Review of Qld power tariff reforms begins

Electricity reforms in Queensland will be phased in from 2014, the state's energy minister says. Source: AAP

ERGON Energy has begun a review of electricity pricing in Queensland, with tariff reforms due to be phased in from 2014.

Earlier this year the government proposed scrapping uniform tariffs to entice greater competition and merge government-owned retailers Energex and Ergon.

It's hoped the merging would save $580 million over seven years and reduce duplication of infrastructure.

Queensland Energy Minister Mark McArdle announced on Saturday that Ergon Energy had begun a review of power tariffs.

Restructured tariffs will commence in 2014-15, with further tariff reforms to be brought in over the 2015-2020 period.

Mr McArdle also urged Queenslanders and interest groups to get involved with the review.

"It makes sense that we now need to reconsider these tariffs so they better reflect the needs of Queenslanders," he said.

He says reforms will give customers more options and encourage electricity use to off-peak times.

Representatives from Ergon Energy, Energex, the Queensland Competition Authority, Treasury and Mr McArdle's department will provide oversight of the tariff reforms.

The Greens have criticised the absence of a representative from the solar industry in the group.

"Solar is the elephant in the room in the energy debate," a spokesman said.

"They are not making room in the working group for this important new industry player."

Electricity prices will rise by about $260 a year for the average household from Monday under a ruling by the Queensland Competition Authority.

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UK PM makes unannounced Afghan visit

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, meeting troops in the southern province of Helmand as the NATO military coalition hands responsibility over to local forces.

The British embassy in Kabul confirmed Cameron's trip to Camp Bastion as Britain marked Armed Forces Day on Saturday.

Britain has about 7900 soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

Cameron visited troops on the front line as a senior British commander said talks with the Taliban should have been attempted a decade ago.

General Nick Carter, deputy commander of the NATO-led coalition, told The Guardian that it would have been more successful to approach the Taliban in 2002 after they were knocked from power.

Speaking in Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan, Cameron told Sky News: "I think you can argue about whether the settlement we put in place after 2001 could have been better arranged. Of course you can make that argument. Since I became prime minister in 2010 I have been pushing all the time for a political process and that political process is now under way.

"But at the same time I know that you cannot bank on that, which is why we have built up the Afghan army, built up the Afghan police, supported the Afghan government so after our troops have left, and they will be leaving under the program we have set out, this country shouldn't be a haven for terrorists."

The British prime minister told reporters: "We want a political solution as well as making sure we have a security solution. What we have done in Afghanistan is we came here to stop it being used as a base for terrorist activities. That has been and is successful.

"What we need to do is build up the Afghan armed forces and at the same time make sure that the politics of Afghanistan enable everyone in Afghanistan to play a role in the future of their country.

"We are making some progress there as well."

Cameron announced that funding from bankers' Libor fines would be used to create a permanent memorial to the 444 British personnel killed in Afghanistan.

He said: "I can announce today that we will be taking more money off the Libor fines and putting it in to military charities including building a permanent memorial at the Staffordshire Arboretum so that we can always remember and future generations can remember those that fell and died here in Afghanistan."

Cameron said the political process should mean "those people prepared to give up the bomb, the bullet, can actually be part of that process, part of that future Afghanistan".

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Crowds set to farewell Sydney monorail

Large crowds are expected for the monorail's final lap as Sydney says goodbye to the steel giant. Source: AAP

LARGE crowds are expected to head to Sydney's monorail on Sunday to witness the steel giant's last spin around town.

The Sydney character will take its final ride at 9.30pm on Sunday, after a quarter of a century trundling above people's heads.

Labelled as a "fad" and a "white elephant" by NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian on Friday, ticket sales have increased leading up to its farewell.

"In the last three weeks we've seen a 15 per cent increase in customers, compared to this time last year," a NSW Transport spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

"With the final weekend of monorail operations, along with school holidays, we're expecting very large crowds."

A single loop ticket will be available for those wanting to get a last look at the monorail.

All sales will go to five charities and a ballot will be drawn to select the final people riding the monorail.

Ticket sales will stop at 8.30pm with the final passenger loop to take place from 9.30pm for the ballot winners.

Workers will begin dismantling the monorail, with almost all of its 1500 tonnes of steel and 400 cubic metres of concrete to be recycled.

However, two monorail carriages and 10 metres of the track will be preserved in the Sydney's Powerhouse Museum in the short term.

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UK teacher jailed for abducting pupil

A BRITISH teacher has been sentenced to five years and six months in jail for abducting and having sex with a 15-year-old pupil, nine months after they fled to France and sparked an international manhunt.

Jeremy Forrest, a married 30-year-old maths teacher, was convicted of abduction by a jury on Thursday, and on Friday admitted five further counts of sexual activity with a child.

He was not originally charged with sex offences for legal reasons linked to his extradition from France.

When Forrest was convicted on Thursday after a two-week trial, he had told the girl "I love you" as he was led from the court.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, burst into tears as the verdict was announced and told him: "I'm sorry."

Prosecutors had labelled Forrest a paedophile who had groomed a vulnerable girl, who he first kissed when she was 14. They said he "grossly abused" the trust placed in him as her teacher.

The girl, now 16, said in evidence that she had encouraged the relationship and had gone willingly to France in September when they realised their affair was about to be exposed.

But she was under age at the time - the age of sexual consent in Britain is 16.

She had used a passport belonging to Forrest's wife to get the ferry to France, where the couple were finally caught one week later in Bordeaux after Forrest tried to find work in a bar.

Their secret escape from Britain caused an international manhunt, and her family said in a statement on Thursday that the past nine months had been "like living out your worst nightmare".

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Mount Etna wins World Heritage status

ITALY'S Mount Etna, one of the world's most "active and iconic" volcanoes, has been granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in recognition of its scientific and cultural importance.

The tallest active volcano on the European continent at 3,300 metres, Mount Etna has been written about for 2,700 years and has "one of the world's longest documented records of historical volcanism", according to UNESCO.

"The diverse and accessible assemblage of volcanic features such as summit craters, cinder cones, lava flows, lava caves and the Valle de Bove depression have made Mount Etna a prime destination for research and education," UNESCO said.

The volcano, in the east of Sicily, is one of the most-studied in the world and "continues to influence volcanology, geophysics and other earth science disciplines", UNESCO added.

"Mount Etna's notoriety, scientific importance, and cultural and educational value are of global significance."

Situated near Catania, Sicily's second city, the volcano, which is some 200 kilometres in circumference, was created by a series of eruptions beneath the sea off the ancient coastline of Sicily some 500,000 years ago.

There are still periodic eruptions at the central crater. Lava flows down the sides of the volcano have sometimes threatened villages, which are built up to around 800 metres.

Catania city has been hit several times during eruptions, including being almost completely destroyed by one of the largest recorded eruptions in 1669, after which it was rebuilt in the Baroque style.

The zone listed by UNESCO - largely undeveloped except for a few seismic monitoring stations and some shelters along mountain paths - is part of the Mount Etna National Park, created in 1987.

UNESCO also inscribed the Namib Sand Sea, "the world's only coastal desert that includes extensive dune fields influenced by fog", to the World Heritage list.

Other sites to win World Heritage status on Friday included the El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve in Mexico thanks to their "dramatic combination of desert landforms, comprising both volcanic and dune systems as dominant features".

UNESCO also inscribed 16 wooden tserkvas (churches) in the Carpathian mountains of Poland and Ukraine, saying they were "outstanding examples of the once widespread Orthodox ecclesiastical timber building tradition in the Slavic countries that survives to this day."

UNESCO is currently holding a 10-day annual meeting in Phnom Penh where it is considering whether to add 31 sites to the 962-strong World Heritage List of sites of "outstanding universal value".

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Strong quake felt across north Italy

A STRONG earthquake has been felt across northern Italy, from Milan, to Venice, Turin, Bologna and Florence, according to Italian media reports, which put the epicentre in Tuscany.

The national earthquake and volcano centre (INGV) said it was a 5.2-magnitude earthquake which hit at a depth of 10km on Friday.

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Betting scandal case doomed to fail: court

A Sydney magistrate has thrown out a betting scandal case against three rugby league identities. Source: AAP

THE case against three rugby league identities embroiled in an alleged betting scandal was doomed to fail, says the Sydney magistrate who threw out the case.

Former rugby league player John Elias, former Parramatta player Brad Murray and Jai Ayoub, the son of Murray's manager Sam Ayoub, had the prosecution against them permanently stayed on Wednesday.

"I find that the prosecution would not be in a position to prove the element of deception beyond a reasonable doubt in all defendants' matters," Magistrate Greg Grogin said in Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.

"The prosecutions would therefore, if allowed to proceed, inevitably be doomed to failure."

The three men were previously charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception by placing bets on the NRL game between North Queensland and Canterbury on August 21, 2010.

The match was the subject of an unusual betting plunge on the first score being a Cowboys penalty goal which did not eventuate.

All up, they could have won a total of $123,000 from a series of separate wagers.

Former NRL player Ryan Tandy, who played for the Bulldogs that day, was fined $4000 after he was found guilty of trying to manipulate the first scoring point of the match to dishonestly obtain a financial advantage.

In his decision, Magistrate Grogin supported the defence's argument that just because the trio may have received information about actions on the field to force the penalty it did not constitute an offence.

It is the nature of professional sport for people close to players, coaching staff and others to hear information that could affect the outcome of a match, he said.

He also said there was no evidence they took part in planning what happened on the field.

"There is a lack of proximity or causal link between the on-field activity and the placing of the exotic bet," he said.

The magistrate also noted they were not charged with a conspiracy, joint criminal enterprise or common purpose charge.

Counsel for the trio will have their applications for costs heard before the same court on September 20.

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Nigella's case raises politicians' hackles

BRITISH politicians have questioned the way police treated Nigella Lawson's husband after he admitted assaulting the celebrity chef in a restaurant.

Opposition Labour Party MP Sandra Osborne asked in the House of Commons on Thursday if there is one rule for the rich and famous, and another rule for everyone else.

She was referring to advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, who earlier this week was given a police "caution" after admitting assault.

He contacted police after newspapers published photos of him grasping his wife's throat during an argument.

He will not face further charges or penalties.

Osborne said it sent the wrong message to allow someone to receive only a caution after admitting assault.

UK prosecutors' guidelines indicate cautions are appropriate for some assaults.

But, in the House of Lords, Lord Avebury also hit out at the "leniency" shown to Saatchi.

As Lord Avebury spoke, Lawson's father - former chancellor of the exchequer Lord Lawson of Blaby, who was present in the chamber - shook his head.

The Liberal Democrat peer raised the issue as Baroness Northover for the government answered questions on domestic violence.

He asked her: "Do you think that the leniency shown to Mr Saatchi when he half-strangled his wife set the wrong tone?"

Lady Northover replied: "I can't comment on a particular case and I think that what I'm struck by also is the media reaction, which is really very interesting, the support and the sympathy for people who may find themselves in such situations and also that these problems go through every level of society."

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg faced criticism for suggesting Saatchi's clutching of Lawson's throat could have been "just a fleeting thing".

Asked by a female caller to his weekly radio phone-in whether he would have stepped in had he been present, Clegg said he could not say as he did not know the full facts.

"I just don't know. There was this one photograph. I don't know whether that was just a fleeting thing," he said.

He was immediately rebuked by female MPs.

Shadow home office minister Diana Johnson said Clegg's comments were "disgraceful" and called for a debate in the Commons "on how seriously the government take the issue of domestic violence".

On Twitter, Tory MP Sarah Wollaston wrote: "So just don't 'call Clegg' if your partner likes to grab you by the throat to emphasise a point."

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Judge summons Messi in tax fraud case

A SPANISH judge has named Barcelona star Lionel Messi as a suspect in a tax fraud probe and summoned him to appear in court on September 17, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Barcelona says.

The 25-year-old four-time World Player of the Year and his father Jorge Horacio are accused of defrauding Spanish tax authorities of more than four million euros ($A5.8 million).

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Syria's Assad must go, Kerry insists

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should step down, says US Secretary of State John Kerry (pic). Source: AAP

US Secretary of State John Kerry insists Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will have to step down as part of any political solution in Syria, as he held a third day of talks on the bloody conflict.

Speaking as he met Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Kerry said all sides were working to "effect a transition government by mutual consent of both sides, which clearly means that in our judgment President Assad will not be a component of that transitional government".

Kerry also officially unveiled $US100 million ($A99.10 million) in additional US humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees, almost half of which will go to help Jordan struggling to cope with a tide of people fleeing the 26-month war.

Some 2,000 people are flooding across the border into Jordan every day, and the country now hosts some 525,000 refugees, Judeh said at the start of the talks in Rome.

"We have 10 per cent of our population today, in the form of Syrian refugees. It is expected to rise to about 20 to 25 per cent given the current rates by the end of this year, and possibly to about 40 per cent by the middle of 2014," he said.

"No country can cope with the numbers as huge as the numbers I've just described," he warned, adding Jordan was very grateful for the help of the international community.

Plans for an international conference to try to find a solution to the crisis were also continuing, Kerry said, after he agreed in talks in Moscow that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would work in tandem on the issue.

He had spoken with most of the foreign ministers from the countries involved and there is a "very positive response and a very strong desire to move to this conference and to try to find, at least exhaust the possibilities of finding, a political way forward".

UN chief Ban Ki-moon had also been in touch, so "we are going to forge ahead very, very directly to work with all of the parties to bring that conference together", Kerry added.

It's hoped the conference, aimed at finding a path towards a transitional government in Syria, could be held by the end of May, possibly in Geneva.

US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, has meanwhile also met with the Syrian opposition in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the way forward, Kerry said.

Since the war erupted to oust Assad, more than 1.5 million Syrians have fled the country into neighbouring nations, including Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, vastly straining their resources.

Up to four million more could be displaced within the country as they seek to flee the fierce fighting, which has already claimed some 70,000 lives.

Meanwhile, Syria will "give Hezbollah everything" in recognition of its support and will follow the militant group's model of "resistance" against Israel, a Lebanese newspaper on Thursday quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying.

His comments, published by Al-Akhbar, reportedly came during meetings with Lebanese visitors in Damascus and appeared intended to refute any suggestion that Israeli raids on Syrian targets would halt assistance to the Shi'ite group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The newspaper said visitors quoted Assad as expressing "confidence, satisfaction and great gratitude towards Hezbollah".

The organisation is a long-time ally of the Syrian regime and has sent fighters to battle alongside Assad's troops, particularly in the Qusayr district of the central province of Homs.

Also on Thursday, anti-regime activists say Syrian warplanes are pounding rebel positions in two northern provinces.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the air force is targeting opposition forces in the battle for the Mannagh air base outside of northern city of Aleppo.

Rebels stormed the base near the border with Turkey on Sunday. They captured parts of it but could not hold on, because of the regime's superior air power.

In neighbouring Idlib province, there are heavy clashes outside several army bases near the government-controlled provincial capital.

Government troops and fighter planes are hitting the rebels, the Observatory said.

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