Police arrest one in LA family shooting

THE suspect who was arrested Friday in the killing of three people and wounding of two others in suburban Los Angeles may have been responding to a Craigslist ad to sell a car placed by one of the victims.

Jade Douglas Harris had been detained and questioned Thursday after a stolen black Camaro was found in Los Angeles, about 32 kilometres north of suburban Downey, where the shootings occurred.

The Los Angeles Times reports that he was booked Friday on charges of murder and non-negligent manslaughter.

Police haven't given a motive but said they don't believe the killings were a random act of violence.

Martha Zerehi, a spokeswoman for the business, says the suspect had gone to the shop Wednesday after responding to an ad on Craigslist for the Camaro.

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Man nabbed with 16 tiger cubs

A THAI man has been arrested with 16 tiger cubs in his pick-up truck while driving near the kingdom's border with Laos, police said Saturday.

The 52-year-old was arrested Friday afternoon in Khon Kaen province in northeastern Thailand during a routine check by authorities, who found the cats, aged between six weeks and two months, in cages in the back of the vehicle.

Police said the man was paid 15,000 baht (500 dollars) to transport the tigers from Bangkok, but he denied knowing the identity of the animals' owners.

"He said he only talked to them on the telephone not in person," said Lieutenant Colonel Kusol Pongbunchan, chief investigator of the local district police.

He said the driver faced charges of illegal possession and trafficking of endangered species.

The tigers, which are not thought to have been taken from the wild, were entrusted to officials of the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

Thailand, a hub of international smuggling, is one of just 13 countries hosting fragile tiger populations. Worldwide, numbers are estimated to have fallen to only 3200 tigers from approximately 100,000 a century ago.

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At least 10 killed in Iraq Eid attacks

ATTACKS targeting Shiite pilgrims near Baghdad and a tiny Kurdish sect in Iraq's main northern city killed at least 10 people on Saturday as Muslims marked the Eid al-Adha holiday, officials said.

The attacks, which left around 20 people wounded, were the latest in a series of bombings and shootings in the past week that have broken a relative calm in Iraq.

A magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to a minibus ferrying Shiite pilgrims in the town of Taji, 25 kilometres north of the capital, killed at least five people, a security official and medics said.

The doctors warned that the toll could rise, and a police captain in Taji said as many as eight people had died in the attack, which struck at 9:30 am (1730 AEDT).

Shiite pilgrims in Iraq typically use the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, which began on Friday, to either visit relatives, the graves of dead family members, or shrines to key figures in Shiite Islam located across the country.

In Mosul, 350 kilometres north of Baghdad, three attacks targeting the Shabak community killed five people and wounded nine others, security and medical officials said.

In separate shootings, gunmen burst into the homes of Shabak families and killed a total of five people, and wounded four others, including young children, while a bombing in the compound of a family home wounded five.

The Shabak community numbers about 30,000 people living in 35 villages in Nineveh, and many want to become part of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

They speak a distinct language and largely follow a faith that is a blend of Shiite Islam and local beliefs.

The community was persecuted under ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq they were targeted several times by Al-Qaeda.

Levels of violence have declined dramatically in Mosul and nearby towns and villages, but the city that was once an al-Qaeda stronghold is widely cited as one of the places where the network's Iraqi front still holds sway.

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Church bid to strip Savile's papal honour

THE Catholic Church of England says it has contacted the Holy See to ask if the papal knighthood awarded to late television star Jimmy Savile could be removed following sexual abuse allegations.

Police say some 300 potential victims have come forward with abuse allegations against Savile, a well-known BBC children's television host who died last year. Most of them say they were abused by Savile, but some say they were abused by other people, police said Friday.

The church said Saturday that Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichol wrote to Vatican officials last week, asking the Holy See to investigate the possibility of posthumously removing Savile's honour in recognition of the "deep distress" of the alleged victims.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and the Vatican for his charitable work.

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Asian markets fall ahead of US growth data

ASIAN markets are lower as dealers look ahead to the release of US economic growth figures, while Hong Kong eased on profit-taking after posting 10 straight days of gains.

The Nikkei was also hit on Friday as the dollar eased back after hitting four-month highs against the yen, which has come under pressure owing to expectations for fresh monetary easing by the Bank of Japan and upbeat US data.

Tokyo fell 1.35 per cent, or 122.14 points, to 8,933.06 and Sydney closed 0.84 per cent, or 38.1 points, lower at 4,472.4.

Hong Kong slipped 1.21 per cent, or 264.66 points, to 21,545.57, bringing an end to a run that had been fuelled by huge inflows of foreign cash.

Shanghai tumbled 1.68 per cent, or 35.57 points, to 2,066.21 with weak Chinese corporate earnings dragging on mainland sentiment.

Seoul lost 1.72 per cent, or 33.07 points, to close at 1,891.43 after data showed South Korea's economy grew in the third quarter at its slowest pace in three years.

The United States will later on Friday release its third-quarter growth figures, with investors looking for signs of improvement in the world's biggest economy.

The results come a day after the Labour Department said initial jobless claims fell by 23,000 to 369,000 in the week ending October 20 - below the average estimate of 375,000.

Durable goods orders - products expected to last at least three years - also rose 9.9 per cent from August, well above the average analyst estimate of 8.0 per cent.

On Wall Street the Dow climbed 0.20 per cent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.30 per cent and the Nasdaq added 0.15 per cent.

However, a rally fuelled by monetary easing moves by central banks in the United States, Japan and Europe has seen markets post healthy gains in recent weeks and dealers are taking the opportunity to cash in.

In Hong Kong, shares have surged more than eight per cent since the US Federal Reserve unveiled its third round of quantitative easing in mid-September, as the extra US dollars flood into higher-yielding markets.

The huge inflows of cash have also sent the Hong Kong dollar surging - leading the city's de facto central bank to step into currency markets to weaken the unit against the greenback, to which it has been pegged for 29 years.

The Hong Kong market has also been lifted by recent data showing that China's economic slowdown was bottoming out.

On forex markets the dollar was changing hands at Y79.92 in afternoon trade, compared with Y80.26 in New York late on Thursday, where it jumped to a four-month high of Y80.34 at one point.

Investors have been selling the Japanese unit ahead of a BoJ meeting next week, at which many hope it expand an asset-purchasing scheme to lift the economy and pump more money into the market.

The euro bought $US1.2923 and Y103.30 against $US1.2930 and Y103.78.

Oil prices were mixed. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December fell 89 US cents to $US85.07 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for December delivery fell $US1.10 to $US107.39.

Gold was at $US1,702.84 at 1910 AEDT, compared with $US1,715.50 late on Thursday.

In other markets:

- Taipei fell 1.76 per cent, or 128.02 points, to 7,134.06.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 2.95 per cent to $Tw87.3 while HTC fell 4.84 per cent to $Tw236.0.

- Wellington fell 0.17 per cent, or 6.71 points to 3,983.78.

Fletcher Building ended down 1.3 per cent at $NZ7.12 and Telecom shed 0.2 per cent to $NZ2.47.

- Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Manila were all closed for public holidays.

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One in four Spaniards out of work

ONE Spaniard in four is now officially out of work as the economic crisis tightens its grip on the country.

The National Statistics Institute said on Friday that 85,000 more people joined the ranks of the unemployed between July and September, raising the total to 5.78 million.

The figures increased the country's unemployment rate by about 0.4 percentage points in the third quarter to 25.02 per cent.

For those under 25 years of age, the unemployment rate edged down marginally to 52 per cent from 53 per cent in the previous quarter.

The institute said that over the past 12 months some 800,000 people had lost their jobs.

Spain is in its second recession in three years and is under pressure to ask for outside aid to help it deal with its debts.

It has already been granted a 100 billion euro ($A125 billion) bailout facility for its troubled banks, while many of its regional governments are also in bad financial shape.

In September, the European Central Bank said it would buy unlimited amounts of bonds in countries struggling with their debts if they formally apply for aid.

This has helped Spain by lowering its borrowing costs, but conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has held off triggering the actual purchases.

Spain is one of the focal points in Europe's debt crisis because if it defaulted or needed a full-blown bailout, the finances of the 17-country group that uses the euro could be severely stretched.

Rajoy's government, which pledged to reduce unemployment in its electoral campaign last year, has introduced austerity measures and financial and labour reforms to convince investors it has a grip on its accounts but they have yet to show any positive effect on the economy.

The measures, in particular the labour reform that makes it easier to dismiss workers, have led to many strikes and protests. The country faces its second general strike in a year on November 14.

On Friday, yet another rush-hour go-slow by subway workers caused traffic chaos in Madrid.

Organisations such as the Spanish Red Cross and the Catholic Church charity organisation Caritas say unemployment and the austerity measures are leaving tens of thousands of people in need of food and financial help.

On Thursday, Caritas said the foundation run by Amancio Ortega, founder of the Zara store parent company Inditex, would donate 20 million euro to help buy food, medicines and school materials.

The statistics institute said Spain now has 1.8 million households in which no one has work.

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Elderly man dies as quake hits south Italy

AN elderly man died from a heart attack and panic-stricken residents rushed into the streets fearing building collapses when a 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck a southern Italian province.

The 84-year-old victim suffered heart failure when the quake struck the province of Cosenza early on Friday and was dead before emergency services could reach him.

No injuries have been reported but several buildings have been damaged. A local hospital was also evacuated and schools closed as a precautionary measure.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake, with a 5.3 magnitude at a depth of 3.8km, had its epicentre 6km southeast of Mormanno town in the Calabria region.

"Some plaster fell, a crack appeared in the stairway. We came down in a panic to the streets using our mobile phones for light," Mormanno bed-and-breakfast owner Giuseppina Capalbi told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Many homes in the town centre suffered damage and police said it would take some hours to evaluate the scale of the problem, as local officials decided to close schools.

"There was a lot of panic, but happily there are no injured," Mormanno mayor Guglielmo Armentano told Ansa.

"In our historic centre, there are some damaged buildings. As a precaution we have evacuated the hospital."

More than 2200 tremors had struck the same region along the Pollino massif in recent years, but all but a handful were of a magnitude under 3.

Italy frequently falls victim to earthquakes. Among the most devastating was the 6.3-magnitude quake in the central city of L'Aquila that in 2009 killed 309 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

On Monday, six Italian seismologists and a government official were sentenced to six years in jail for multiple manslaughter for underestimating the risk of that earthquake, in a move viewed by some as a dangerous blow to scientific freedom.

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DFAT confirms Aussie death in Bangkok

AUSTRALIAN authorities have confirmed a NSW man has been found dead in Bangkok, amid reports he died of a drug overdose along with a Canadian man found in the same hotel room.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said in a statement that she was aware that a 27-year-old man from NSW had died in the Thai capital.

However, she was not able to say whether the death was the result of an overdose.

The spokeswoman said she was also aware of reports that a Canadian citizen was found dead at the same location.

She said she could not speculate about the cause of death of the Australian, or confirm that he was a tourist.

On Friday night, Thai tourist police said an Australian and a Canadian tourist had been found dead in a Bangkok hotel after a suspected drug overdose.

A maid is understood to have found the bodies of the two men, who are believed to be aged 27 and 31 years old respectively, slumped in a room in the Park Plaza, a hotel in one of the main tourist streets of the Thai capital.

Their bodies were found late on Thursday alongside an unknown white powder and drug-taking paraphernalia.

Tourist police reportedly said that at an initial autopsy a forensic doctor said the men died from a drug overdose, and that tests were expected to be carried out on the powder.

Thailand's reputation as a tourist paradise has been tarnished recently after the deaths of several holidaymakers, including two Canadian sisters, on the resort island of Phi Phi in a suspected poisoning case in June.

Australian woman Michelle Smith, 60, from Perth, died on June 20 during an attempted robbery on the Thai resort island of Phuket. Two Thai men have been sentenced to life in prison for her murder.

In August, a British and a French tourist died in a nightclub blaze on Phuket island.

Thailand's tourism image has also suffered over recent years through deadly political unrest, devastating floods and concerns about violent crimes against foreigners.

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Albany bushfire investigation imminent

AN investigation into a bush blaze near Albany that left a firefighter with life-threatening burns is set to begin within a week.

The bushfire at Two Peoples Bay began on October 12 and was fully extinguished five days later.

A 45-year-old firefighter was badly hurt in the blaze, suffering burns to 60 per cent of her body, and was in a critical condition for several days.

She is now in a critical but stable condition, a Royal Perth Hospital spokesman said.

Another firefighter, a 24-year-old woman, received burns to 40 per cent of her body and remains in a stable condition.

Emergency Services Minister Troy Buswell said on Thursday the Fire and Emergency Services Authority, Department of Environment and Conservation and local government in Albany had appointed an independent person to undertake an investigation into fire.

"This person will be commencing work within the week," Mr Buswell said in an emailed statement.

It's already known that a sudden change in wind direction turned the fire on the truck carrying the two firefighters.

Mr Buswell told parliament on Thursday that the women would have been trained to stay inside the truck and cover themselves in a fire blanket, but training and resourcing for bushfires was constantly evolving.

He said he was "absolutely sure" lessons could be learnt from the Albany fire.

"Fires of that nature are a dynamic and volatile environment," he said.

"I believe that from just about every single fire event that we attend, we can learn something new so we do it better next time."

Mr Buswell warned that conditions were dry as the bushfire season approached.

"It's dry in the Great Southern, it's dry in the South West, it's dry across the metropolitan area," he said.

"In Mundaring, they are on the verge of stopping controlled burns because controlled burns in October are starting to crown - that's when the fire goes up into the top of the trees.

"So we have some big challenges."

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Coalition would have held early election

SENIOR Liberal Bronwyn Bishop says the coalition would have called an early election had it won government after the 2010 election.

Running a full term was one of the conditions independent MPs Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott placed on their support of Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her Labor government.

Labor has a written agreement with the crossbenchers that it would not call an election before September 2013.

On Thursday, Ms Bishop said the coalition would have gone to another election instead of dealing with a hung parliament for three years.

During a discussion on Sky News about the minerals resources rent tax (MRRT), she said the government didn't have a mandate for anything.

Trade Minister Craig Emerson asked Ms Bishop if her party would have been a "legitimate government" if it had won the negotiations with the independents.

"We would have gone to another election," she replied.

Dr Emerson continued: "Tony Abbott wasn't actually negotiating with the independents, he was intending to go to another election?"

"He would have sought the confidence of the House to become prime minister of Australia and have an immediate election?

"Tony Abbott certainly didn't tell the independents that."

Ms Bishop said the coalition would have called an election "in the proper course of events".

"I'm saying it's quite clear on what has transpired that we would have gone to an election far sooner than this government will," she said.

The earliest both a House of Representatives and half-Senate election can be held is August 3, 2013.

An election must be held by November 30, 2013.

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Call to ban practice of 'pig dogging'

THE practice of using dogs to hunt feral pigs in state forests is inhumane and should be banned, a community forum has been told.

The forum, held on Thursday night in Sydney, came after the Game Council NSW, which regulates hunting in the state, opened seven more forests for "pig dogging" in February.

"Dogging", as it is commonly known, is now permitted in 130 forests across the state.

Lynda Stoner from animal rights body Animal Liberation, told the forum the practice was cruel and should be outlawed.

"To call pig dogging conservation is a travesty," Ms Stoner told the crowd of about 50 people at NSW Parliament.

"Pig dogging is the cruellest and the most barbaric form of hunting in this country and has to be banned.

"There are people who go out and do love what they're doing - it's a blood sport."

Ruth Hatten, from Animal Protection Institute Voiceless, said dogging was a needlessly cruel way of killing a pig.

In many cases the practice also breached NSW animal protection laws, Ms Hatten said.

"The legislation is very clear, but these things happen because the legislation is not being enforced, and we need greater resources to make sure it is enforced" she said.

The NSW Greens, who organised the forum, said Game Council NSW and the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association declined an invitation to speak at the event.

But Tristan Thompson, 22, who travelled from Bourke, in the northwest of the state, to attend the forum, wasn't afraid to defend the practice.

He said using dogs was a more humane way to control feral pigs than methods like baiting or shooting, which he said could leave the animal in pain for many days before it died.

Mr Thompson also said dogging was an effective form of conservation.

"In the place I hunt we've seen a reduction of about 50 per cent of pigs through the last three years of hunting," he said.

"It's not purely recreation ... I enjoy seeing the dogs work.

"It's humane, but I guess the thing is, if you grew up in the city you're not going to know a thing about the country."

A University of Technology Sydney conservation biologist, Daniel Ramp, said hunters had to "get away from this idea that we can eradicate feral pigs".

"Feral pigs in the future will be native pigs, they're there for our future," he said.

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Hong Kong exports grow 15.2% in September

HONG Kong's exports grew 15.2 per cent year-on-year in September, its government says, while warning of an economic outlook fraught with challenges.

The value of total exports rose to HK$313.2 billion ($A39.21 billion), with total exports to Asia up 20.1 per cent, the Census and Statistics Department said on Thursday.

August saw only a marginal 0.6 per cent increase in exports year-on-year.

Imports rose 14.9 per cent from a year earlier to HK$358.3 billion, compared to a 0.9 per cent increase in August year-on-year.

A trade deficit of HK$342.9 billion was recorded for the first nine months of 2012.

A "distinctly low base of comparison in the same month of last year" and "some improvements in such major markets as the mainland (China) and the US" contributed to the growth, a government spokesman said in a statement.

"The global economic environment is still fraught with downside risks stemming from the euro debt crisis and looming US fiscal cliff," he added.

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UK downgrades threat posed by IRA

THE threat posed by Northern Ireland-related terrorism to the British mainland has been downgraded from substantial to moderate - the second lowest setting on the five-point scale, Home Secretary Theresa May says.

May, the country's top domestic security official, said the latest assessment was that a "terrorist attack is possible, but not likely" to be carried out in England, Scotland or Wales by Irish Republican Army dissidents.

However, she warned the threat of attacks by IRA dissidents in Northern Ireland itself remained set at severe, the second highest point on the scale, which indicates an attack is highly likely.

May said Britain's domestic spy agency, MI5, responsible for setting the terrorist threat levels, had made the decision "based on the very latest intelligence, considering factors such as capability, intent and timescale."

Dissidents from the Real IRA faction last attacked the British capital in August 2001, when a midnight car bomb in a West London nightspot wounded 11 people.

Over the previous year the Real IRA had car-bombed a BBC building, bombed a bridge spanning the River Thames and fired a Russian anti-tank rocket at the headquarters of Britain's overseas spy agency, MI6.

Experts suggest the failure of IRA dissidents' to attack London since then reflects the increased resources handed to British police and security agencies in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the 2005 suicide bombings on London's transport network.

The downgrading of the threat level follows a successful operation by British police and intelligence agencies to protect the London Olympics - despite fears that the high-profile event would be a target for al-Qaeda linked terrorists or Republicans dissidents.

"Despite the change which has been made today, there remains a real and serious threat against the United Kingdom from terrorism and I would ask the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police," May told MPs in her statement on Wednesday.

Britain issues separate assessments of the threat from al-Qaeda-related or international terrorism, and for risks linked to dissident Irish Republican Army members.

It also publishes separate alert levels for the threat to mainland Britain, and to Northern Ireland itself.

May said the threat to the entire UK from international terrorism was regarded as substantial - the third point on the scale, meaning an attack is a strong possibility.

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Heineken profit rises 9.9 per cent in Q3

THE Dutch brewer Heineken NV says third-quarter net profit has risen 9.9 per cent to 577 million euros ($A735.64 million), with growth in all regions except Europe.

The company said on Wednesday profits increased thanks to higher sales and savings from jobs it had cut, offset somewhat by higher raw materials costs and investments in new capacity.

Net profit in the same period a year ago was 525 million euros. Sales rose 7.1 per cent to 4.97 billion euros, Heineken said.

"Spain, Italy, France are holding up pretty well," said chief executive Rene Hooft Graafland of the company's European operations, speaking on a conference call.

Heineken is the biggest brewer in Britain with Scottish & Newcastle brands, in the Netherlands with Heineken, and in Europe overall.

"We see some pressure on the margins, but overall these markets are pretty resilient."

Stripping out the effects of currency changes and acquisitions, sales were up 4 per cent, 2.5 per cent due to higher selling prices and 1.5 per cent due to volume increases.

Heineken said it won market share in the United States, with strong growth of its Dos Equis brand.

Global sales of its tequila-flavoured beer Desperados increased by more than 10 per cent.

Sales in the large Taiwanese market fell sharply, which Heineken said was due to competitors introducing new brands.

Fruit-flavoured beers have been a big hit in Taiwan this year, including one introduced by Japanese competitor Kirin.

Heineken said its 3.5 billion euro- buyout of the parts of Tiger beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries it doesn't already own is on track for completion in November, pending approval from regulators in Singapore.

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Driver arrested after north shore crash

A MAN is in hospital under police guard after crashing a car into traffic lights and a van on Sydney's north shore, police say.

The driver was allegedly seen speeding in a Mitsubishi near Thornleigh just after 5pm (AEDT) on Wednesday, sparking a short police chase.

Officers ended the pursuit because of concerns about speed.

A police spokesman said the man then crashed into a set of traffic lights and a van at the intersection of Pennant Hills Road and the F3 freeway.

He was arrested and taken under police guard to the Royal North Shore Hospital with minor injuries.

The man, whose age was not immediately clear, is expected to be interviewed on Wednesday night.

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Key German optimism indicator falls

BUSINESS confidence in Germany has dropped for the sixth month in a row, a closely watched survey shows, amid growing indications the financial crisis is taking an increasing toll on Europe's largest economy.

Munich's Ifo institute said on Wednesday its key business climate figure dropped to 100 in October, from 101.4 in September.

Economists had been predicting a slight increase to 101.6, and the euro dropped to a one-week low versus the US dollar of $1.2920 following the report.

Ifo president Hans-Werner Sinn said even though businesses reported that their expectations for the next six months remained unchanged at 93.2 points, their assessment of their current situation dropped sharply from 110.3 points in September to 107.3 in October.

"The clouds over the German economy are darkening," Sinn said.

Germany has been doing better than debt-burdened European countries such as Spain and Italy, but has lost momentum as the debt troubles on its doorstep have weighed on economic confidence.

Germany's economy, which was worth a little under 2.6 trillion euros ($A3.31 trillion) last year, in comparison with the US's 12 trillion euros, has seen two consecutive years of robust growth.

Its economy expanded by 4.2 per cent in 2010 and 3 per cent last year.

But the Economy Ministry last week cut its growth forecast for 2013 to 1 per cent from 1.6 per cent, though increased this year's outlook slightly from 0.7 per cent to 0.8 per cent.

The economy grew 0.3 per cent in the second quarter and the ministry said indicators point to "further moderate growth" in the third quarter as well.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski warned, however, that the Ifo survey indicates businesses have growing concerns about the economy and is "clear evidence that recessionary risks in the German economy are increasing."

"The sharp drop in the current assessment component shows that the good times are, at least for now, over," he said in a research note. "The industry's safety net has become very fragile."

Germany's export-driven economy has managed to make up for weakening support from other European Union nations, several of which are in recession, with growth elsewhere including to Russia and China.

It is now, however, feeling not only the problems of the European Union but also elsewhere, Brzeski said.

"The slowdown of the German economy is not only a consequence of the euro crisis, but also of the global economic cooling," he said.

"As long as the main economic blocs outside Europe can pick up steam again, Germany should be able to escape the current fate of most of its eurozone peers."

The Ifo index is based on a survey of 2,500 businesses about their views on how the economy is doing and how they see things in the future.

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Spain's central bank says economy shrank

SPAIN'S central bank says the country's economy continued to shrink, contracting by 0.4 per cent during the third quarter compared with the previous three months, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to seek help from Europe.

This is the fifth quarter in a row that Spain's economic output has shrunk.

The country's economy also contracted by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter and 0.3 per cent in the first quarter and is forecast to show a 1.5 per cent fall this year and 0.5 per cent in 2013.

The central bank figure is an estimate.

Official figures are due to be released by the National Statistics Institute on October 30.

The bank said on Tuesday consumer demand fell by 1.2 per cent - although the decline eased a little in the third quarter due to increased spending ahead of a sales tax increase on September 1.

Spain is in its second recession in three years with near 25 per cent unemployment.

The country is one of the focal points in Europe's financial crisis - if Spain defaults on its debts or needs a full-blown bailout, the finances - and credibility- of the 17-country group that uses the euro could be stretched to breaking point.

In September the European Central Bank said it was prepared to buy unlimited amounts of bonds in countries struggling with their debts.

This has helped the country by pushing its borrowing costs lower.

But Rajoy has held off triggering the actual purchases.

The government has introduced austerity measures and financial and labour reforms in a bid to convince investors it is getting a grip on its accounts.

The measures have led to many strikes and protests and the country faces its second general strike in a year on November 14.

Several thousand people are expected to take part in a demonstration later on Tuesday outside parliament as deputies begin debating 2013 budget spending cuts.

Two similar protests are planned for Thursday and Saturday.

Also on Tuesday, the Treasury sold 3.53 billion euros ($A4.50 billion) in three- and six-month bills as investors continued to express their concern over Spain's ability to manage its finances.

The Treasury sold 967 million euros in three-month bills with the average interest rate at 1.42 per cent, up from 1.20 per cent in the last such auction on September 25.

It sold 2.56 billion euros in six-month bills on a yield of 2.02 per cent, down from 2.21 per cent on September 25.

Demand was more than four times the amount offered in the three-month category and almost double in the longer-term bills.

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UN begins withdrawal from East Timor

UN peacekeepers will hand over full responsibility for policing to East Timor next week as they begin withdrawing in earnest from Asia's youngest nation, a UN official says.

The final batch of peacekeepers will leave in December in line with a timetable to depart by the end of the year, said Finn Reske-Nielsen, head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT), on Tuesday.

"We will pull them out over the next two months. By the 15th of December there will be no UN police (peacekeepers) left in the country," he told reporters in Jakarta.

The current UN mission arrived in 2006 after a political crisis in which dozens were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, with a mandate to restore security.

The only major violence since then was a 2008 failed assassination attempt against former president Jose Ramos-Horta, and the country this year held largely peaceful presidential polls and general elections.

The UN partially handed over responsibility for security to Timorese police in March last year and from November 1 they will be expected to operate on their own.

It would be the "end of any kind of operation of support by the UN police", Reske-Nielsen said.

"At the moment whenever we are asked to provide support for a police operation, we will do that. But as of November 1 that stops and we will send the police home in very short order," he said.

A first batch of 330 UNMIT personnel will withdraw this month, with the largest contingent expected to pull out in the early weeks of November, said Reske-Nielsen.

At its peak, the UN mission was made up of 1600 people and it currently has about 1270. Reske-Nielsen said the UN Security Council was expected to make a decision to formally terminate the mission next month.

East Timor, an impoverished half-island nation of 1.1 million despite bountiful oil and gas reserves off its coasts, in May celebrated a decade of formal independence after a 24-year occupation by Indonesia.

AFP

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Future of London's black cabs in doubt

STEERING problems and stiff competition could kill off London's famous black cabs.

The manufacturers of the iconic cars slipped into administration on Monday with safety concerns leading to the demise of UK-based firm, Manganese Bronze.

The carmakers recalled 400 new cabs this month because of problems with the steering and a failure to raise STG15 million ($A23.4 million) in emergency cash from a Chinese shareholder was viewed as the final straw.

The firm, which has increasingly used parts from China in the black cabs, has battled against renewed competition from rival manufacturers trying to get in on the taxi market.

Black cab driver David Wood hoped another company would take over Manganese Bronze and continue to pump out the world-famous vehicles.

"The tourists love them, I get my photo taken a hundred times a day. I don't think you will ever be able to replace them with minicabs," he wrote in The Times.

"They're perfect. The shape of them has got to stay."

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Dozens arrested in anti-mafia sweeps

MORE than 60 people have been arrested and over 230 million euros ($A293.24 million) in cash has been seized in Italy in three nationwide anti-mafia sweeps.

In Palermo, police arrested 41 suspected members of the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian branch of the Italian mafia, on Tuesday. They are accused of involvement in extorsion, drug trafficking, illegal possession of firearms and other crimes.

The producers of a television series filmed in Palermo were among the victims of the suspects, as well as businessmen and shopkeepers, police said, adding that several mafia-owned betting shops were raided in the same operation.

In Turin, a judge ordered the arrest of 22 suspected members of the Ndrangheta, the branch of the mafia rooted in the southern region of Calabria but also present in the north of Italy, and the seizure of assets worth several million euros.

The judge, Giuseppe Salerno, said that the Ndrangheta had managed to influence the result of last year's local elections in Chivasso, a town on the outskirts of Turin.

According to investigators, the Ndrangheta controlled the votes of the third-placed candidate in the contest, and offered them to the centre-right and centre-left rivals who faced each other in a second round run-off.

In return, the winning side allegedly had to assign public contracts to mafia-linked businesses and include a mafia associate in the local government.

But elected mayor Gianni De Mori from the centre-left Democratic Party did not stick to the bargain, investigators said.

In Reggio Calabria, the regional capital of the Ndrangheta's heartland, Italian tax police seized 230 million euros worth of assets, including controlling stakes in two well-known hotels and the local basketball team.

The assets belonged to two businessmen who were arrested last year for alleged mafia links. They are suspected of money laundering on behalf of Domenico Condello, a Ndrangheta boss who was arrested this month after nearly 20 years on the run.

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LA Times endorses Obama for second term

A MAJOR US newspaper, The Los Angeles Times, has endorsed President Barack Obama for a second term in the White House, saying he has brought "steady leadership" to the office.

"The nation has been well served by President Obama's steady leadership. He deserves a second term," stated an LA Times editorial on Monday.

It added that while his opponents assailed him as a socialist, "he showed himself to be an adult, less an ideologue than a pragmatist, more cautious than cocky".

The paper also warned that Republican challenger Mitt Romney would exacerbate the economic situation in the country "by spending extravagantly on defence even as the last of the Bush-era wars ends".

It was referring to the wars that President George W. Bush launched in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The alternative offered by Romney would neglect the country's infrastructure and human resources for the sake of yet another tax cut and a larger defence budget than even the Pentagon is seeking," the LA Times went on the argue.

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Two Gaza militants killed in Israeli raids

ISRAELI air strikes have killed two Gaza militants as they clashed with troops from the Jewish state who crossed the border on the eve of a landmark visit to the Palestinian territory by the Qatari emir, medical sources say.

The flareup on Monday provoked threats of revenge from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement, and a pledge from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there would be no immunity for those firing on the Jewish state.

Two air strikes took place around the northern town of Beit Hanun where militants were firing mortar shells at an Israeli tank and several military vehicles which had crossed the border into Gaza territory, witnesses and security sources said.

The first strike hit north of Beit Hanun, critically wounding four Qassam Brigades militants, one of whom later died of his injuries, medics and the militant group said.

As the clashes continued, Israel launched a second air strike east of Beit Hanun, killing a militant from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and critically wounding another man, the same sources said.

The Qassam Brigades confirmed that the first strike had killed one of its militants and critically wounded another three, naming the dead man as Abderahman Abu Jalaleh, 25, and describing him as a local commander.

The second strike killed a PRC militant whom the group named as Yasser al-Tarabin. The identity of the injured man was not immediately clear.

The Israeli military said both strikes had targeted "a rocket launching squad".

"The squad was targeted in response to mortar shell fire at a routine IDF (army) patrol in the area, near the Israeli kibbutz of Nir Am," a statement said of the first strike. An identical statement was issued following the second.

The flareup comes on the eve of a high-profile visit by the emir of Qatar to the Gaza Strip, the first such trip by an Arab head of state since Hamas took over the territory in 2007.

The military refused to say whether troops were operating on the Gaza side of the frontier, saying only "they were near the security fence on a routine patrol".

Hamas militants usually observe a de facto truce on rocket fire targeting Israel, but the rare show of force appeared to be a direct response to the incursion.

"The Zionist enemy continues its crimes and arrogance against our land and people ... because of its desire to blow up the situation," the Qassam Brigades said.

"The enemy will not be able to tie our hands and his crime will not go unanswered."

Netanyahu also issued a warning of his own.

"The real thing we have is rockets. We've got Hamas, supported by Iran, firing rockets at us. We're not going to let anyone arm themselves and fire rockets on us and think that they can do this with impunity. They're not going to get away with it," he said on meeting with the Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair.

"We're going to prevent them from arming themselves. This is our policy. This is a very different policy that I put in. You don't let them get away with it. And they know that's what we're doing."

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BBC editor steps aside over Savile probe

A TOP BBC editor has stepped aside while the broadcaster reviews its editorial decision to pull the plug on a segment about sexual abuse allegations against a prominent British children's television star, the late Jimmy Savile.

The BBC said on Monday the editor of the Newsnight program that opted not to broadcast the allegations, Peter Rippon, is "stepping aside with immediate effect".

The BBC said Rippon's explanation of his decision in a blog post earlier was "inaccurate or incomplete in some respects".

He is the first BBC figure directly blamed for the broadcaster's failure to properly report on abuse claims against Savile, who died last year at the age of 84 after a long career in children's television.

The BBC is facing criticism for providing different explanations for pulling the December segment that would have lifted the veil on Savile's abusive history, which had been rumoured but not reported on at the time.

Savile hosted the music program Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It. He was also active in numerous charities.

The BBC is set to air its own investigation of its failure to report on Savile's sexual abuses on Monday night on the Panorama show.

On the show set for broadcast on Monday, BBC correspondents claim the Savile segment was pulled because of pressure from senior management.

The fallout and allegations of a cover-up have damaged the BBC's reputation, and Savile's actions are also being investigated by police and other agencies.

Police say there may be more than 200 potential victims of the entertainer, known for his garish track suits and platinum hair.

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Web shifts to accommodate tablets

SURFACE is Microsoft's answer to the iPad, and goes on sale this week.

Announced with a fast-paced promo video (which you can see on YouTube at www.youtube/8mSckyoAMHg), the Surface (www.microsoft.com/surface) is supposed to offer people a real alternative to the iDomination of Apple's system.

But either way you look at it, the tablet computer is fast becoming the best value computing device for the majority of people. Tablets - not just iPads, but tablets of all kinds - are selling in huge numbers.

Starting with the first iPad, tablets have been sold cheap. That's only been possible because advances in hardware technology have finally made tablets a viable, profit-making venture for computer companies.

Most tablets are mostly battery: that's the bulk of the volume and weight. Then comes the screen, and finally the electronics, which are shrinking almost by the minute.

The computer industry is focusing all its efforts on tablets at the moment. They are what people want to buy. They are where there's money to be made.

This matters because it has a direct effect on the way software and websites are designed and built.

Web developers who build websites for pointing and clicking with a mouse are having to rapidly re-think. The concept of a web link itself is changing: links used to be sections of highlighted text, but on tablets they work better if they're shown much larger, large enough for a fingertip to tap on.

Web pages need to be adaptable, depending on the device that's being used to view them. They need to re-shape themselves for small screens.

Some might argue that's looking at it the wrong way. Tablets are so huge now, and will be so popular in the future, that most digital content will be designed for them first - and will only have to adapt when people look at them using old, out-of-date computers with mice.

Take a fond look at your mouse now. Its days are numbered.

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Blast hits Damascus, at least 10 dead

AN explosion has rocked the Old City of Damascus, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens of other civilians, Syrian activists say.

The blast erupted on Sunday as President Bashar Assad discussed the civil war in his country with visiting UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

The blast targeted a police station in the Bab Touma neighbourhood, a Syrian official said, insisting on anonymity because he is not allowed to make press statements.

Bab Touma, a popular attraction for shoppers, is inhabited mostly by members of Syria's Christian minority.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the death toll.

It said it was not immediately clear if the victims were civilians or policemen. But it described the blast as "strong" and said ambulances and police cars were rushing to the area.

No other details were immediately available.

Brahimi, who represents the UN and the Arab League, met with Assad in another part of the capital.

Brahimi has appealed for a truce between Assad's forces and rebels for the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins October 26.

Brahimi arrived in Damascus on Friday after a tour of Middle East capitals to drum up support for the ceasefire, which he hopes will pave the way for a longer-term truce.

A range of countries including Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Germany have thrown their support behind the idea, but neither the Syrian government nor the rebels have signed on.

Brahimi met Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Saturday.

A Foreign Ministry statement released after the meeting did not mention the proposed truce, but said the two men discussed "objective and rational circumstances to stop the violence from any side in order to prepare for a comprehensive dialogue among the Syrians."

Syrian government forces and rebels have both agreed to, and then promptly violated, internationally brokered ceasefires in the past, and there is little indication that either is willing to stop fighting now.

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Icelanders support revising constitution

A MAJORITY of Icelanders have voted in favour of revising the country's constitution, preliminary results of a referendum show.

Some 66 per cent have supported the draft constitution with about 88,000 votes counted.

Turnout in Saturday's vote was estimated at 50 per cent of the almost 237,000 eligible voters, public broadcaster RUV reported.

Voters were asked to answer each of six questions put forward by a constitutional committee of 25 ordinary citizens with a yes or a no.

The committee asked the public for feedback on constitutional proposals, including via social networking websites Facebook and Twitter, prompting the media to dub the new basic law as the world's first "crowdsourced constitution".

Icelanders also voted for making the island's natural resources public property and in favour of allowing the Evangelical Lutheran Church to retain its role as state church.

The council presented its draft to parliament in July 2011.

The process to draft a new constitution began after the country's 2008 financial meltdown prompted calls for reforms.

A left-leaning coalition comprising Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir's Social Democrats and the Left-Green Movement took office after disenchanted voters ousted the conservative-led government in 2009.

The new government vowed to revise the constitution, which dates from 1944.

The results showed many people want change, opposition leader Bjarni Benediktsson, head of the conservative Independence Party, said.

Low turnout and the fact a third of the electorate opposed changing the constitution posed challenges for parliament, Benediktsson added.

His party has favoured a more traditional approach to re-working the constitution in parliament before consulting voters.

Parliament will be dissolved in April ahead of an election.

Changes to the constitution must be approved by two parliaments, with a general election held in between.

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Six dead in attack on Guinea-Bissau army

GUNMEN have raided a Guinea-Bissau army barracks housing an elite unit near the capital's airport, sparking a gun battle that left at least six dead.

Sunday's pre-dawn attack is certain to add to tensions in the deeply troubled west African country, where a junta seized power in a coup in April.

Unidentified armed men launched the assault about 4am (local time) but soldiers fought off the attack after about an hour of fighting, forcing the assailants to flee, witnesses said.

An AFP journalist at the scene said he saw the bodies of five attackers while a guard at the barracks was also killed, a surviving comrade said.

A military source confirmed the attack but would not say whether there had been any casualties among the elite "red beret" ground force unit targeted in the raid.

Army vehicles were criss-crossing the capital in the hours after the raid, although the situation remained was calm.

There was no information immediately available about who carried out the attack but observers said there was some anger in the military about a recent round of promotions.

Since independence from Portugal in 1974, the army and state in the chronically unstable nation of 1.6 million people have remained in constant conflict, and no president has ever completed a full term in office.

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Thai 'transgender airline' grounded

MONTHS after taking to the skies with Thailand's first transsexual air crew, fledgling carrier PC Air has suspended services over financial troubles that left passengers stranded in South Korea.

"The airline informed the Department of Civil Aviation on Friday that they cannot operate their charter flights due to business problems," Thai Deputy Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt told AFP. "So it will suspend its services," he added.

The move is expected to last until at least the end of the month.

PC Air hit the headlines earlier this year when it hired four transgender cabin attendants in a highly publicised recruitment drive to operate charter flights from Bangkok to Hong Kong and other Asian destinations.

But the privately owned carrier drew less welcome attention last week when its only aircraft was unable to take off from Seoul's Incheon Airport because the company could not pay its service and fuel fees.

PC Air has blamed its South Korean agent for the unpaid bill, which left several hundred passengers stuck in Seoul.

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