Kenya to toughen poaching sentences

Poaching has recently risen in east Africa, with whole herds of elephants massacred for their ivory. Source: AAP

KENYA plans to bolster lenient sentences for convicted wildlife poachers or ivory smugglers in a bid to stamp out a spike in elephant killings, the government says.

Poaching has recently risen sharply in east Africa, with whole herds of elephants massacred for their ivory. Rhinos have also been targeted.

Last year poachers slaughtered 384 elephants in Kenya, up from 289 in 2011, according to official figures, from a total population of around 35,000. This year, poachers have already shot dead 74.

"We intend to fight poachers at all levels to save our elephants," government spokesman Muthui Kariuki said in a statement on Saturday.

A major obstacle to this is that Kenyan courts are limited in their powers to jail or fine those convicted of wildlife crimes, he said.

"One of the major setbacks are lenient penalties and sentencing for wildlife crime by the courts," he said.

"The government is concerned about this and has facilitated the process of reviewing the wildlife law and policy with a view to having more deterrent penalties and jail terms."

Passing tougher wildlife laws will be made a priority for Kenya's parliament, elected last month but which has yet to begin business.

"We look forward to... parliament giving priority to passing of a new wildlife law and policy," Kariuki added.

Kenya's wildlife act caps punishment for the most serious wildlife crimes at a maximum fine of 40,000 Kenyan shillings ($A450), and a possible jail term of up to 10 years.

Last month, a Chinese smuggler caught in Kenya with a haul of ivory was fined less than a dollar a piece.

The smuggler, who was arrested carrying 439 pieces of worked ivory while in transit in Nairobi as he travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Hong Kong, was fined $US350 ($A337) and was then set free.

Such fines pose little if any deterrence, with experts suggesting a kilogram of ivory has an estimated black market value of some $A2406.

The illegal ivory trade is mostly fuelled by demand in Asia and the Middle East, where elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns are used to make ornaments and in traditional medicine.

Africa is now home to an estimated 472,000 elephants, whose survival is threatened by poaching as well as a rising human population that is encroaching on their habitat.

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Call for witnesses to horror crash

A CRITICALLY injured woman was trapped in her car for more than an hour after ploughing into a road barrier at Wacol on Saturday afternoon.

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward as officers attempt to piece together the crash, which left the woman with life-threatening injuries.

The Mitsubishi SUV smashed into the road barrier on Tile Street about 1pm Saturday.

The 52-year-old female driver was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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New PM vows to guard Lebanon from Syria

LEBANON'S newly named Prime Minister Tamam Salam pledged in his first speech to safeguard the country's security from the war raging in neighbouring Syria.

"There is a need to bring Lebanon out of its state of division and political fragmentation, as reflected on the security situation, and to ward off the risks brought by the tragic situation in the neighbouring (country) and by regional tensions," Salam said on Saturday.

Salam, 67, of the Western-backed opposition made the remarks in his inaugural speech shortly after being tasked by President Michel Sleiman with forming a new government.

His appointment comes two weeks after Najib Mikati resigned and effectively brought down his Hezbollah-dominated government.

Salam also pledged to work with all groups across Lebanon's political spectrum, which is split into pro- and anti-Damascus camps.

"I have accepted this nomination... out of conviction that it is my duty to work for my country's interest, in cooperation with all political parties," he said.

Lebanon was dominated politically and militarily by Syria until 2005, and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad still holds sway over Beirut through Hezbollah and other allies.

The March 14 opposition movement, meanwhile, is fiercely opposed to Damascus.

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NSW police nab boy over BMX bandit robbery

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged after a bottle shop in NSW's Southern Highlands was robbed by a knife-wielding youth who fled off on a BMX bike.

The youth was spotted stashing cigarettes and bottles of liquor into his backpack at the Mittagong bottle shop about 7.25pm (AEDT) on Wednesday, police allege.

A female shop assistant, 35, approached the boy, who threatened her with a large knife.

The teen then stole cash from the shop's till before fleeing on a BMX bike.

Police arrested the teenager on Thursday and charged him with several offences including robbery while armed.

He was refused bail to appear in Campbelltown Children's Court on Friday.

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Greek offshore accounts probed

OVER a hundred Greek offshore banking accounts will be probed by authorities after an international journalist group published information on over 122,000 tax haven accounts.

Finance ministry official Haris Theocharis confirmed on Thursday statements made to Greek daily Ta Nea, which is part of the global media investigation.

The probe was undertaken by the Washington-based international consortium of investigative journalists (ICIJ).

Titled Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze, it tracks the alleged involvement of officials, their families and associates in France, Azerbaijan, Russia, Canada, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Canada, Mongolia and other countries.

In Greece, only four of 107 offshore accounts held by Greeks in the British Virgin Islands and other havens are on government tax books.

Some are linked to state arms purchases while two were used to buy and refit the yacht Christina O once owned by legendary Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Ta Nea said.

"We will carefully examine the evidence published by the ICIJ and will try to make use of it in the best possible way," the finance ministry's Theocharis told the daily.

"If proof emerges on illegal or irregular activities we will proceed in the necessary fashion," he said.

The Greek account holders are apparently business executives and shipowners but also middle-class villagers from the country's poorer north, Ta Nea said.

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Children should leave Manus: Aristotle

ASYLUM seeker children and their families should be taken off Manus Island if the Australian government can't ensure adequate safeguards, a member of the government's asylum review panel says.

Australian authorities on Thursday transferred the first group of asylum seekers to the processing centre in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in two months.

But Paris Aristotle, part of former defence chief Angus Houston's refugee review panel, says safeguards to reduce risks to mental health are not in place at the detention centre.

The panel said any offshore processing arrangement needs to comply with international obligations, such as no arbitrary detention, the provision of legal assistance, review mechanisms, case management services and programs for physical and mental health.

Mr Aristotle says these safeguards aren't "just for the hell of it".

He's particularly concerned about the arbitrary detention of asylum seekers, especially children, on Manus Island.

"Something needs to be done to address that immediately," he told ABC TV's Lateline on Thursday.

"Six months in, I don't think it's appropriate that children are still held in detention anywhere.

"If they were free to move around, if there were adequate services available for them and so forth, then that may have been an acceptable option."

He has had discussions with the federal government and immigration department and doesn't believe they are ignoring the panel's recommendations. Rather, it has been difficult to get the co-operation of the PNG government.

For example, he said, on Nauru an independent board had been set up with government and non-government organisations and civil representatives from both countries to oversee the detention centre.

That was working extremely well and had contributed to improvements in conditions.

But on Manus Island, PNG wanted a similar board to consist of government officials only, contrary to the expert panel's recommendation.

"It's a feature of the complexity of doing things with other countries, where those countries have their own views about certain things," Mr Aristotle said.

But Australia did have control over whether to send people there before adequate arrangements were in place.

"If they can't rectify that situation straightaway, then my view is that children and their families should be returned and managed and processed here in Australia," he said.

He didn't expect the government would shut down Manus Island, but said they "absolutely" should if the expert panel's principles were not adhered to.

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Severe storm warning for Gold Coast

Check out this incredible time-lapse of Brisbane's 'super storm'. Image Credit: Noelia Ramon, videographer - photographer journalist.

A SEVERE thunderstorm warning for the Gold Coast City Council area has been cancelled by the Bureau of Meteorology.

At 10.35pm, the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for southeast Queensland, saying the immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed.
 

Earlier, the weather bureau issued a warning about severe thunderstorms that were detected on the weather radar south of the border.

The thunderstorms were moving north and expected to hit Tweed Heads by 10.15pm and Coolangatta and Tallebudgera by 10.45pm.

The warning states damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding are likely.

Emergency Management Queensland advises that people should:

* Move your car under cover or away from trees.

* Secure loose outdoor items.

* Avoid driving, walking or riding through flood waters.

* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.

* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.

* Beware of fallen trees and power lines.

* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.

Earlier this afternoon, a quick moving storm was sweeping the outskirts of Brisbane's western suburbs.

Localised heavy rainfall was expected as the storm moved north, with Wacol already receiving 17mm of rain at the time.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Rick Threlfall said Brisbane CBD was likely to experience showers in the coming hour but severe weather warnings were unlikely.

"It's got some locally intense rainfall in that thunderstorm is it's to the west of Brisbane right now but accumulations so far haven't put it in the severe category," he said.

Mr Threlfall said the storm "won't last too long" and as of 4.30pm was "skimming the western suburbs" including Ashgrove and The Gap as it moved between Brisbane and Highvale.

"The really heavy rainfall is to the west. I don't think it will stay anywhere long enough to induce localised flooding just intense rainfall for a period of time," Mr Threlfall said.

The bureau warned an afternoon storm is also likely tomorrow afternoon.

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African forces suspend hunt for Kony

UGANDA'S top military official says African Union troops have suspended the hunt for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic because the new government there is not co-operating with the mission.

General Aronda Nyakairima, the Ugandan army chief, said on Wednesday Uganda-led African forces in Central African Republic stopped operations against Kony until their status is clarified by the African Union.

About 3000 African troops under the AU's mandate are currently deployed against Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in CAR, where rebels deposed a president last month and announced a new government.

The African forces are supported by about 100 US military advisers.

Nyakairima said Ugandan troops would stay in the republic until the AU itself asks them to leave.

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Hollande vows new minister's law

FRENCH President Francois Hollande is vowing that a new law on the "publication and control" of ministers' wealth will be presented within weeks, after his ex-budget minister was charged in a tax evasion probe.

Hollande said on Wednesday the former minister, Jerome Cahuzac, "did not benefit from any protection" from top officials and that his actions were an "insult to the Republic".

Hollande promised "a ruthless fight against conflicts between public and private interests and to ensure the publication and control of the wealth of ministers and parliamentarians".

He said the government would submit a law to parliament on these measures "in the weeks to come".

The president also said elected officials convicted of tax fraud or corruption would be banned from holding public office and that new measures would be taken from this summer to reinforce the independence of the judiciary.

Cahuzac - the minister once responsible for cracking down on tax evasion - was charged on Tuesday with "laundering the proceeds of tax fraud" after he admitted to having a foreign bank account containing some 600,000 euros ($A740,000) following weeks of denials.

Hollande said he knew nothing of the account.

"He deceived the highest authorities in the country: the head of state, the head of the government, parliament, and through them all the French people," Hollande said.

"This was a mistake, an unpardonable mistake. It was an insult to the Republic.

"Every light will be shed on this and the justice system will pursue its work to the end and in all independence."

"Jerome Cahuzac did not benefit from any protection other than the presumption of innocence and he left the government at my request from the opening of a judicial inquiry."

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Sydney school fire 'suspicious'

POLICE are treating a fire which damaged an abandoned high school in Sydney's south as suspicious.

Emergency services were called to the former school on Willarong Rd, Caringbah about 3.30pm (AEDT) following reports an old gymnasium was alight, a Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said on Tuesday.

As a precaution, several people at an adjoining bowling club were evacuated while firefighters controlled the blaze.

Police said it's not yet known what caused the fire but the incident was being treated as suspicious.

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