Pope begins week-long spiritual retreat

The Pope has blessed the faithful at St Peter's Square for the first time since his resignation.

Thousands have gathered at St Peter's Square as Pope Benedict XVI gave his second-last blessing. Source: AAP

POPE Benedict XVI began a week-long spiritual retreat out of the public eye on Monday ahead of his resignation, with the cardinal leading the prayers saying he hoped they would be an "oasis".

The pope will remain in the Vatican with some of his closest aides for the traditional pre-Easter retreat and will only take a short break each day to meet with his secretary Georg Gaenswein to deal with urgent Church matters.

He will be praying together with the Roman Curia - effectively the government of the Catholic Church - in a private chapel in his residence.

The Vatican's culture minister, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi - seen as a possible long-shot candidate for the papacy - has been selected to lead the retreat this year and has written 17 spiritual "meditations" for the week.

"After the storm, my task will be to create a moment of oasis," Ravasi said in an interview with Vatican radio before the beginning of the retreat.

"The pope wanted it himself and he did not cancel. This moment of silence, this white space, really has the sense of passing to the new horizon towards which the pope is moving and in which we too will have to live."

After the retreat, the outgoing pope will receive Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on February 23, celebrate his final Sunday prayer on February 24, and hold a last audience before tens of thousands of faithful on February 27.

Benedict will formally step down as pope on February 28 at 1900 GMT.

Vatican radio has said it will be making available one of Ravasi's prayers per day as a podcast so that Catholic faithful can pray along with the pope.

In the first prayer late on Sunday, extracts of which were broadcast by the Vatican, Ravasi compared the pope to the Biblical figure of Moses who prayed for the Israelites on a mountain while battles raged in the valley below.

"This image represents the main function, your function, for the Church, that is of intercession," Ravasi said.

"We will remain in the valley... where there is dust, where there is fear, terror, nightmares but also hope, where you have been for these past eight years with us," he said.

The Vatican hasn't announced the date of the start of the conclave, but said on Saturday it might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date it can be launched.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ad market expected to drag on Fairfax

Fairfax Media is expected to report a fall in revenue of up to 10% in its first half results. Source: AAP

ANALYSTS expect Fairfax Media to report a fall in revenue of up to 10 per cent in its first half results on Thursday, with declining print advertising income continuing to take a toll.

Fairfax will reveal its first half figures ahead of major changes including a resizing of its flagship broadsheet newspapers to tabloid format next month, and the introduction of a metered online content model, scheduled to start before April.

The embattled media group is in the middle of a four-year, $235 million cost-cutting program and analysts will be watching to see if costs are under control as the tight advertising market challenges sales revenue.

A survey of four analysts by AAP shows an average expected revenue fall of 9.3 per cent to $1.138 billion for the first half of 2012/13, from $1.23 billion for the first half of 2011/12.

Fairfax reported a net profit of $96.7 million in the first half of 2011/12, a 41 per cent decline on the prior corresponding period.

Goldman Sachs analysts Christian Guerra and Jacqueline Thai said the revenue decline was likely to have worsened since Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting there had been a "slight improvement" in revenues in the first weeks of October 2012.

"FXJ's (Fairfax's) divestments of Fairfax Community Newspapers (transaction completion July 2012), the US agricultural business (November 2012) and Trade Me (December 2012) should result in FXJ's reported 1H13 revenue decline being worse than the underlying decline," a note from Goldman Sachs said.

Goldman Sachs has forecast revenue of $1.112 billion, down 9.4 per cent on the previous corresponding period, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $239.1 million, down 17.3 per cent.

Citi media analyst Justin Diddams expects revenue of $1.165 billion, down 5.5 per cent, EBITDA of $228 million and net profit of $92 million.

Mr Diddams said recent circulation figures showed Fairfax was entering a year-on-year managed decline in circulation while advertising revenue had fallen only in line with the broader market.

"Greg Hywood is making the best of a tough situation," Mr Diddams said.

"We know what they are doing on the cost base - the key is going to be revenue."

Commonwealth Bank analyst Alice Bennett expects revenue of $1.104 billion and a 5.7 per cent drop in operating costs, with the company reducing uneconomic newspaper circulation.

Ms Bennett estimates EBITDA at $220 million and net profit at $82.8 million.

Morningstar's Tim Montague-Jones puts expected revenue at $1.17 billion and EBITDA at $277.1 million.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Melbourne grassfire destroys one home

A LARGE grassfire has destroyed one home and damaged another in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

The out-of-control fire has burnt almost 2000 hectares on both sides of the busy Hume Freeway around Epping and Campbellfield.

One home in the Epping North area has been destroyed, incident controller John Deering said.

Another home has been damaged and several outbuildings or sheds have been lost.

An emergency warning is still in place on Monday night for the Epping and Campbellfield area.

The fire spread quickly on Monday afternoon but crews believe they have managed to slow or stop its spread.

Some parts of the 31km of fire edge are still active, Mr Deering said.

"The fire is not advancing or spreading any further at this stage," he told ABC Radio.

"However there may be still active fire within that fire edge."

Victoria's Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said firefighters hoped to contain the Donnybrook-Kalkallo fire on Monday night.

"The forward spread of that fire has been significant but has now slowed," Mr Lapsley said.

The fire closed the Hume Freeway and created traffic gridlock on nearby major roads. Smoke was also affecting the area.

Crews in about 70 fire trucks and six helicopters are fighting the blaze, about 20km north of the CBD, and any spot fires.

Residents in other parts of Epping, Lalor and Thomastown are also on alert.

Some residents who have left their homes have been advised to stay where they are for the time being.

Mr Deering said authorities hoped to be able to downgrade the fire alerts to allow people to return home later on Monday night but only when it is safe to do so.

Crews would remain on scene all night, he said.

Meanwhile, two large bushfires in the Grampians in Victoria's southwest have merged to form one out-of-control bushfire about 3260 hectares in size.

The Grampians fire has moved from bushland into private land, Mr Lapsley said.

A wind change due on Monday night would have an impact on the fire, he said.

"We have a lot of resources in place but certainly it is a very dry area and certainly we will see significant fire move through Victoria Valley," he told ABC TV.

Farming communities in the area have been on alert with emergency warnings issued on Sunday and Monday.

The latest, for the Victoria Valley area, has been downgraded to a Watch and Act alert.

The fire, started by lightning on Thursday, has been creating spot fires 1km ahead of it.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Carr condemns barbaric Pakistan bomb blast

The federal government condemned a bomb attack that claimed 81 lives in southwestern Pakistan. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS are appalled by a bomb blast that killed 81 people in southwestern Pakistan, Foreign Minister Bob Carr says.

The attack against the minority Shi'ite community also wounded close to 200 people. The bomb was hidden in a water tanker in a crowded market in Hazara town, a Shi'ite-dominated area on the edge of Quetta.

Senator Carr condemned the attack as an act of terrorism.

"All Australians would be appalled at the barbarism involved in bombing innocent civilians going about their lives," Senator Carr said in a statement on Monday.

"I welcome the condemnation of these attacks by the government of Pakistan and urge swift action to bring the perpetrators to justice."

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Afghan president moves to prevent torture

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai says all interrogation facilities need to be equipped with video cameras to prevent torture after a recent UN report said detainees were being abused.

The decree follows a government investigation into the UN report about prisoner abuse, which found detainees were tortured at the time of arrest and during interrogations.

"Relevant authorities are required to equip the intelligence and investigating agencies... with modern equipment (and) devices... and videotape the interrogation process," Karzai said in a statement released by his office late on Saturday.

He said the move will also help "eliminate any chance or place for complaints from other parties" about prisoner abuse.

The United Nations, which has run an assistance operation in Afghanistan since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, said in January that prisoners were frequently abused and tortured in the Afghan jail system.

The UN report revealed that 326 of 635 prisoners interviewed across the country said they had been abused, including 80 minors.

Fourteen types of torture were described in the UN report, including beatings with cables and pipes, attacks on the genitals, threats of execution or rape, electric shocks and forced stress positions.

In the decree, Karzai also ordered the attorney-general to "prosecute the perpetrators of torture, so to avoid any suspect, convict or prisoner tortured in the future".

It strictly orders law-enforcement bodies, police and the intelligence agencies to avoid torturing detainees.

Karzai also orders his justice minister and the court systems to provide defence lawyers to prisoners.

Afghanistan has been in near-continuous war since the late 1970s, the last 11 years a Taliban-led Islamist insurgency being fought by a US-led NATO force that currently numbers more than 100,000 troops.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abbott insisted on Nestor reference

TONY Abbott insisted on providing a character reference for a Catholic priest later struck off the clergy list by the Vatican following a child abuse case, the former priest says.

John Gerard Nestor, who attended Sydney's St Patrick's Seminary with Mr Abbott in the 1980s, was a priest in the Wollongong diocese in NSW when he was charged with the indecent assault of a 15-year-old altar boy in 1991.

Mr Abbott, who in 1997 was a parliamentary secretary in the Howard government, later provided a character reference in court for then Father Nestor, describing him as "a beacon of humanity".

While a Wollongong magistrate found Fr Nestor guilty and sentenced him to jail, he won an appeal against the conviction in October 1997.

But the Catholic church never allowed him to return to ministry and about five years ago he was struck off the clergy list, or "laicised", by the Vatican after lengthy inquiries.

In a letter sent to the Wollongong diocese in 2009, the Vatican said it made the decision on "grave reasons".

Mr Nestor told AAP at his home in rural NSW that Mr Abbott agreed to provide the character reference in 1997 after being approached by his barrister.

"When the lawyer approached Tony Abbott, he said look, 'I know you're a parliamentary secretary and you may feel that because of your position you don't want to get involved in this case'.

"Tony said, 'no, I'm coming down,'. He insisted on coming down and giving the reference, because he's a man of integrity."

Mr Nestor said while he was "grateful" for Mr Abbott's reference, he did not believe it pulled any weight in having his conviction quashed.

"The magistrate took no notice of it at all, or the other three (references).

"I think he would do the same thing if I was Joe Blogs, because he's a man of great integrity."

Mr Nestor said he wasn't "great friends" with Mr Abbott at the time of the case.

"He knew me well enough to make that statement, but that doesn't imply that he was my closest friend or anything like that.

"His entire character reference related to 1984. He didn't say anything about my character at the time (of the case).

"He said 'this was the way he was at the seminary'.

"It was entirely what he knew of me then, and his insistence once he found out about (the case) ... says something about his character."

The two had become friends at the Manly seminary studying to become priests in the 80s, but their life paths diverged sharply not long after their days at St Patrick's ended.

While Mr Abbott decided the priesthood wasn't for him, Mr Nestor started work as assistant vicar for education at the Catholic Education Office in Wollongong.

The pair have kept in "vague contact" since the court case, Mr Nestor said.

"I haven't seen him for many, many years," he said.

"I'm in a very different area of life to him.

"But I must say, I think he feels good about me, and I feel good about him.

"He has shown himself as a good friend to me."

Mr Abbott has previously said he had provided a character reference for Mr Nestor.

"In 1997, Mr Abbott provided a reference for Mr Nestor in an open court. He was subsequently acquitted by a District Court Judge," a spokesperson for Mr Abbott said.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bushfire threatens two Vic towns

A LARGE, fast moving and out of control bushfire is now 30 kilometres north of Dunkeld in Victoria's southwest and an emergency warning remains in place for residents as hot, dry conditions continue to fuel blazes across the state.

The blaze, which has now expanded to cover four hundred hectares of land and is burning in the Grampians National Park, is also expected to impact the township of Mirranatwa on Sunday evening.

The blaze, which was started by lightning on Thursday night, is one of 387 new bush and grassfires that ignited between 3pm on Thursday and 11.30am (AEDT) on Sunday, many sparked by lightning, the Country Fire Authority says.

"It has been a very active fire period in many areas of the state and the emergency services have been kept very busy," Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said.

"This activity has been driven by four days of hot, dry weather and tomorrow (Monday) is expected to be the worst day of the past week."

Mr Lapsley said it was important for Victorians to remain vigilant as the hot weather was expected to continue for some while.

He said up to 1075 firefighters, 240 vehicles and 64 aircraft had been active each shift over the past four days.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two die, 18 injured in Thailand blasts

A SERIES of blasts in a town in Thailand's restive south has killed two people and wounded up to 18, authorities say.

The latest incidents, which began with two fire bombings of shops in Pattani on Saturday night, came just days after a major attack on a Thai military base in the insurgency-plagued region.

In total, three bombs have exploded in the provincial town since late Saturday, while police said four more devices had been defused, in the latest attacks to rock the Thai south, where thousands have died in nine years of deadly unrest.

A blast around noon on Sunday in the centre of Pattani killed a local security volunteer instantly, police said.

Hospital staff said another defence volunteer later died of his wounds, while about 18 people, including civilians, were wounded.

Thailand's southern provinces near the Malaysian border suffer almost daily gun and bomb attacks by shadowy groups fighting for greater autonomy.

More than 5500 people, both Buddhist and Muslim, have been killed in the bloody conflict since early 2004.

On Wednesday, scores of heavily-armed gunmen stormed an army base in the neighbouring province of Narathiwat but the Thai military repelled the assault, killing 16 militants in one of the most deadly incidents of the insurgency.

Members of Thailand's security forces and civilians accused of collaboration with the authorities are frequently targeted with ambushes and roadside bombs.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Filipinos and Malaysia in standoff

THE Philippines has called for a peaceful resolution to a tense stand-off between Malaysian forces and a group of gunmen claiming to be followers of the heir of a former Borneo sultan.

The group, estimated at 200 with dozens believed to be armed, landed by boat near the Borneo town of Lahad Datu in Malaysia's Sabah state from the neighbouring Philippines on Tuesday.

Police say the group has declared itself followers of a former Philippine-based Islamic sultanate that once controlled parts of Borneo, including the standoff site, and is refusing to leave Malaysian territory.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino's spokeswoman Abigail Valte said on Saturday the safety of the Filipinos was the government's main concern. Malaysian armed forces and police have locked down the area.

"The primary concern now is their safety and to resolve the incident peacefully," Valte said in a radio interview in Manila.

She said the Philippines had received assurance from Malaysia the government would encourage the group, which Manila has yet to identify, to leave the area peacefully.

Sabah police chief Hamza Taib was quoted by local newspapers as saying police were in negotiations with the group and expected the stand-off to be resolved "very soon with the group returning to their home country".

Malaysian police have set up a series of road blocks along the route leading from Lahad Datu through palm oil plantations to the remote village where the gunmen are. Marine police are patrolling the sea.

The group has claimed to be adherents of the former Sulu sultanate, a regional power centre until its demise a century ago.

A Philippine military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Friday the group was demanding an increase in the nominal amount Malaysia pays, under a long-standing agreement, to the heirs of the sultanate for possession of Sabah.

Sabah has a history of incursions by armed Philippine groups, and the prickly situation could test ties between the neighbours, who are fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Divers scour Russian lake for meteor bits

A meteor crashing to earth in Russia's Ural mountains has injured almost 1000 people, officials say. Source: AAP

DIVERS are searching the bottom of a Russian lake for fragments of a meteorite that plunged to Earth in a blinding fireball whose shockwaves injured 1,200 people and damaged thousands of homes.

The 10-tonne meteor streaked across the sky in the Urals region on Friday morning.

% The meteor brought traffic to a halt in the industrial city of Chelyabinsk as residents poured out on the streets to watch the light show before running for safety as a sonic boom shattered glass and set off car alarms. Most of the injured were cut by glass.

"We have a special team working... that is now assessing the seismic stability of buildings," Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov told residents as he inspected the damage in the central Russian city.

"We will be especially careful about switching the gas back on," he said on television.

A fragment of the meteor - called a meteorite once it hits the ground - was believed to have plunged into the Chelyabinsk region's frozen Lake Chebarkul.

"A group of six divers will inspect the waters for the presence of pieces of a meteorite," an emergencies ministry spokeswoman told Russian news agencies before the start of the operation on Saturday.

But Puchkov said no fragments had been discovered anywhere in the region so far despite some 20,000 rescuers and recovery workers being dispatched there.

The meteor explosion appears to be one of the most stunning cosmic events above Russia since the 1908 Tunguska Event in which a massive blast most scientists blame on an asteroid or a comet ripped through Siberia.

Scientists at the US space agency NASA estimated that the amount of energy released from impact with the atmosphere was about 30 times greater than the force of the nuclear bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II.

"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," said Paul Chodas of NASA's near-earth object program office.

"When you have a fireball of this size we would expect a large number of meteorites to reach the surface, and in this case there were probably some large ones," he said in a statement on the NASA website.

The drama in Russia developed just hours before an asteroid - a space object similar to a tiny planet orbiting the sun - whizzed safely past Earth at the unprecedented distance of 27,000 kilometres.

That put it closer to the ground then some distant satellites and inspired calls in Russia for joint global action on the space safety.

"Instead of fighting on Earth, people should be creating a joint system of asteroid defence," the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee chief, Alexei Pushkov, wrote on his Twitter account late on Friday.

NASA estimates that a smallish asteroid such as the 2012 DA 14 flies close to Earth every 40 years on average and hits the planet once every 1,200 years.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More