Malawi politicians in 'coup plot' charged

TWELVE Malawian politicians who were arrested for plotting to oust President Joyce Banda have been formally charged with treason which could carry the death penalty.

The men appeared at Lilongwe Magistrate's Court amid tight security following rioting over their arrest.

Their lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale said the case would be transferred to the High Court on Thursday for bail hearing, as the "Magistrate's Court has no jurisdiction over treason cases".

The plot is alleged to have taken place amid the chaos following president Bingu wa Mutharika's death on April 5 last year, before Banda, then his deputy, was installed as president after backroom dealings.

Among the arrested is Mutharika's brother Peter, a former foreign minister whom the deceased president had groomed to succeed him.

Goodall Gondwe, current minister of economic planning, is the only member of Banda's cabinet arrested.

Gondwe, Peter Mutharika and Bright Msaka, the chief secretary to the government, face additional charges of inciting mutiny, conspiracy to commit a felony and giving false evidence to a commission of inquiry into the death of the late president.

Last week an inquest ruled that Mutharika died of a heart attack on the way to hospital after collapsing at State House.

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Cardinals allowed cigarette and a tipple

THE cardinals locked inside the Sistine Chapel for deep meditation and reflection until they choose a new pope can break off for a smoke or enjoy a glass of wine, the Vatican spokesman says.

Federico Lombardi expressed the hope however that the 115 cardinals - average age 72 - who were spending a second day choosing a successor to the retired Benedict XVI would show restraint and not harm their health by chain-smoking.

"I think the cardinals are allowed to smoke where they think appropriate. As long as they follow the normal rules of politeness. We would hope they follow (them)," Lombardi told a press conference.

"We know that some smoke. We would hope that they are doing that reasonably and taking care of their health."

Wine, he said was "a normal part of the menu in Rome".

"So I would expect that it would be on the menu. They are free to drink if they wish."

Cardinals take a solemn oath at the start of conclaves to never reveal the contents of their discussions.

But according to one anecdote that leaked out after the election which chose Pope John Paul I in 1978, one cardinal asked the new pontiff if he could have a cigarette to relieve the tension.

John Paul I thought carefully before replying: "Eminence, you may smoke, just as long as the smoke is white." White smoke is used to signal that a new pope has been elected.

Austrian cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who is taking part this year, revealed before the conclave that the spartan rooms at the cardinals' residence contained "no TV and no minibar".

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G20 economies grow in late 2012

ECONOMIC growth in G20 countries climbed by 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012, slowing only slightly from the 0.6 per cent pace recorded in the previous three-month period despite heavy contractions across Europe, preliminary estimates from the OECD show.

For the full year 2012, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that gross domestic product (GDP) in the G20 group of 20 major global economies expanded by 2.8 per cent, down from 3.8 per cent a year earlier.

The OECD said that as economic trends were still diverging widely within the G20 - with China posting the strongest growth in the quarter and Italy dipping deep into negative territory - the aggregate growth rate "continues to mask" mixed patterns among the world's largest economies.

China's economy grew by 2.0 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, while Italy's contracted by 0.9 per cent.

The OECD said that the economies of all of the G20's European members, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, contracted in the last quarter of 2012 compared with the previous three-month period.

Japan and the United States remained stable however, while emerging economies such as Brazil, India, Korea, Mexico, and South Africa showed higher growth, it said.

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Projects must consider walkers: govt

CANBERRA Mar 14 AAP - Cycling, walking and access to public transport will have to be considered in major infrastructure projects that want to get federal funding, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says.

The minister told the Bus Industry Confederation dinner on Wednesday active forms of transport such as walking, cycling and catching public transport were now becoming mainstream - although the car still dominates.

This meant they should be provided for in future infrastructure programs.

Mr Albanese said the provision of safe and active travel options would have to be built into the design of any projects that got federal funding under the next tranche of the Commonwealth's nation building program.

"This will mean that federally funded urban transport infrastructure projects must consider whether provision has been made for appropriate cycling and walking paths," he told the dinner.

"When we build a bridge we shouldn't consider it only as a carriageway for car traffic, we should also ensure that it caters for walkers and cyclers."

That would avoid the hefty cost of retrofitting infrastructure in the future.

The policy of taking active transport needs into consideration during project planning is known as positive provision.

Cycling Promotion Fund spokesman Stephen Hodge said this was the first time leadership had been shown at a national level on positive provision.

"There is such strong evidence now for the benefits of putting in these relatively cheap and easy to install bits of infrastructure when you're doing big projects, that there was some leadership needed," he told AAP.

His group is a member of the Moving People 2030 Taskforce, whose report on transport in Australia was formally launched at the dinner.

The taskforce is made up of a range of transport, planning and health groups.

It said congestion in Australia's major cities would cost the country $20 billion by 2020.

The taskforce recommended a range of solutions governments should look at including congestion charges and aiming for a third of all passenger trips in 2030 to happen via public transport, walking or riding.

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Putin, action actor Seagal promote sports

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has teamed up with American action movie actor Steven Seagal to promote the Soviet-style regime of rigourous physical training for Russian schoolchildren.

Accompanied by the black-clad star of Under Siege and Above the Law, Putin, himself an avid sportsman, toured a newly-built complex at a prominent sambo martial arts training centre in Moscow.

After attending several training sessions, the Russian strongman said too many Russian children were sickly, noting they should take up sports to be able to defend themselves - and the country.

"We should not have any children who, as they say, sit on the bench during physical education classes. Everyone should practice sports, everyone without exception," Putin said at the Sambo-70 sports complex.

Sambo, a mixture of judo and wrestling, was the official in-house martial art of the KGB security services which Putin practised before switching to judo.

Saying that two-thirds of Russian teenagers suffered from chronic illnesses by the age of 14, Putin called on the government to reintroduce the Soviet-era national fitness program that used to be known by its abbreviation GTO, or Ready for Labour and Defence.

"Children should become strong, they should be healthy, love sports and have an opportunity to practice them, should know how to defend themselves, their loved ones, their family," Putin said in remarks released by the Kremlin.

"Ultimately, they should be able to defend their motherland."

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian reporters that the Russian president and Seagal have been friends "for a long time" and regularly meet.

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Pilgrims wait for smoke after three votes

EYES are riveted once again on a simple chimney pipe rising above a sublime Renaissance chapel after Catholic cardinals failed to elect a new leader for their 1.2 billion-strong Church in three ballots.

The 115 cardinals kicked off their conclave in the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to find a successor to Benedict XVI, who brought a troubled eight-year papacy to an abrupt end by resigning last month aged 85.

The chimney disgorged black smoke after Wednesday's first two voting sessions and after Tuesday's first ballot, indicating that no one had gained the two-thirds majority needed to become the 266th pope.

A successful result would be signalled immediately by white smoke and followed soon afterwards with the famous announcement in Latin, Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope).

The failed ballots deepened the suspense as no clear frontrunner has emerged, although conjecture has coalesced around three favourites: Italy's Angelo Scola, Brazil's Odilo Scherer and Canada's Marc Ouellet, all conservatives like Benedict.

Some analysts suggest that Benedict's dramatic act - the first papal resignation in over 700 years - could push the cardinals to take an equally unusual decision and that an outsider could emerge as a compromise candidate.

Hopes are high in the Philippines for the popular archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Tagle, and on the African continent for South Africa's Wilfrid Napier, the archbishop of Durban, but in practice their chances are slim.

Whatever hopes Vienna Archbishop Christoph Schoenborn may have, his mother did him no favours by telling the Austrian press that the job of pope "would be much too difficult" for him.

US President Barack Obama also chimed in on Wednesday, saying an American pope could be just as effective as any other, before quipping: "But the (US) conference of Catholic bishops ... don't seem to be taking orders from me."

Tens of thousands of people gathered in a rainy St Peter's Square on Wednesday, huddled under umbrellas to gaze up at the chimney pipe for the only information obtainable from the secret voting conclave.

"There's a great atmosphere, we're not just waiting for white smoke, we're waiting to see a leader emerge who can open up the Church to the modern world," said Jean Chiche, who had come with his wife and daughter from Paris.

The scandal of sexual abuse of children by pedophile priests going back decades - and the cover-up of their actions by senior prelates - has also cast a long shadow on the Church.

The US group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) called for over a dozen cardinals to be excluded from the conclave either for covering up abuses or making tactless remarks about the scandals.

The Vatican on Wednesday defended the cardinals and accused SNAP and other activists of showing "negative prejudices".

"None of us are surprised that they have tried to take advantage of these days to repeat their accusations and give them greater resonance," Lombardi said.

"These cardinals should be respected and have every right to be in the conclave," he said.

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Afghan suicide bomb kills six at game

A SUICIDE bomb has exploded in crowds at a traditional horse-back game of buzkashi in northern Afghanistan, killing at least six people, police say.

"The suicide attacker detonated himself at the end of the match in Imam Sahib district this evening. Six people have died," Abdul Khalil Andarabi, police chief of Kunduz province, told AFP.

Andarabi said that among the dead were the district police chief and the father of the speaker in the national parliament. At least seven other people were wounded in the attack.

Buzkashi is Afghanistan's national sport in which riders use a headless goat in place of a ball in a ferocious version of polo.

Kunduz, which borders Tajikistan, has been beset by insurgent violence in recent years. In 2010, the provincial governor was killed by a bomb blast that tore through prayer services at a mosque.

Afghan soldiers and police are taking over responsibility for security across much of the country as international coalition forces, which have been deployed since 2001, pull out by the end of next year.

The attack on Wednesday came after twin suicide explosions on Sunday, when 19 people were killed in blasts in the capital Kabul and in the eastern province of Khost.

The bomb in Kabul, outside the defence ministry, struck as US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited a US military base nearby.

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Greek police probe neo-Nazi hate speech

POLICE in Greece say they have opened an investigation after a report on Britain's Channel 4 television showed a Greek neo-Nazi threatening to turn immigrants into soap.

The statements were made by Alexandros Plomaritis, a 44-year-old who ran for parliament for the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn in last year's election.

"We are ready to open the ovens. We will turn them into soap ... to wash cars and pavements. We will make lamps from their skin," Plomaritis said of undocumented migrants, whom he also termed "miasma" and "subhuman".

Plomaritis was filmed ahead of the election handing out Golden Dawn tracts in an open-air market and chatting with his friends outside a cafe.

Golden Dawn dismissed the report as "grotesque".

"These views were stated to make people laugh," party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris said in a statement.

"The cafe regulars were making fun of the English," he said.

Golden Dawn, formerly on the fringe of Greek politics, has seen its ratings soar since last year in a country weary of austerity and political corruption.

The party saw 18 deputies elected to parliament in June for the first time in its history and is the third most popular party in opinion polls.

Rights groups have regularly accused Greek police of turning a blind eye to suspected Golden Dawn attacks against migrants and political opponents.

Kasidiaris will be tried on Thursday for allegedly providing a getaway car to five men who beat up a student at a university campus in 2007.

The investigation into the neo-Nazi candidate's hate language was instigated by a special police department on racist violence that was only recently set up following international pressure.

Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos gave a televised interview in May in which he denied the existence of gas chambers and crematoria during World War II.

He also called Adolf Hitler "a major historical figure of the 20th century."

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Canada foreign aid tied to commerce

ONCE held up as a model global citizen, Canada is facing growing criticism from aid groups over moves to tie foreign assistance to trade through partnerships with mining and other firms.

Plenty of nations use foreign aid to further their political and economic interests, and Ottawa has insisted that in tough economic times a market-based approach involving private firms will ensure aid is used efficiently.

But aid groups counter that in tying assistance to economic gains Canada neglects its obligation to fight poverty, and Ottawa has even earned a rare rebuke from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In January, Canada's International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino announced the suspension of new aid to Haiti over concerns about mismanagement of funds in the impoverished Caribbean nation, ravaged by a 2010 earthquake.

Canada is a leading backer of international efforts to rebuild Haiti, and the announcement drew immediate criticism from aid groups.

Bonnie Campbell, a politics professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, said the changes began in 2009, when the Canadian government axed funding for eight African countries.

Colombia and Peru, two nations that had recently signed free trade agreements with Canada, were meanwhile added to Ottawa's list of top aid beneficiaries.

"Those picks are worrying," said Campbell.

"We're choosing targets for aid based on Canada's commercial interests and we're distancing ourselves from our international obligations to reduce poverty."

The latest changes even drew criticism from the OECD, which last year deemed unfortunate a five-per cent reduction in Canada's foreign aid budget, saying its "new approach to foreign aid is neither sufficient nor transparent."

In a response to AFP, Fantino touted the private sector as "absolutely essential for job creation and durable economic growth, without which developing nations cannot break the cycle of poverty."

He said Ottawa had obtained positive results by focusing aid on the "social, economic and health needs" of people in poorer nations and defended its partnerships with mining and other firms.

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Weak leadership cost Baillieu - editorials

WEAK leadership in tough times forced Ted Baillieu's resignation, and his successor, Premier Denis Napthine, faces a struggle to resurrect the unpopular Victorian government, Melbourne's major newspapers say.

The Australian says while Mr Baillieu's greatest achievement - returning the coalition to government after 11 years - should not be forgotten, he lacked decisiveness and vision once in office.

He failed to inspire the confidence of his own party members, as well as the Victorian people.

His handling of this week's taped conversation scandal sealed his fate, it says.

"After a series of policy failures, scandals and poor poll results, the task for the new premier will be to lead boldly," the editorial said.

The Herald Sun says Mr Baillieu lacked the guidance and direction his party members - and Victorians - needed from him.

His lack of communication hurt him most, and he needed a stronger voice, its editorial says.

"It was always a matter of communication, or a lack of it for which Mr Baillieu was criticised by this newspaper, as well as his political mentor in former premier Jeff Kennett," it said.

The Age says Mr Baillieu set high standards upon his election, but failed to follow through once in office.

His promises to end the "rancid culture" of politics and deliver disciplined, stable government did not eventuate, and that culture only grew in party ranks, it says.

"That it was there at all, and allowed to fester on his watch, points to a significant failure of leadership," The Age's editorial said.

The coalition's future would depend on its preparedness to crush disunity and frustration within its ranks, it said.

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