold for ￡13.5 million (US$22 million) on Tuesday, easily surpassing its ￡9 million valuation.

The 1935 portrait was donated to the university last year by a mystery American, on the condition that it would be sold and all proceeds directed to scientific research.

"This is a great result which is transformative for the university and for the health of the nation," said University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Michael Spence.

"The sale of this remarkable work is the result of one donor's extraordinary generosity who said 'this painting is going to change the lives of many people'.

"They were right. We are grateful for their extraordinary generosity and delighted with the outcome of the auction."

The money will be spent on research into diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

"It is a university-wide project that will involve everyone from economists to sociologists," added Spence.

The artwork was originally bought by the founder of the Chrysler car company, Walter Chrysler, who sold it to the mystery donor, who in turn gave it to the university.

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Australia may use fingerprints to ID burqa wearers (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian police are considering using fingerprints to identify people wearing face-covering veils, after a judge said he could not be sure a burqa-clad woman was who she told police she was.

The judge said this week that a case against Carnita Matthews, who a magistrate earlier found had made a false complaint against police, could not be upheld partly because he could not be sure she had made the complaint.

The complaint was made by a burqa-wearing woman to a Sydney police station but officers never saw the woman's face.

"I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that she made the complaint," Judge Clive Jeffreys said on Monday.

Following the decision, New South Wales state Police Minister Mike Gallacher said he would ask police to consider improved identification strategies for those wearing items such as the burqa -- which covers a woman's head and body.

One such strategy could be that "where the person elects not to remove their facial covering that they can provide a fingerprint as a means of identification", he told ABC television.

Gallacher said it was possible that fingerprints could be included on statutory declarations and other statements to ensure they were authentic.

The New South Wales government said regardless of religion or gender, all people were required to obey the law.

"Whether you're wearing a clown's mask, whether you're wearing a motorcycle helmet, whether you're wearing a face veil of any form, police can and have the power to demand that you remove it," Premier Barry O'Farrell said.

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Beleaguered Aussie PM to work on 1st anniversary (AP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

CANBERRA, Australia – A year after becoming Australia's first woman prime minister, Julia Gillard finds herself weighed down in opinion polls by an unpopular greenhouse gas tax policy and lingering anger over how she overthrew her predecessor.

The beleaguered leader is expected to keep Friday's one-year anniversary low-key since it revives bitter memories for many about how she overthrew Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a sudden internal government coup last July 24.

Asked about celebration plans, Gillard told reporters on Thursday that she planned to work.

The anniversary comes as the ruling Labor Party under Gillard fares worse in opinion polls than it had in the weeks before party powerbrokers decided to dump Rudd in favor of Gillard, then his deputy.

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Aussie chef catches flak for treated tap water (Reuters)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian chef has received a chilly reception for charging diners for treated tap water and ditching boutique bottled water, which he termed wasteful, for an eco-friendly option.

Mark Best, chef and owner of Marque Restaurant in Sydney, turned years of environmental consciousness into action by splashing out on a $6,000 Italian-made water system that filters, chills and carbonates tap water, the first of its kind in an Australian restaurant.

He now charges A$5 (3.3 pounds) for water -- but this includes unlimited refills. He previously charged A$10 for 500 ml of boutique bottled water.

Not only did the move lighten his carbon impact by cutting down on refrigeration and transport needs for the bottled water, it also helps reduce the amount of plastic bottles clogging up landfills, he said.

"I'm not highly political but I want to make people aware and this is just one initiative," Best said.

But while the environmentally-friendly move has drawn praise in some quarters, many are outraged at having to pay for what they see as basic tap water, however fancied up it may be.

"If you're willing to pay $5 for a glass of water then you've more money than sense. Give it to charity," said one commenter on a local newspaper website.

Best said he has also received abusive emails.

"A guy said that I was pathetic and he hoped the lawyers took me to pieces...I'm not sure for what."

Local law states that if tap water is treated it is not illegal to sell it on licensed premises, but licensed premises must supply free tap water when required by a customer. Best said authorities gave him a green light.

Though he could have buried the charge in the bill, Best said he wanted to make the charge clear and raise awareness of the need for restaurants to be socially responsible and reduce plastic waste.

He added that in the past, some customers would pay up to $40 a meal for bottled water with no complaint.

"They can drink 40 liters for A$5 if they want and suddenly it's seen as charging for tap water!" he said.

"It's quite interesting, it means the marketing of the mineral water has been very effective." ($1 = 0.944 Australian Dollars)

(Reporting by Pauline Askin)

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Australia's Qantas, Rolls-Royce settle over blast (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – Qantas said on Wednesday it had reached a $100 million settlement with engine maker Rolls-Royce over a mid-air blast that forced the grounding of the Australian flag carrier's entire A380 fleet.

The deal led the airline to increase its profit forecast for the year ending in June despite being hit by natural disasters at home and abroad as well as soaring fuel bills.

"We have reached a compensation agreement with Rolls-Royce following the Rolls-Royce engine failure on flight QF32 in November last year," said a "pleased" Qantas chief Alan Joyce.

"After extensive negotiations Rolls-Royce has committed to a settlement of around Aus$95 million dollars (US$100 million)."

In November a Qantas A380 superjumbo that had just left Singapore was forced to return and make an emergency landing because one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines exploded mid-flight.

The incident dented the carrier's reputation for safety, having never experienced a crash in the jet age, and forced it to initially ground all six of its Airbus double-deckers.

Subsequent investigations pinpointed a manufacturing defect that caused fatigue cracking in an oil pipe, resulting in a fire and potentially catastrophic engine failure.

Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Germany's Lufthansa all used the Trent 900 engine on their A380 superjumbos and dozens of turbines had to be replaced.

The Australian firm did not resume full A380 services until January, and the plane involved in the blast will be out of action until next February for repairs estimated to cost Aus$135 million.

The carrier said the settlement signalled the end of its compensation case in the Federal Court of Australia, adding that it "looks forward to a continued strong relationship with Rolls-Royce".

Its shares, which have lost about a third of their value since the blast, surged three percent immediately after the announcement before dropping back to around A$1.845 -- 1.1 percent firmer in a broadly higher market.

Battered by rising fuel prices and a string of natural disasters including an ash plume from a Chilean volcano that forced widespread flight chaos this week, Qantas has announced job cuts, cancelled plane orders and scaled back growth plans.

In light of the payout and despite the impact from recent natural disasters at home and abroad -- including earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan -- the airline revised its full year earnings outlook, forecasting a pre-tax profit of Aus$500-$550 million in the 12 months to June.

It had earlier predicted profits would be "materially stronger" than the 2010 figure of Aus$377 million.

Disasters including earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, floods and cyclones in Australia and the Chile volcano had wiped out $206 million, he said, with the full cost of the ash upheaval yet to be determined.

Historically high fuel prices were also eating into profits.

"We don't have much leeway, we have to be excellent just to get a profit at all, let alone make the returns required to justify capital investments," Joyce said.

He vowed "tough decisions" on Qantas's international business, which is set to return a $200 million loss for the 12 months ending June 30, pinning the airline's future on Asia -- the world's fastest growing aviation market.

"As a nation we used to fly via Asia -- now we fly to Asia, and the future will be all about travel to and within Asia," he said, promising to unveil a new international strategy later this year.

There has been widespread speculation that Qantas is planning an Asian subsidiary, hoping to lower its cost base and tap the burgeoning travel market there.

The Qantas chief, meanwhile, stepped up warnings to engineers, pilots and baggage handlers over strike plans, accusing unions of having "fallen out of touch with reality."

"We have seen the anxiety and stress caused when volcanic ash affects many areas of our network -- imagine the consequences of industrial action against the whole of our network," he said.

-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --

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Comedy icon Jerry Lewis ill in Australia (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – Veteran US comedian Jerry Lewis has had to cancel a sell-out Sydney tour after collapsing from exhaustion as he prepared to take the stage, promoters said Saturday.

The 85-year-old was due to perform before a packed house in western Sydney Friday night to raise money for muscular dystrophy but the event was called off at the last minute after he fell ill.

Lewis has cancelled the remainder of his Sydney tour to rest and will return to the stage on Thursday for a Melbourne performance if his health permits.

"He is extremely disappointed for his fans that he was unable to perform last night, but a combination of a long flight from the US and a busy few days on the start of his national tour led to his exhaustion," said David Jack, head of Australia's Muscular Dystrophy Foundation.

A doctor had attended to the comedy star but he had not been hospitalised and was "feeling much better" after resting in his hotel overnight, added Jack.

"He wanted me to give a very important message just to quash any rumours: `I'm not pregnant'," he joked.

"Understandably, Jerry's health is our primary concern throughout this period and we want to ensure he's able to travel home healthy."

Many people in the 700-strong audience for Friday's event had elected to donate the cost of their ticket rather than seek a refund and Jack said he had been "overwhelmed" when they rose to give the absent star a standing ovation.

Staff at the club where Lewis had been due to perform said the comedy legend had been unable to get out of the car when he arrived Friday and looked "extremely unwell".

"On meeting Mr Lewis he was very pale, looked quite frail and was unable to communicate very well," the club's general manager, Ian Lowe, told ABC Radio.

Lewis had been scheduled to do a dinner engagement on Saturday night and another event on Sunday, both of which were called off.

Known for his legendary 1940s comedy partnership with Dean Martin, Lewis has also achieved success as a film producer, screenwriter, director and singer and was awarded a humanitarian Oscar in 2009.

Poor health saw him hospitalised in Australia once before, in 1999, when he fell ill with viral meningitis.

A diabetic, Lewis has also undergone heart surgery following a number of heart attacks and battled prostate cancer and lung problems.

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Qantas, Rolls Royce reach settlement (AP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY – Australia's flagship carrier Qantas said Wednesday it has reached a 95 million Australian dollars ($100 million) settlement with Rolls Royce over last year's mid-air disintegration of a superjumbo engine, which temporarily forced the grounding of its entire fleet of A380s.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the terms of the agreement are confidential, but said the settlement's profit and loss impact would amount to a 95 million Australian dollars ($100 million) boost for the Australian carrier.

In November, a Rolls Royce engine on a Qantas A380 disintegrated shortly after takeoff from Singapore, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's interim report on the A380 incident said a manufacturing defect in an oil pipe deep within one of the engines led to an oil leak, which sparked a fire. The fire caused a disintegration of one of the engine's giant turbine discs, sending pieces of it shooting through the plane's wing.

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PM says Australian troops to stay in Afghanistan (AP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

CANBERRA, Australia – Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Australia's plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by 2014 is unchanged by President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops by the end of the year.

Gillard told reporters Thursday that Australia's 1,550 troops will remain in Uruzgan province training Afghan soldiers until the Afghans can take responsibility for security in the province.

She says Australia's "work in Uruzgan would continue in the same way," despite Obama announcing that 33,000 U.S. troops will be brought home by next summer.

Australia is the largest troop contributor to Afghanistan outside NATO.

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Australia says rogue Afghan soldier shot dead (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – A rogue Afghan soldier suspected of killing an Australian lance corporal has been shot dead during a US-led special forces operation, Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Monday.

The Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier Shafied Ullah had been on the run since he allegedly shot 25-year-old Lance Corporal Andrew Jones four times on May 30 as they shared guard duties at a patrol base in the Chora Valley.

"The knowledge that Shafied Ullah has been killed and no longer poses a risk in Afghanistan... will of course be a terrible reminder to the family of Lance Corporal Jones' tragic death," Smith told reporters.

Smith said that Ullah had been tracked since fleeing the base, and Australians had had some input into the operation which took place in the Afghan soldier's home province of Khost overnight.

While it would have been good for Ullah to face court justice, "all of the evidence and advice" pointed to him having killed Jones," he added.

"We are proceeding conclusively on the basis that the murderer of Lance Corporal Jones has himself been killed," Smith said.

Chief of the Defence Force Angus Houston said the operation had intended to capture Ullah but he was killed when he presented "a direct threat" to the coalition soldiers who found him.

"I understand from reporting received this morning that Shafied Ullah drew a pistol when confronted by the Coalition Special Forces team and was shot and killed," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.

He added that a man believed to be Ullah's brother was detained and was being questioned by the US military.

Australia has some 1,550 troops in Afghanistan, many of them working to train Afghan National Army soldiers working in southern Afghanistan. So far 27 Australian soldiers have died during the conflict.

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Australian PM defends rocky year in office (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Friday marked the anniversary of her rise to power, defending her performance and saying she never meant to mislead voters on a carbon tax.

Gillard, Australia's first female prime minister, ousted Kevin Rudd in a Labor Party coup on June 24, 2010 -- a date the conservative opposition has labelled "assassination day" -- after Rudd fell foul of factional bosses.

Rudd was flagging in the polls at the time, but Gillard's government has slumped even lower, with Labor's primary vote now down to just 27 percent after Gillard backflipped on an election promise not to bring in a pollution tax.

Gillard defended her position Friday, saying she did not mean to be misleading when she had said during the campaign there would be no carbon tax under the government she led.

"I've explained of course to the Australian people that I never meant to mislead anybody during the last election campaign about carbon pricing," Gillard told ABC Radio Friday.

The prime minister said she had always believed the best way of putting a price on carbon was a cap-and-trade scheme rather than a tax, but had not foreseen that a levy would be necessary for the first three to five years.

"So yes, the route to the objective is different," she said.

"When I said those words during the election campaign I didn't mean to mislead anybody and I understand that people heard those words and they look at what's happening now and they perhaps look at me and say, 'well, what's going on, what did she mean then, what does she mean now?'" Gillard said.

"Well, what I meant then and what I mean now is climate change is real. We're up to tackling it. We're a nation that can tackle the big reforms. The big reform we need to reduce carbon pollution is to put a price on carbon."

Gillard, who took the leadership pledging to address climate change, broker a tax on mining profits and tackle the sensitive issue of boatpeople, said her government was confronting tough reforms that had resulted in "some anxiety".

"But can I certainly say this; anybody who thinks that I am going to fold because it is a bit tough out there has got me wrong, absolutely wrong," she said.

"We are doing these tough reforms because they are right for the country's future."

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Australian carbon tax cash to flow to families: PM (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

SYDNEY (AFP) – Prime Minister Julia Gillard Sunday moved to reassure Australians that her planned carbon tax would not hurt their finances, saying 90 percent of families would be compensated for higher costs.

Labor leader Gillard has been plunging in the polls since she announced plans for a carbon tax earlier this year, seemingly contradicting an election campaign statement there would be no such tax under her government.

She said Sunday she was determined to tackle climate change by placing a price on carbon pollution, which would be paid by the country's major industrial polluters, and using this money to assist families.

"So I can confirm today that nine out of 10 households will get assistance -- that's seven million Australians getting assistance," Gillard told Channel 10's "Meet The Press" programme.

"We want to help people through tax cuts, through changes to family payments, and of course through pension rises as well.

"And the vast majority of people we assist actually won't pay any price, because of the 0assistance that they receive."

The conservative opposition has attacked the proposal for a carbon tax, which is yet to be finalised, saying it will damage industry and cost jobs, at the same time as raising the daily living expenses of Australians.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott, who has accused Gillard of pushing for a tax for which she has no mandate, has vowed to repeal the carbon levy if elected.

Gillard again defended her decision to push for a fixed price on carbon, after initially ruling it out during the campaign, saying she still intended for it to develop into a cap and trade scheme within three to five years.

"I understand (that) people looking at that statement before the last election would say to themselves: 'She said no carbon tax then -- there's going to be a carbon tax now,'" Gillard said.

"But it's a stepping stone to getting to where I always wanted this nation to get to and what I talked about before the election campaign, which is an emissions trading scheme to tackle climate change."

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NZ offers to pay 5,000 to leave quake-hit homes (AP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand's government said Thursday that it has offered to pay thousands of homeowners to leave areas of the country's second-largest city that were hardest hit by recent earthquakes.

Christchurch was struck by a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in September and a devastating magnitude-6.3 quake in February that killed 181 people and crippled much of the city.

The government said it has offered to pay about 5,000 Christchurch homeowners to leave and have their homes razed, with certain swaths of land remaining too unstable for rebuilding. The future of an additional 10,000 homes, many of which may also need to be destroyed, is still being assessed.

The government estimated the cost of moving the first 5,000 homeowners at up to $500 million.

Prime Minister John Key said the total cost of the earthquakes amounted to more than $15 billion — about 8 percent of the country's annual economy. He compared that with Hurricane Katrina, saying the damage from that disaster amounted to about 1 percent of the U.S. annual economy.

Key said recent months have been tough for residents of Christchurch, which continues to be rattled by large aftershocks.

"The people want to know what the future holds, and they've been through so much and shown such great resilience," he said at a news conference in Christchurch.

He emphasized that Thursday's announcement did not signal an end of efforts to help the city bounce back from the quakes.

"The government remains fully committed to rebuilding Christchurch," he said.

Officials also said they have divided the city into four zones: red, orange, white and green. Red indicates homes will likely be destroyed and the land won't be rebuilt upon any time soon. Orange means homes may need to be destroyed and land cleared. White indicates officials are still assessing the land, and green means the land has been given the all-clear sign and people can begin to rebuild or repair their homes.

The government has set up a website — http://www.landcheck.org.nz — to help residents figure out which zone they fall in.

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