Domestic violence tracking set for WA

SERIOUS domestic violence offenders in Western Australia will almost certainly find themselves being monitored electronically, with both main political parties pushing the plan.

If WA Labor wins the March 9 election, Opposition Leader Mark McGowan says the party will start a $4.5 million electronic monitoring trial of domestic violence offenders who breach restraining orders - a plan he mooted in March last year.

But Corrective Services Minister Murray Cowper said the Liberal-led government had already approved the drafting of legislation to create a new category of a serious, violent offender to enable courts to order them to wear GPS tracking devices.

This would initially target repeat domestic violence offenders, Mr Cowper said, after the Liberals announced their GPS tracking policy last month.

The government had also passed legislation that meant a mandatory one-year jail term for anyone who tampered with the device, he said.

"Will Mr McGowan commit to mandatory sentencing for tampering with a device?" Mr Cowper said.

Mr McGowan said domestic violence was on the rise and victims were not being adequately protected.

He pointed to Saori Jones, who was murdered in front of her two children by her ex-husband Bradley Wayne Jones.

Jones received a five-year prison sentence in 2011, moving WA Labor to introduce a private member's bill, known as Saori's Law, to parliament last year, but it was voted down by the Barnett government.

The bill sought the near-automation of restraining orders in domestic assault cases and would have cleared the way for victims to remain in their homes even if the properties were registered in the offenders' names.

Mr McGowan also took a swipe at Premier Colin Barnett's announcement on Saturday - Chinese New Year's Eve - to promise $2 million to improve Chinatown in Northbridge.

Sticking with one of his key campaign themes of transforming the CBD, Mr Barnett said he wanted to turn the area into a vibrant laneway precinct, building on the Perth City Link project currently under way.

This involves sinking the Fremantle rail line to make the border between the city and the entertainment district more pedestrian-friendly.

Two new street connections would be created, the premier said, including linking the high-end King Street - home of Perth's most expensive retail rentals - to Lake Street, one of Northbridge's most bustling roads.

But Mr McGowan said the announcement confirmed the Premier's priorities were wrong and out-of-touch, and came as the WA government racked up record debt levels.

Instead, Mr McGowan said he was focused on traffic congestion, which the opposition planned to solve with its Metronet rail plan to connect outer suburbs to the city and airport, and easing high costs of living.

The Australian newspaper's Newspoll figures on Friday pointed to a landslide win for the WA Liberals, who lead 57 per cent to 43 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

But Mr McGowan is romping it in as preferred premier, jumping 11 points to 40 per cent. On the same basis, Mr Barnett has slipped to 44 per cent, down four points.

The poll has a three per cent margin of error.

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Behemoth storm dumps snow on US northeast

Airlines are grounding their planes in New York City in response to an intensifying blizzard. Source: AAP

A BEHEMOTH storm packing hurricane-force winds and blizzard conditions has swept through the US Northeast, dumping more than half a metre of snow on New England and knocking out power to 650,000 homes and businesses.

More than 70 centimetres of snow had fallen on central Connecticut by early on Saturday, and areas of southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire notched 0.6 metres or more of snow - with more falling. Airlines scratched more than 5,300 flights through Saturday, and New York City's three major airports and Boston's Logan Airport closed.

The wind-whipped snowstorm mercifully arrived at the start of a weekend, which meant fewer cars on the road and extra time for sanitation crews to clear the mess before commuters in the New York-to-Boston region of roughly 25 million people have to go back to work. But it could also mean a weekend cooped up indoors.

For a group of stranded European business travellers, it meant making the best of downtime in a hotel restaurant Friday night in downtown Boston, where snow blew outside and drifted several inches deep on the footpaths.

The six Santander bank employees found their flights back to Spain cancelled, and they gave up on seeing the city or having dinner out.

"We are not believing it," said Tommaso Memeghini, 29, an Italian who lives in Barcelona. "We were told it may be the biggest snowstorm in the last 20 years."

The National Weather Service says up to 3 feet of snow is expected in Boston, threatening the city's 2003 record of 27.6 inches. A wind gust of 76 mph was recorded at Logan Airport.

In heavily Catholic Boston, the archdiocese urged parishioners to be prudent about attending Sunday Mass and reminded them that, under church law, the obligation "does not apply when there is grave difficulty in fulfilling this obligation."

Halfway through what had been a mild winter across the Northeast, blizzard warnings were posted from parts of New Jersey to Maine. The National Weather Service said Boston could get close to 3 feet of snow by Saturday evening, while most of Rhode Island could receive more than 2 feet, most of it falling overnight Friday into Saturday. Connecticut was bracing for 2 feet, and New York City was expecting as much as 14 inches.

Early snowfall was blamed for a 19-car pileup in Cumberland, Maine, that caused minor injuries. In New York, hundreds of cars began getting stuck on the Long Island Expressway on Friday afternoon at the beginning of the snowstorm and dozens of motorists remained disabled early Saturday as police worked to free them.

About 650,000 customers in the Northeast lost power during the height of the snowstorm, most of them in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Mass., lost electricity and shut down Friday night during the storm. Authorities say there's no threat to public safety.

At least four deaths were being blamed on the storm, three in Canada and one in New York. In southern Ontario, an 80-year-old woman collapsed while shovelling her driveway and two men were killed in car crashes. In New York, a 74-year-old man died after being struck by a car in Poughkeepsie; the driver said she lost control in the snowy conditions, police said.

Forecasters said wind gusts exceeding 75 mph could cause more widespread power outages and whip the snow into fearsome drifts. Flooding was expected along coastal areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy, which hit New York and New Jersey the hardest and is considered Jersey's worst natural disaster.

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Khartoum-backed militia 'kill 17 people'

KHARTOUM-BACKED militia in Sudan's South Kordofan state have killed 17 civilians, rebels say.

They accused the group of ethnic South Sudanese of ambushing a civilian lorry on Friday at Abu Nuwara, about 80km from the border with South Sudan's Upper Nile state.

"They clashed with the civilians there and there's a lot of casualties," said Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which has been fighting government forces in South Kordofan since June 2011.

He said the incident occurred in a government-controlled area and blamed a militia linked to Lam Akol's Sudan People's Liberation Movement-Democratic Change (SPLM-DC).

"This is ridiculous," Akol told AFP from Khartoum. "We don't have a militia."

SPLM-DC is South Sudan's main opposition party, a breakaway group from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement which has ruled the South since independence in 2011 after a 22-year civil war.

He said the rebels in South Kordofan are "just parroting what their masters in Juba are saying."

Khartoum accuses South Sudan of supporting the SPLM-North, and this has been a major obstacle for the failure of Sudan and South Sudan to implement key security and economic agreements signed in September.

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Elderly woman dies in scooter accident

AN elderly woman has died after her scooter collided with a car in southwest NSW.

The 81-year-old woman was riding her scooter in Lavington when she collided with a sedan at an intersection and was thrown onto the road about 8.20am (AEDT) on Friday.

She sustained critical injuries and was taken to Albury Base Hospital but later died.

The 49-year-old driver of the car was uninjured.

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Gunmen kill 9 at two Nigeria polio clinics

GUNMEN have attacked two polio clinics in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, killing nine people before fleeing, police and residents say.

"Nine people were killed in two separate attacks by gunmen on (motorised) tricycles when they attacked two dispensaries where polio immunisation workers were preparing to go out for polio campaigns," police spokesman Magaji Majia said.

The attacks come after a local cleric denounced polio vaccination campaigns this week and some local radio programs repeated previous conspiracy theories about such campaigns being a foreign plot to harm Muslims.

Such conspiracy theories have long spread in parts of northern Nigeria, stoked by local politicians.

Nigeria is one of only three countries still considered to have endemic polio, alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Police declined to say who they believed was behind the killings.

Extremist sect Boko Haram has carried out attacks in Kano, although gangs linked to local politics also operate.

"Six people on a tricycle pulled up outside the dispensary at 9.45am while polio immunisation workers were gathering for the day's house-to-house polio campaign," a resident near the second attack said.

"Two of the men were holding guns. They stormed into the dispensary and began shooting."

Last year, two Nigerian police guarding polio vaccination workers were killed by gunmen, though it was unclear if the attack was linked to the campaign.

Islamist extremists have carried out scores of attacks on police.

In 2003, Kano's state government suspended polio immunisations for 13 months, with the then governor saying claims on its harmful effects had to be looked into.

The suspension followed allegations by some Muslim clerics that the vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile as part of US-led plot to depopulate Africa.

Despite the resumption of polio immunisations, Kano has continued to record polio cases as many parents still reject the vaccine.

Deadly attacks linked to polio vaccination campaigns have also occurred in Pakistan.

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Bomb kills 10 people in northwest Pakistan

A BOMB planted near a market in northwestern Pakistan has killed 10 people and wounded 23 others, in the latest in an uptick in attacks in recent months, government officials say.

The blast occurred in Kalaya, the main town in the Orakzai tribal area, said local government administrator Khaistan Akbar.

Orakzai is one of several areas in the semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border where the military has been battling a Pakistani Taliban insurgency.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest bombing, but local militants regularly target security forces and civilians in the area.

The blast occurred near government and security offices, according to another local administrator, Javed Khan.

It damaged one of the shops in the market.

Some of the wounded were in critical condition, he said.

The military has launched multiple operations against the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest since 2009, but the militant have proved resilient and continue to carry out attacks.

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Armed robbers caught on NSW coast

TWO men accused of embarking on a two-week-long armed robbery spree in northern NSW have been caught in a motel just days after their latest robbery.

The two men, aged 24 and 34, were arrested at a motel in Adamstown on Thursday after they allegedly robbed a sandwich shop, video store, credit union, hotel and a takeaway outlet on the far north NSW coast.

The robberies occurred over a two-week period in January and February this year.

In four of the robberies the men were armed with at least one handgun, while the other involved a knife.

The latest robbery was committed on Monday.

Officers have charged the men with several counts of armed robbery and other charges relating to firearms and concealing offences.

Police say the 24-year-old man is believed to be wanted on arrest warrants in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

Both men have been refused bail and will face Newcastle Local Court on Friday.

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Iran seeks Syria govt, opposition talks

IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to unseat his regime to negotiate an end to the country's nearly two-year-old conflict.

"We are seeking to halt fighting and violence raging there by bringing both the Syrian regime and opposition to sit together at the negotiating table," Ahmadinejad told Egyptian television in an interview broadcast on Thursday.

Iran, a staunch ally of Damascus, has repeatedly rejected international calls on Assad to step down.

"We are not taking sides in Syria. Our position backs negotiations and allows elections to be the judge," Ahmadinejad added through an interpreter.

"The Syrian people are the ones to determine Syria's future."

Syria was at the centre of talks on Wednesday in Cairo between Ahmadinejad and his Egyptian and Turkish counterparts, Mohamed Morsi and Abdullah Gul.

Egypt and Turkey, vociferous critics of Assad, have repeatedly called for him to leave power.

Iran said it backed a proposal by Syria's opposition chief Moaz al-Khatib to negotiate with regime officials to end the conflict, which has claimed the lives of at least 60,000 people, according to UN estimates.

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Explosion at Yemen weapons depot kills 10

A YEMENI military official says an explosion at a military weapons depot in northern Yemen has killed 10 civilians and soldiers.

The blast took place in the city of Abss, some 170 kilometres north of Sanaa, the official said.

Among the dead were two children and five soldiers, according to the official.

He also said that shrapnel hit a nearby village, demolishing parts of three houses and injuring at least seven people.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

It is not clear what caused the explosion, but similar incidents have taken place before when thieves have attempted to steal weapons from military stockpiles.

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Germany takes steps to curtail risky banks

THE German government has agreed on a draft law that paves the way for criminal prosecutions for bankers who take excessive risks.

The bill, to be put before Parliament this year, also requires banks to separate retail activity from proprietary trading if it goes beyond a certain threshold.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that the move was being co-ordinated with France as part of an effort to draw lessons from the 2008 financial crisis.

Schaeuble says up to a dozen German banks would need to separate their retail and trading activities.

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Japan's Mazda swings back to profit

JAPANESE car giant Mazda says it has swung back to profit in the nine months to December and has boosted its full-year earnings forecast.

Japan's fifth-biggest vehicle maker logged a net profit of Y25.6 billion ($A264.09 million) for the April-December period, reversing its net loss of Y112.8 billion a year earlier.

Sales rose 8.5 per cent to Y1.54 trillion, it said on Wednesday.

It credited the results to a bounce in sales and cost-cutting after suffering a double punch from a strong yen and falling demand in key markets during the corresponding period in 2011, when manufacturers were also hit by effects of Japan's quake-tsunami disaster.

In China, Mazda sold 129,000 vehicles for the nine-month period, down 21.5 per cent from a year earlier, "but sales are on a recovery trend," it said, echoing similar comments from Toyota, Japan's biggest vehicle company.

On Tuesday, Toyota said the China market was improving as it net profit in the nine months to December quadrupled while it also lifted its full-year earnings outlook.

Demand for Japanese cars in China, the world's biggest vehicle market, plunged last year in the wake of a consumer boycott sparked by a territorial spat between Tokyo and Beijing over an East China Sea island chain.

Mazda also said it was projecting a full-year net profit of Y26 billion, up from an earlier estimate of Y10 billion, while sales are forecast to be Y2.19 trillion, compared with an earlier Y2.17 trillion prediction.

Japan's vehicle makers have been posting strong results, underscoring their recovery from the twin disasters and the surging value of the yen, which has been in steep decline in recent months.

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Rain, floods kill 25 in Pakistan

HEAVY rain in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least 25 people and injured more than 50, emergency officials say.

Collapsing structures in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province caused most of the casualties.

Three soldiers were still missing after an avalanche hit their post near the Afghan border, said disaster management spokesman Adnan Khan on Wednesday.

More than 230 houses were damaged during the rains, which began at the weekend and subsided early on Wednesday.

Heavy snow fell over the northern mountain ranges.

Chief meteorologist Arif Mahmood said a 30-year record for snowfall was broken in Malam Jabba town that hosted skiing competitions until Taliban militants destroyed the only resort there in 2008.

"More than three metres of snow fell in as many days, setting a new record," Mahmood said.

Unprecedented monsoon floods in 2010 killed more than 1,000 people and damaged nearly 300,000 structures.

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Nurse likens Nauru to concentration camp

A VETERAN nurse has likened conditions in the asylum seeker detention centre on Nauru to a concentration camp.

Marianne Evers worked at the centre for three weeks late last year and says the conditions were completely appalling.

"I actually liken it to a concentration camp," Ms Evers, who has more than 40 years nursing experience, told ABC Television on Tuesday.

"But the Australians don't have the guts to kill these people and put them out of their misery. Because miserable it is."

The Dutch-born Australian citizen, who broke a confidentiality agreement by coming forward, said she saw numerous attempted suicides and other instances of self-harm during her brief stay on the tiny Pacific island.

She says she also heard allegations of sexual assault from other staff members but did not herself witness anything.

Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman Sandi Logan questioned why it took so long for Ms Evers to come forward.

"I think invoking concentration camps is a disgrace to be quite honest," he said.

"I don't think anyone should be throwing terms like concentration camp around with such abandon."

More than 400 male asylum seekers are living in the Nauru facility.

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Japan protests over naval radar action

TOKYO has lodged a protest with Beijing after a Chinese warship directed radar against a Japanese military vessel near a group of disputed islets in the East China Sea.

Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said the Chinese ship's fire-control radar was directed at the Japanese ship on January 31.

He said the government also suspected a Chinese ship had directed radar at a Japanese military helicopter on January 19.

He called the incidents "extremely unusual" and said "they could have led to a dangerous situation".

Japan also issued a protest earlier in the day as two Chinese surveillance vessels entered what Tokyo calls its territorial waters around the disputed islets for more than 14 hours on Monday.

"It is extremely regrettable and totally unacceptable that the ships remained in Japanese waters for a long period of time," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

The government's purchase of three of the islets in mid-September sparked anti-Japan protests in dozens of Chinese cities and a boycott of Japanese products.

The Senkaku islands are also claimed by China and Taiwan, where they are called the Diaoyu and the Tiaoyutai, respectively.

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Asian markets mostly lower on Europe fears

AN Asian rally has been brought to a juddering halt by political concerns in Spain and Italy.

The euro also slumped as Spain's prime minister was forced to deny corruption claims and former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi vowed to throw a spanner in the works of a government austerity drive as his party showed solid gains in polls ahead of a general election.

Tokyo shares dived 1.9 per cent, or 213.43 points, to 11,046.92, while Seoul slipped 0.77 per cent, or 15.03 points, to 1,938.18 and Sydney shed 0.51 per cent, or 24.8 points, to 4,882.7. Hong Kong tumbled 2.27 per cent, or 536.48 points, to 23,148.53.

Shanghai reversed morning losses and ended up 0.2 per cent, or 4.98 points, at 2,433.13 after the Chinese central bank injected a huge amount of cash into the market to satisfy pre-Lunar New Year holiday demand from traders.

The losses come after several markets approached highs not seen for several months as confidence slowly returns, thanks to an easing of the eurozone debt crisis and a pick-up in the US and Chinese economies.

However, dealers suffered a blow on Monday when Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy came under pressure to step down over a corruption scandal.

Rajoy has dismissed claims by Spain's El Pais newspaper that he and other ruling party officials channelled donations into secret payments.

The news sent the Spanish cost of borrowing surging, reviving worries about Madrid's ability to access the debt market to keep functioning.

Berlusconi, meanwhile, said he would refund the money Italians have had to pay for an unpopular property tax if his coalition, headed by his protege Angelino Alfano, wins a February 24-25 election.

Berlusconi, who would take the role of finance minister in a new government, abolished the real estate tax in 2008 but it was reinstated last year as part of Prime Minister Mario Monti's austerity budget in Italy.

The news out of Europe hit the euro, which tumbled in New York late on Monday to $US1.3503 and Y124.28, from $US1.3626 and Y126.26 earlier in the day in Asia.

In Tuesday afternoon Tokyo forex trade the euro fetched $US1.3485 and Y124.52 yen.

The dollar bought Y92.33 compared with Y92.11 in New York late on Monday.

The Australian dollar eased to US$1.0409 from US$1.0444 after the country's central bank held interest rates on hold at three per cent.

On Wall Street the Dow, which ended near a record high on Friday, dropped 0.93 per cent on Monday, while the S&P 500 fell 1.15 per cent and the Nasdaq slipped 1.51 per cent.

In Europe there were heavy losses on all the main indexes on Monday, with London's FTSE 100, Frankfurt's DAX and the Paris CAC diving between 1.6 per cent and 3.00 per cent. Madrid tumbled 3.77 per cent and Milan slumped 4.5 per cent. On Tuesday the markets were mixed.

Oil prices eased in Asia. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, dropped 15 cents to $US96.02 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for March shed 37 cents to $US115.23.

Gold was at $US1,678.01 at 1040 GMT (2140 AEDT) compared with $1,665.40 late on Monday.

In other markets:

- Singapore closed down 0.75 per cent, or 24.71 points, to 3,272.66.

DBS Bank dropped 0.59 per cent to Sg$15.20 and real estate firm CapitaLand shed 1.02 per cent to Sg$3.89.

- Kuala Lumpur shares lost 0.07 per cent, or 1.2 points, to close at 1,633.35.

Telekom Malaysia dipped 1.1 per cent to 5.48 ringgit, while Axiata Group fell 0.2 per cent to 6.29. Hong Leong Bank added 1.3 per cent to 14.60 ringgit.

- Jakarta ended down 0.25 per cent, or 11.12 points, at 4,479.44.

Cigarette producer Gudang Garam fell 1.48 per cent to 49,950 rupiah, food manufacturer Cahaya Kalbar lost 1.73 per cent to 1,700 rupiah and cement maker Semen Indonesia rose 2.52 per cent to 16,250 rupiah.

- Bangkok lost 0.04 per cent, or 0.65 points to 1,505.72.

Coal producer Banpu dropped 1.77 per cent to 389.00 baht, while Kiatnakin Bank added 1.79 per cent to 56.75 baht.

- Taipei fell 0.46 per cent, or 36.22 points, to 7,886.94.

Hon Hai Precision shed 1.07 per cent to Tw$83.1 while leading smartphone maker HTC was down by its 7.0 per cent daily limit at Tw$266.0.

- Manila closed 0.54 per cent higher, adding 34.51 points to 6,470.49.

BDO Unibank rose 1.53 per cent to 83.05 pesos while SM Investments also gained 1.53 per cent to 995 pesos.

- Mumbai's Sensex index slid 0.46 per cent, or 91.37 points, to 19,659.82.

Mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel fell 1.93 per cent to 324.55 rupees and Tata Motors fell 1.64 per cent to 287.05 rupees.

- Wellington fell 0.81 per cent, or 34.46 points, to 4,211.95.

Fletcher Building was down 2.39 per cent at NZ$8.97, Telecom slipped 2.89 per cent to NZ$2.355 and Contact Energy lost 1.14 per cent to NZ$5.20.

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Cremation of Cambodia's Sihanouk begins

THE mourning period for Cambodia's late King Norodom Sihanouk has culminated with an elaborate cremation ceremony led by his widow and his son, the current monarch.

King Norodom Sihamoni and Sihanouk's widow Monique wore traditional white mourning clothes as they knelt to pray on Monday evening before the bier of Sihanouk, who dominated his country's politics for half a century after guiding it to independence in 1953.

Live coverage on state television showed a white cloth drawn over the camera lens before the pyre was actually lit, preserving the decorum and royal privacy of the occasion.

The late king's body had been lying in state at the Royal Palace after being flown from Beijing, where he died on October 15 of a heart attack. He was 89.

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Shot Pakistani girl appears on video

A PAKISTANI girl shot by the Taliban has made a video statement, saying she is recovering.

Speaking clearly but with a slight stiffness in her upper lip, 15-year-old Malala Yousefzai says she is "getting better, day by day".

The video statement was published on Monday, just hours after Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital said surgeons had successfully operated to reconstruct her skull and restore her hearing.

The teenager drew the world's attention when she was shot by Taliban militants on a school bus in northwestern Pakistan.

The Islamist group said they targeted her because she promoted girls' education and "Western thinking". She had also criticised the militant group's behaviour when it took over the scenic Swat Valley where she lived.

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Indian activists protest against rape law

SCORES of demonstrators are demanding that the Indian government repeal a new sexual violence law the cabinet hurriedly passed and replace it with a more comprehensive measure.

Activists said the law, passed by the Cabinet on Friday and signed by the president on Sunday, only followed some of the recommendations of a government panel set up after the fatal gang rape of a woman in New Delhi two months ago. That rape led to protests across India, sparked a debate about the treatment of women and highlighted the inability of law enforcement to protect them.

The new law has increased punishments for rape from the existing seven to 10 years to a maximum of 20 years. It also provides for the death penalty in extreme cases of rape that result in death or leaves the victim in a coma. It has also made voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women punishable under criminal law.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said the government decided to bring in the new law through an ordinance - which allowed it to take effect immediately, though it will have to be approved by Parliament within six months - since it viewed changing the law as a priority.

"The government wants to assure everyone that before it is tabled in Parliament, we will hold wide consultations with all political parties before the bill is introduced," Chidambaram told reporters.

The protesters near Parliament on Monday criticised the new law as a smokescreen, because it doesn't deal with the issue of marital rape or sexual violence against women by armed forces personnel in conflict zones that had been recommended by the government commission.

The new law also ignored the panel's recommendation to bar politicians facing rape charges from contesting elections.

"(The) recommendations came just a few days back and the government could have spent time on drafting a good bill ... a comprehensive bill and brought it to Parliament with candor and sincerity," said Maimoona Mullah, of the All India Democratic Women's Association.

In just one month, the panel examined more than 80,000 submissions and produced a 630-page report recommending amendments to the laws governing crimes against women.

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Students boost learning via fast broadband

STUDENTS produce higher quality work with access to high-speed broadband as part of their schooling, a new report says.

The report, 21st Century Teaching Strategies for a Highly Connected World, drew on the experiences of 60 teachers at three schools connected to the national broadband network (NBN) - PLC Armidale, the TAFE teacher training institute at Armidale, and Willunga High School in South Australia.

Willunga High School principal Janelle Reimann said the NBN helped students lift their grades.

"Students who used to hand in C-grade work are now producing A-grade work," Ms Reimann said.

The three-month study was conducted by educational consultant ideasLAB on behalf of the network's builder, NBN Co.

Among the findings was 96 per cent of teachers said they believed the NBN would help students boost their quality of work.

And 86 per cent said access to super quick broadband would improve how lessons were delivered.

"We found that online, collaborative learning supported by fast, ubiquitous broadband is motivating our children to become even more engaged and successful in the subjects they learn," ideasLAB assistant director Richard Olsen said.

Student and teachers were accessing new ways to learn through the broadband network.

This included history students studying at home while working with peers and teachers using online community Edmodo, and science pupils connecting with university experts to watch the dissection of hearts by high definition video conferencing.

NBN Co general manager of education Kate Cornick said most Australian educators realised the importance of online learning, both at school and at home.

"The potential is extraordinary and it's what we need if Australia is to remain globally relevant in the 21st century," Ms Cornick said.

Under Labor's $37.4 billion plan, NBN Co is to deliver high-speed broadband optic fibre cable to 93 per cent of homes, schools and businesses by 2021.

The rest will be supplied via fixed wireless and satellite services by 2015.

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UNHCR slams conditions on Manus Island

THE UN refugee agency has slammed the federal government's immigration detention centre in Papua New Guinea and has called for the transfer of children to be suspended.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it has found significant shortcomings in how asylum seekers are transferred, treated and processed on PNG's Manus Island.

The UNCHR's damning assessment comes after its officials made a three-day visit to Manus a fortnight ago.

Its report finds that the government's current regime is inconsistent with Australia's international obligations.

The mandatory detention of 34 children and their families at the centre is particularly troubling, UNHCR regional representative Richard Towle said in a statement accompanying the report.

The report calls on the government to cease transferring children until all appropriate legal and administrative safeguards for their processing and treatment are in place.

That should include arrangements to house them in an "open centre" as opposed to the current detention centre, it says.

The UNHCR says it is also deeply concerned about the lack of a legal framework under which refugee claims can be assessed in PNG and the capacity and expertise of officials to process such claims.

"Asylum seekers are distressed and confused about their situation. They are in closed detention, without a process in sight. They feel they have been forgotten," Mr Towle said.

Transfers to Manus Island began in November. There were more than 200 asylum seekers there when the UNHCR visited.

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Thai cop arrested with 20 elephant tusks

A THAI policeman has been arrested after he was caught trying to smuggle 20 elephant tusks, officials say.

The haul was discovered when the suspect - in plain clothes but driving a police van - was stopped at a checkpoint in the southern province of Chumphon on Saturday, Police Colonel Chalard Polnakarn told AFP.

"We found 10 pairs of elephant tusks in the van and charged him with illegal possession of elephant tusks, which he confessed to during the investigation," Chalard said.

The origin of the tusks was unclear.

International trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989.

But a rise in the illegal trade in ivory has been fuelled by demand in Asia and the Middle East, where elephant tusks are used in traditional medicines and to make ornaments.

Conservationists say ivory from Africa is often smuggled into Thailand and passed off as coming from Thai elephants, as a legal loophole allows the legal trade in ivory from domesticated elephants.

Wildlife campaign group Freeland praised the latest seizure as a "valiant act of fighting corruption to protect wildlife".

"We need more officers like them to fight this new form of transnational organised crime," Freeland director Steven Galster said in a statement.

Freeland said that in the past year thousands of tusks had been seized as they were smuggled into Asia from Africa due to "rampant elephant poaching".

It comes as Thailand prepares to host the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) in Bangkok in March.

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