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- Netherlands loses AAA rating with S&P, but Cyprus is upgraded - business live
- Morrissey attacks 'stupid' Obama over Thanksgiving traditions
- Tony Abbott's government is bending the truth. And that’s a fact
- Covering fire: military sets scene for Morrison to say ... nothing at all
- Asylum seeker separated from baby wins reprieve to stay in Australia
- Zanzibar acid attack: women's families speak of frustration
- Farmer's view: tough decision gives us a chance to grow into open market
- Google privacy changes made in 2012 break Dutch data protection law, says regulator
- Syria crisis: Zaatari refugee camp manager answers readers’ questions
- Q with Jian Ghomeshi
- China's dispatch of jets ratchets up tension over air defence zone
- GrainCorp veto: farmers welcome move as analysts fear investment shortfall
- Thai protesters break into Bangkok army headquarters
- Scott Morrison concedes Nauru family facilities ‘underprepared’
- GrainCorp decision: industry leaders fear Australia isn't 'open for business'
- Syria's refugee children forced into work by poverty and family breakdown - interactive
- Syrian refugee children face 'catastrophic' life in exile, UN says
- Scrap middle-class welfare, peak social services body tells government
- Hong Kong ferry crashes at high speed in the dark, leaving many injured
- Cyclists: Queensland government urged to retain law on helmets
- Public schools to bear brunt of Pyne Gonski switch, say education ministers
- Rio Tinto to suspend alumina production at Gove refinery in NT
- Sydney dentist avoids jail for assault on nursing home residents
- Indonesians warned over alleged wildlife smuggling
- As a refugee lawyer, the last few weeks have been heart-wrenching | Sharara Attai
| Netherlands loses AAA rating with S&P, but Cyprus is upgraded - business live Posted: 29 Nov 2013 01:28 AM PST Weak Dutch growth prospects cost the country its triple-A rating, leaving just three eurozone members with a top-notch rating, as Spain's outlook is raised to stable       |
| Morrissey attacks 'stupid' Obama over Thanksgiving traditions Posted: 29 Nov 2013 12:32 AM PST  The outspoken singer and animal rights activist attacks holiday in blog post entitled 'Thankskilling' Morrissey has attacked President Obama and the tradition of turkey-eating on Thanksgiving, in a blog post on his website entitled 'Thankskilling'. Morrissey described the annual lighthearted turkey 'pardon' ceremony that Obama takes part in, where turkeys are saved from being slaughtered, as "embarrassingly stupid". "Please ignore the abysmal example set by President Obama who, in the name of Thanksgiving, supports torture as 45 million birds are horrifically abused; dragged through electrified stun baths, and then have their throats slit. And President Obama laughs. Haha, so funny!" Furthermore, "As Ingrid Newkirk from PETA points out, turkey 'meat' is one of 'our nation's top killers', causing heart-attacks and strokes in humans due to saturated animal fats and cholesterol. And President Obama laughs." Morrissey has long been a campaigner for animal rights, vociferously promoting a vegetarian diet – and sometimes tipping into controversy. He said that the 2011 Utoya massacre by Anders Breivik was "nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's and Kentucky Fried shit every day." The news that he is now scheduled to play a Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo has upset some in Norway, given his earlier comments. In 2009 he left the stage at the Coachella festival saying: "The smell of burning animals is making me sick. I can smell burning flesh . . . and I hope to God it's human." He did make one exception to his rule that meat is murder though: "Bring me the head of Elton John... which is one instance in which meat would not be murder, if it were served on a plate." To celebrate his campaigning, this week animal rights charity PETA has put Morrissey on its 2013 range of postage stamps, along with Alan Cumming, Sarah Silverman, Ricky Martin and more. theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds       |
| Tony Abbott's government is bending the truth. And that’s a fact Posted: 29 Nov 2013 12:17 AM PST Political debate is cheapened when politicians' idea of truth is whatever the public can be convinced to believe  |
| Covering fire: military sets scene for Morrison to say ... nothing at all Posted: 29 Nov 2013 12:01 AM PST Lieutenant General a stage prop giving military authority to a political decision to keep boats operations as secret as possible.       |
| Asylum seeker separated from baby wins reprieve to stay in Australia Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:28 PM PST Latifar wins injunction to prevent her family being sent back to Nauru while court hears case for newborn’s claim to citizenship       |
| Zanzibar acid attack: women's families speak of frustration Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:24 PM PST  London teenagers Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee are recovering after attack during summer volunteering holiday The families of two British women targeted in an acid attack in Zanzibar have spoken of their frustration that the attackers have not been brought to justice. Londoners Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee, both 18, are recovering after being targeted by two men on a moped on 7 August during a volunteering holiday. Their families have called on the UK government to apply more pressure on the Tanzanian authorities. Doug Morris, the partner of Gee's mother, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are as committed to helping to bring these people to justice on behalf of two British citizens, then you would expect them to move hell and high water to do that. "There just doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency to conclude matters." There is still confusion over how to get a photograph of a suspect to the women for identification, according to Trup's father, Marc. He said: "The photograph cannot be sent in the correct format that is acceptable by Interpol, or the British authorities, and as a consequence of that nobody has seen the photo." The teenagers, from north London, were nearing the end of a month-long stint teaching English when they were attacked. Trup suffered severe chemical burns to her shoulder and back from the sulphuric acid, which was launched at the pair as they walked back from a restaurant on the predominantly Muslim island. Police in Zanzibar have interviewed several people, including witnesses, and are believed to have identified a possible culprit. Trup told Today: "I'm particularly upset with the Tanzanian authorities. I think they just hope this will go away. The Foreign Office do send us emails, but the emails say the same every single time and they seem to imply that the British Foreign Office has clout, it has a voice, but clearly none of that is working because we are not getting any progress whatsoever. "I suspect the Tanzanian authorities don't take the Foreign Office remotely seriously. We want the judicial system to work properly. I would like to see whoever threw that acid brought to justice. I don't blame the country. I don't blame the religion. I blame the person. He needs to be brought to justice. "Above all, the girls want to know why he did it and we would like to know why he did it. Was it racial, was it a religious thing? We have no idea why this person did it." Morris said: "If they mean what they say, if it's important for them to find the perpetrators of this attack, this crime, and bring them to justice – as they said at the time – then they should be assisting us in every way that they possibly can. "Everybody is trying to sort of give the impression that they are dealing with this, and we are served platitudes on a bi-weekly basis. "This crime can't go unpunished, for the girls' sake as much as anything else. What sort of message is that, that you can do something horrific, you can do something horrible, and you can get away with it? We don't want it to drag on and on. We want justice done and we want justice done now." The families said they had no idea why the girls were targeted, as they were behaving respectfully and dressed in accordance with local customs. Trup said his daughter was recovering from her injuries. "Kirstie is doing well. She's moved to university. She seems to be progressing well mentally and physically. Kirstie is still having treatment at the local hospital. She has to wear a pressure garment over her burns, which she has to wear 23 hours a day for one whole year," he said. "She goes regularly once a week to hospital for continual physiotherapy on her burns, but she's progressing well physically and mentally she appears to be moving well. She has difficult times." Morris said: "Katie is remarkable. She's very strong mentally and just coping with the process of healing." theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds       |
| Farmer's view: tough decision gives us a chance to grow into open market Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:23 PM PST Treasurer acknowledged extent of GrainCorp monopoly in announcing move to block takeover bid       |
| Google privacy changes made in 2012 break Dutch data protection law, says regulator Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:20 PM PST Dutch regulator could impose fine against search giant after complaining it "spins an invisible web of our personal information, without our permission".       |
| Syria crisis: Zaatari refugee camp manager answers readers’ questions Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:00 PM PST Kilian Kleinschmidt will be online to answer readers questions about the impact of the refugee crisis on Syria’s children. Join our live Q&A on Tuesday 3 December from 1pm-2pm GMT.       |
| Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:00 PM PST  The Canadian talk-show superstar's programme tackles the issues head on – as exemplified by his look at how Mexico's drug cartels are exploiting social media A bleak week for CBC, the home of public service broadcasting in Canada, where 650 jobs are being cut over the next three years to make up for a $115m (£66m) funding black hole. "It's been a very difficult day," tweeted Jian Ghomeshi, the nation's radio superstar, on Tuesday, before dutifully promising: "We will never give up on a commitment to the best programming possible." The day before, his show Q – one of the most popular on CBC – had aired a segment on Mexican drug cartels and their prolific use of social media. Later in the week, he took in Steely Dan, abortion, the rise of the street drug krokodil, the oil industry, and alt-rock Brooklynites the National. It's an appealing brief; part pop culture, part news-mag journalism, with an authoritative, affable host. But back to Instagramming drug lords. While his guest, Mexican cartel expert Antoine Nouvet, took an incredible story and bogged it down with jargon, Ghomeshi cut straight to the point: why are hardened, violent criminals posting incriminating selfies online? Can blingy photos of cartel members posing with Lamborghinis, AK-47s, wads of cash and pet tigers (yes, truly) really resonate with ordinary Mexican people? Are they even supposed to? Nouvet, who is working on a book on the subject, talked a lot about representation, engagement and strategy. Which is, perhaps, the most tedious way to explain that cartel members can be as narcissistic as your average teenager with a Facebook account, and are using social media as another way to spread fear and intimidation and commit more crime. There is, apparently, no shortage of images online uploaded by the cartels showing slain bodies, tortured and decapitated. This, alongside the "positive" PR: a glossy video of one cartel distributing aid after Hurricane Ingrid; a rousing speech by the leader of another that went viral and scored 60 times more views than an inaugural address from the Mexican president. And as for the sophisticated stuff – hacking, cyber crime and the set-up of a telecoms network just for cartel use – the cartels' techniques are frighteningly simple. They kidnap engineers to get the work done – 36 of them in the last year. theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds       |
| China's dispatch of jets ratchets up tension over air defence zone Posted: 28 Nov 2013 10:41 PM PST Analysts fear China may have miscalculated international reaction but cannot step back after raising domestic expectations       |
| GrainCorp veto: farmers welcome move as analysts fear investment shortfall Posted: 28 Nov 2013 10:23 PM PST Analysts say grain industry needs urgent infrastructure upgrade, but ask: 'Where is the capital coming from?'       |
| Thai protesters break into Bangkok army headquarters Posted: 28 Nov 2013 09:57 PM PST Demonstrators storm compound in latest bid to force out government of Yingluck Shinawatra       |
| Scott Morrison concedes Nauru family facilities ‘underprepared’ Posted: 28 Nov 2013 09:23 PM PST But 'we disagree with the UNHCR', says immigration minister, on call to halt transfer of families and children       |
| GrainCorp decision: industry leaders fear Australia isn't 'open for business' Posted: 28 Nov 2013 09:19 PM PST Joe Hockey's move risks 'sending a confusing message to overseas investors'       |
| Syria's refugee children forced into work by poverty and family breakdown - interactive Posted: 28 Nov 2013 09:05 PM PST The Syrian refugee crisis is taking a huge toll on children. Of the 2.2 million people who have left Syria since the war began, more than a million of them are under 18. In Jordan, children can be found working in cafes or selling drinks or flowers by the side of the road       |
| Syrian refugee children face 'catastrophic' life in exile, UN says Posted: 28 Nov 2013 09:00 PM PST  More than a million Syrian children could miss out on education, and child labour is a big problem, warns refugee agency Hundreds of thousands of Syrian children already traumatised by war are facing a life of "catastrophe" in exile, without education or normal childhood freedoms, the UN refugee agency has warned. Child labour is a huge problem across the refugee communities of Jordan and Lebanon, with children as young as seven taking on the role of breadwinner for their fractured families. More than a million Syrian children are refugees, most of them in neighbouring countries. The report, the Future of Syria: refugee children in crisis, published by the UNHCR on Friday, involved four months of research across Jordan and Lebanon, speaking to children and the international workers supporting them. Registration workers at refugee camps are used to recognising the signs of acute distress or depression in the children and families they register each day. Sheeraz Mukhaimer, a case manager with the International Medical Corps, described children telling her about seeing family members killed and then having to bury the bodies. Parents report children suffering sleep problems, flashbacks to the war, bedwetting and speech difficulties. Constant crying is common. Volker Türk, director of international protection at UNHCR, says the scale of the unravelling crisis is what sets it apart from other refugee situations. "In terms of numbers, we are talking about a crisis of major proportions. Over 1 million children, it's the sheer magnitude of it. One striking feature is the impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of children. They are severely traumatised children coping with things adults would find difficult to cope with." As families fall apart, tens of thousands of Syrian children are living without their fathers. In a female-headed household, a male child is likely to be sent out to work. Child labour is illegal in Lebanon and Jordan, but children are commonly taking menial work for low pay. Their meagre wages are sometimes the family's only source of income. A previous report by the UN children's agency, Unicef, published in March, estimated that one in 10 Syrian refugee children in the region is engaged in child labour. In Jordan Valley, the agency found that 1,700 out of 3,500 school-aged children (nearly 49%) were working. An inspector at the Jordanian ministry of labour, Maysoon Al Remawi, told the Guardian that refugee children were directly competing with Jordanian adults. "Syrian children work in larger numbers than Jordanians due to their culture - 60-70% of child labour in Jordan is made up of Syrians, according to our estimates," he said. "They have higher skills than Jordanians and therefore compete with Jordanians on the same market segment... Syrian children work in sectors Jordanians would want to work in and are as much of a competition as adult Syrians." The Guardian spoke to a number of young people who are forced to work in Irbid, near Jordan's border. Samir works all night, six nights a week, cleaning and making tea in a pool hall. He is 13 and was at school in Syria, but now the family has no option but to send him to work. For his 12-hour shift he earns about $4, but even this tiny income is desperately needed. His father was killed when a bomb hit their house in Homs, leaving his mother paralysed. His 15-year-old sister has been married off to a 50-year-old Syrian man, because his mother thinks this is the best chance she has of a normal life. Samir works hard for his money. "I offer coffee, tea and clean the tables between six in the evening and five in the morning. I don't get a break, but if it's quiet I will sit down," he told the Guardian. Hassan, 14, is the eldest of four children, who now live in an apartment in Irbid with their father. They are from Daraa in Syria. Hassan sells books on the street, because his father can't work. "He was shot in the leg, sometimes he tries to work one or two days," he says. Hassan works a 14-hour day to provide for his family, running a book stall for a man he says is good to him. He earns $5 a day. "When it's quiet I rest, but he doesn't give me a break. The man is nice to me, he brings me two meals a day … Sometimes I get half a dinar extra, which I keep myself. We pay JD250 ($350) for rent, we cannot pay every month. The landlord tells us, if you don't pay I will kick you out." While boys are sent to work, many girls described startling levels of isolation and loneliness. Almost a third (29%) of children said they left their homes only once a week. One father in Zaatari refugee camp was so worried about the safety of his daughters he made them stay in their tent for the entire month they lived in the camp. Noor, 13, and her sister passed the time playing with rocks. Despite a massive effort by international NGOs and the governments in Lebanon and Jordan to support the children and provide them with education, more youngsters are out of school than in it. The number of Syrian school-aged children in Lebanon is soon likely to exceed the number of Lebanese children who were enrolled in the public system last year. Türk says the infrastructure in the host countries cannot expand indefinitely. "Lebanon and Jordan have been extremely generous about this," he says. "The problem is of course that we need different shifts – children going at different times of the day. There are very overcrowded classes and a need for double the number of teachers." The UNHCR is calling for more support for Jordan and Lebanon as they struggle to provide for Syrian children. One fear among humanitarian agencies is that countries will begin to close their borders if this support does not materialise. Türk says there needs to be more visible solidarity for Syria's neighbours from the international community, including offers of resettlement in Europe for the most vulnerable refugees. "I was very taken by the incredible amount of generosity I saw on the part of both Lebanese and Jordanian families … but the longer the crisis lasts, the more it is a burden. We have to support the host communities. "The longer it goes on, the less people envision their future in Syria itself – there is a tipping point. We need to constantly reinvigorate the hope that there is as solution in sight, and that people will … when the conflict is over, be able to go back." theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds       This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Scrap middle-class welfare, peak social services body tells government Posted: 28 Nov 2013 08:52 PM PST Disadvantaged Australians being ignored while tax loopholes benefit the rich, say the Australian Council of Social Service       |
| Hong Kong ferry crashes at high speed in the dark, leaving many injured Posted: 28 Nov 2013 08:50 PM PST Three passengers reported in a serious condition among 85 injured after ferry hit an unidentified on the way to Macau       |
| Cyclists: Queensland government urged to retain law on helmets Posted: 28 Nov 2013 08:43 PM PST Recommendation that motorists must stay a metre from riders welcomed, but concern over proposal to make helmets optional       |
| Public schools to bear brunt of Pyne Gonski switch, say education ministers Posted: 28 Nov 2013 08:41 PM PST Federal minister looking to reduce funding share for public schools sector, say state ministers after angry meeting       |
| Rio Tinto to suspend alumina production at Gove refinery in NT Posted: 28 Nov 2013 08:36 PM PST Key factors in decision were low alumina prices, a high exchange rate and substantial after-tax losses for the refinery  |
| Sydney dentist avoids jail for assault on nursing home residents Posted: 28 Nov 2013 08:02 PM PST Dentist who performed unnecessary dental surgery will serve two-year sentence by intensive correction order       |
| Indonesians warned over alleged wildlife smuggling Posted: 28 Nov 2013 07:47 PM PST Five galahs among birds found hidden in bags on an Australian military jet       |
| As a refugee lawyer, the last few weeks have been heart-wrenching | Sharara Attai Posted: 28 Nov 2013 07:40 PM PST Sharara Attai: The reintroduction of temporary protection visas is costly and unnecessarily cruel. The Australian Greens are right to challenge their existence       |
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