New test may help with Bladder cancer

A SIMPLE urine test may be able to distinguish between aggressive and low-grade bladder cancers, allowing doctors to tailor personalised treatments, say scientists.

Researchers measured levels of a protein shed by bladder tumours in 600 patients. They found that higher amounts of the protein, EpCAM, in the urine were associated with more aggressive cancers.

Study author Dr Douglas Ward, from the University of Birmingham, said: "This protein could be used to help doctors to decide what the best course of investigation or treatment for the patients is, and may prevent unnecessary delays.

"We've known for some time that the protein EpCAM is released from some tumour cells but it wasn't clear whether it would be useful as a way to decide the best investigation and treatment for patients suspected of having bladder cancer. We are now planning further studies to test the benefits of urine biomarker testing to patients and the NHS."

Each year around 10,300 bladder cancers are diagnosed in the UK and 5,000 people die from the disease.

In many cases, the tumours are superficial and do not pose a significant risk to life. Invasive cancers that spread into the surrounding muscles of the bladder are less common but can be fatal.

Martin Ledwick, head information nurse at Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, said: "This research has shed new light on a protein that we've known for some time is linked to certain types of cancer. Developing a urine test to work out how aggressive or advanced a patient's tumour is could replace the need for more invasive and costlier tests used by doctors at the moment."

The research is published in the British Journal of Cancer.

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Aust set to assume chair of G20

AUSTRALIA will assume the chairmanship of the G20 on Sunday, giving it the key role in setting the agenda and managing the summit to be held in Brisbane next November.

The G20 is the top global forum for examining the world's economic and financial challenges, with member countries representing 85 per cent of world GDP and 80 per cent of global trade.

The Brisbane summit, from November 15-16, is expected to attract 4000 delegates and 3000 journalists.

The first ministerial-level event leading up to the leaders' summit will be the finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Sydney on February 21-23. Canberra will host a deputies-level meeting in January.

Cairns will host a second meeting of finance ministers and bank governors from September 20-21.

Beyond the G20 nations, Spain, Myanmar, the chair of the African Union as well as another African country and an yet-to-be-named Asian country will be invited to attend the summit.

Australia assumes the chairmanship role from Russia, with Turkey to host the 2015 summit.

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Pakistan PM in Kabul to discuss Taliban

PAKISTAN'S prime minister says that the recent release of a senior Taliban leader shows he is committed to helping bring peace to Afghanistan.

Nawaz Sharif said after meeting in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday that an agreement had been reached for members of an Afghan peace council to continue talks with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was released from Pakistani detention last September.

The Taliban's former No. 2 was set free after years in detention and some officials hope he can help jumpstart the peace process, while others have their doubts. An Afghan delegation met with him last week, officials said, the first such encounter since his release.

"A few days ago Salahuddin Rabbani, the head of the peace council, visited Pakistan so we once again discussed the peace process," Karzai said after meeting Sharif. "We discussed how Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States can work together to bring peace to the region."

Both men made very short remarks after their meeting and provided no other details. Both expressed their general desire for closer ties, trade and regional peace and agreed to work toward those goals.

Pakistan is beset by its own Taliban insurgency that has claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians in recent years.

It was Sharif's first visit to Afghanistan since being elected. Karzai has been pushing Pakistan for help in talking to the Taliban, where of its leaders are thought to be based. Kabul has sought Islamabad's help to bring the militant group to the table.

Sharif also said they discussed trade and energy issues.

The topics under discussion included a plan to expand an electricity distribution network to ship surplus power from the Central Asian states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan through Afghanistan and into Pakistan, which suffers massive power shortages that threaten its industrial production and economy.

Another project is a planned natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan that will pass through Afghanistan to Pakistan and end up in India.

Relations between the two countries have been testy and Afghanistan has often accused Pakistan of aiding Taliban leaders sheltering across the border. Sharif has nonetheless made improving ties with Afghanistan a priority.

Karzai was in Pakistan last August and the two leaders again met in October, where they agreed during a London meeting for Islamabad to allow an Afghan peace delegation to meet with

Pakistan has released around four dozen Taliban prisoners over the last year in an attempt to help peace talks, but there is no sign they have made any difference.

The Taliban have refused to talk directly with Karzai, his government or its representatives. US-backed talks between Afghanistan and the Taliban failed in June after Karzai accused the militants of setting up a government in exile. The Taliban have since closed their office in the Gulf state of Qatar.

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No Aussies caught in helicopter pub crash

IT appears that no Australians were in a Glasgow pub when a police helicopter crashed into the roof on Friday night killing at least one person.

There were more than 100 revellers in the Clutha pub when the incident occurred and the death toll is expected to rise.

Thirty-two people had been taken by ambulance to three Glasgow hospitals. Rescuers are still searching through the ruins of the pub.

"We are not aware of any Australians involved," a spokeswoman for the Australian High Commission in London said on Saturday morning.

"We remain in contact with the Scottish authorities."

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond called it a "black day" for Scotland as he sent his condolences to the bereaved on Saturday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said UK authorities had not advised it of any Australians affected "at this stage".

"The rescue operation is still underway," a spokeswoman told AAP in a statement.

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NRL's Russell Packer charged with assault

Newcastle Knights recruit Russell Packer has been charged with assault over a fight in Sydney. Source: AAP

NRL player Russell Packer has been charged over a fight in which he allegedly fractured a man's eye socket.

Packer, 24, and a 22-year-old from Summer Hill in Sydney's inner west allegedly fought in Martin Place in central Sydney early on Saturday morning after they were booted from a hotel, police say.

The younger man was found unconscious at the scene and taken to St Vincent's Hospital with a fractured eye socket.

Packer turned himself in to Newcastle police on Friday afternoon.

The 112-kilogram Newcastle Knights recruit, who played several seasons at prop with the New Zealand Warriors, was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and failing to leave a licensed premises.

He was granted bail and is due before the Downing Centre Local Court on January 6.

The charges against Packer come days after Manly prop Richie Fa'aoso fronted court after allegedly smashing furniture, kicking a door off its hinges and breaking a window during a drunken domestic dispute.

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Drugs, gun powder seized from south Sydney

DRUGS, gun powder, fireworks and air rifles have been seized from a home in Sydney's south.

Police found the prohibited goods while searching a Peakhurst home on Friday morning.

Ammunition, nine cannabis plants, ecstasy, magic mushrooms, prescription drugs, gun powder, fireworks and three air rifles were taken.

A 38-year-old man has been charged with several offences including cultivating prohibited plants and possessing unauthorised firearms.

Police say he's due before court "at a later date".

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Female serial killer stands by pleas

A BRITISH female serial killer who admitted to murdering three men will stand by her guilty pleas.

The bodies of Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, Kevin Lee, 48, and John Chapman, 56, were found in ditches in Cambridgeshire, England, in March.

Joanna Dennehy, 31, pleaded guilty to the murders at the Old Bailey, but lawyers were granted time to apply to change these pleas after the court heard they were "unexpected".

They have now confirmed to the court that no application will be made.

After entering her pleas, Dennehy told judge Justice Sweeney: "I've pleaded guilty, and that's that."

But her barrister, Nigel Lickley QC, said: "The course of the arraignment is not one we had anticipated."

The bodies of the victims were found in March and April. All three had been stabbed.

Dennehy also admitted "preventing the lawful and decent burial" of all three murder victims and two charges of attempting to murder two other men.

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Brazilian city loses ground to squatters

Squatters in Brazil's biggest city, faced with a lack of housing, are taking over old buildings. Source: AAP

SAO Paulo's housing department estimates this Brazilian city of more than 11 million people is short of adequate homes for at least 230,000 families. As a result, thousands of people are living in abandoned buildings downtown or in tents and flimsy shacks put up on any empty plot of land they can find.

Maria de Moraes, a 58-year-old widow, is one of 300 squatters who've fashioned tiny apartments in an old 12-storey building once occupied by offices on a busy pedestrian street just a block from the chic Municipal Theatre.

"This was my only option," said Moraes, whose six-square-metre room is almost filled by a double bed with multicoloured bedspread, a chest of drawers and a single chair.

"I was paying about 600 reals ($A286) a month for a small room on the outskirts and earning about the same in social security payments. ... I had nothing left over for food or medicine and would always have to ask neighbours for help."

She has to share a communal bathroom and kitchen with fellow squatters, but she does not pay rent.

About 700 people seized a hill next to the posh Morumbi neighbourhood in late October, and set up tents in neat rows. They hope authorities will expropriate the land for housing.

"Rats and cockroaches have always occupied this land and now it is our turn," said one of squatters, who would give only his first name, Leandro.

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Indonesia not rushing to restore ties

Julie Bishop described talks with Indonesia over the spying controversy as a positive step forward. Source: AAP

INDONESIAN Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has cast doubt over a quick resumption of conventional relations with Canberra, saying there are issues to be addressed before official talks on a code of conduct can start.

Speaking on Thursday after a five-hour hearing on the spying scandal in front of the Indonesian parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, Dr Natalegawa warned that drafting a code of conduct was merely the first step on a long road back to normal diplomatic relations.

It has also become clear the letter from Prime Minister Tony Abbott, delivered to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Saturday, has done little to quell Indonesia's anger over the spying revelations and Australia's response to the demands for an explanation.

An official at the closed-door hearing said Dr Natalegawa told those present he was not able to divulge details of the correspondence from Mr Abbott.

Dr Natalegawa also warned he must be assured by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that Australia was committed to signing up to a code of conduct, including protocols around spying, before official discussions could take place.

"Having this first step of communication will be very important to see whether there is sufficient reservoir of potential for us to be moving to the next step, namely the discussion on the code of conduct itself."

Ms Bishop said on Thursday she hoped the early discussions with Dr Natalegawa would be a first step towards normalising relations.

"We're doing it in a spirit of co-operation, it's a very positive step forward," she said in Sydney. It is believed Ms Bishop will be heading to Jakarta soon to begin negotiations.

But Dr Natalegawa later warned that drafting a code of conduct was only the beginning.

"That road map has been very clearly laid out by the president. There is nothing mysterious here. Australia needs to sit together with Indonesia and show good intention," Dr Natalegawa said.

The next bilateral leaders' meeting is not scheduled until late 2014, meaning it could be almost 12 months before the code of conduct - which at Mr Yudhoyono's insistence must be signed by himself and Mr Abbott - is ratified.

It would take even longer, Dr Natalegawa warned, for Indonesia to evaluate Australia's response and compliance.

Dr Natalegawa warned the re-establishment of co-operation in areas such as the military and police, including joint efforts aimed at combating people smuggling, would remain contingent on Australia adhering to the agreement.

"Most importantly, the fifth and the sixth steps, the protocol and code of ethics must be implemented and there must be time to allow for evaluation that it has been implemented," he said.

"The sixth step (is) that there is a re-establishment or revival of a sense of trust before we can proceed to look at the bilateral co-operation between the two countries."

Dr Natalegawa also confirmed Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, would remain in Jakarta while bilateral issues remained unresolved.

"He is still here and I've told him to make himself comfortable in Jakarta and there's no need to rush to go back to Australia," Dr Natalegawa said.

Dr Yudhoyono earlier this week demanded Australia sign up to the "code of ethics and protocols", saying they were needed to map out the future bilateral relationship.

The president has insisted that the code of conduct must address the spying issue and contain protocols to ensure similar espionage activities do not occur again.

Dr Yudhoyono suspended military, security and people-smuggling co-operation this month after revelations Australian spies targeted his mobile phone, his wife's phone and those of his inner circle, in 2009.

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Tourist forced oral sex, court hears

A BRITISH tourist accused of forcing a woman to perform oral sex on him on Bondi Beach told her he had a lot of money and if she told the police it wouldn't go anywhere.

Gregory Charles Cox, 32, is facing two charges of having sexual intercourse without consent with a then-21-year-old Bermuda woman he met at beachside bar The Bucket List on January 22, 2012.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Crown Prosecutor Elizabeth Wilkins SC told the jury at the opening of his trial on Thursday that the woman had kissed and exchanged numbers with Cox's friend Christopher Galea.

But she also talked to Cox about the private school he had attended in England.

After several hours of drinking the pair walked on the beach together.

That is when the woman remembers having her back to the water and Cox being with her with his back to a concrete wall, Ms Wilkins told the jury at the Sydney District Court.

"She recalls being on her knees, trying to stand up but not being able to," Ms Wilkins said.

"She recalls being held down, she recalls crying and being terrified."

The crown alleges Cox then forced her to perform oral sex on him twice.

"Make it worth my while. There's nothing you can do about it," he had allegedly said to her.

He was also accused of saying, "I have a lot of money" and told the woman if she went to the police or told anyone "it would go nowhere".

The woman left the beach crying and sought the help of a couple who took her to Bondi Police Station, the jury heard.

Meanwhile, Cox had handed in her handbag to Kings Cross Police Station and told officers that a woman he had met at a bar had left it there.

The jury also heard that he told a friend that he had the woman give him oral sex on the beach but she then "freaked", left her bag behind and left.

The trial continues.

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