France acquits mum over son's Jihad shirt

A COURT in southern France has acquitted a mother on trial for dressing her three-year-old son in a T-shirt reading "I am a bomb" and "Jihad, Born on September 11."

Bouchra Bagour, 35, was on trial in Avignon on charges of defending terrorism after sending her boy, named Jihad, to his school in the town of Sorgues wearing the T-shirt.

Bagour and her 29-year-old brother Zeyad, who was also charged and acquitted, had faced up to five years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros ($A56,520) if convicted.

The court ruled on Wednesday that prosecutors had not proven that the defence of terrorism was "unequivocal", as required by the law.

"I am delighted, it was a discerning and legally justified decision that should put an end to this unfortunate affair," said Gaele Guenoun, the lawyer for Bagour, who was not present for the ruling.

Bagour had admitted to the court that sending her child to school wearing the T-shirt had been "tactless" but insisted it was not meant as a provocation.

She said she simply wanted to make note of her son's birthday on September 11 and did not intend to reference the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

Her brother, who had also faced charges for having bought Jihad the T-shirt, said after the ruling that he was "happy" and "relieved".

Sorgues Mayor Thierry Lagneau, who had expressed outrage at the incident, said the court ruling did not reflect the wishes of the local community.

"I have the feeling that the law does not reflect reality as it is seen by citizens," he said, adding that the ruling "gives the impression that everything is allowed."

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UK PM leads parliament tribute to Thatcher

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has led parliament in a special session of tributes to Margaret Thatcher, describing the divisive former leader as an "extraordinary" woman who had revived the country's fortunes.

The Iron Lady's harshest critics stayed away in a sign of her bitterly disputed legacy, but the Houses of Commons and Lords were mostly packed full of MPs recalled from their holidays after Thatcher died on Monday aged 87.

"Let this be her epitaph, that she made this country great again," intoned Cameron, a fellow Conservative.

Hailing her as an "extraordinary leader - and an extraordinary woman", Cameron said Thatcher was also renowned internationally for helping defeat communism during the 1980s and ending the Cold War.

"Today, in different corners of the world, there are millions of people who know that they owe their freedom, in part, to Margaret Thatcher," Cameron said.

Supporters say Thatcher's free-market reforms made Britain stronger and hail her leadership during the Falklands War with Argentina, while critics complain her economic policies and battles with the trade unions destroyed millions of lives.

But opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband acknowledged her impact on Britain.

"Whatever your view of her, Margaret Thatcher was a unique and towering figure," he said in answer to Cameron's comments.

Thatcher's son Mark said his twin sister Carol and the rest of their family had been "overwhelmed" by messages of support they had received from around the globe. Their mother died at London's Ritz Hotel after a stroke.

Mark said that Thatcher would have been "greatly honoured" by Queen Elizabeth II's decision to attend her funeral next Wednesday, a rare honour from the monarch only accorded to Winston Churchill.

The ceremony will be held at St Paul's Cathedral in London, where British armed forces personnel from units associated with the Falklands conflict will bear her coffin. A total of 700 military personnel will be involved.

Cameron said her casket would also be draped with the British flag as it was transported on a gun carriage to the cathedral, saying: "This will be a fitting salute to a great prime minister."

The parliamentary session was largely respectful but several of her biggest critics boycotted the debates.

"Her impact and influence is indisputable, but her legacy is too bitter to warrant this claim to national mourning," said one Labour lawmaker who stayed away, John Healey.

Firebrand left-wing lawmaker George Galloway also said he would stay away from what he derided as a "state-organised eulogy".

Security for the funeral is likely to be extremely tight with fears of disruption by Irish republican dissidents and far-left groups. Police are also reportedly bracing for a possible "lone wolf" attack.

Concerns about potential violence rose after trouble erupted at several street parties celebrating her death on Monday night in London, Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow.

Many world figures are expected to attend Thatcher's funeral, although a spokesman for former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said he would not be among them because his health was too frail.

Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair and his wife were among the first confirmed guests to the ceremony, which will be followed by a private cremation.

Thatcher's ashes will be laid next to those of her husband Denis, who died in 2003, at the Royal Chelsea Hospital.

Mark Thatcher was out of the country when his mother died, as was his sister, but he returned overnight to the family's plush central London townhouse, where well-wishers had left flowers and tributes.

"We have quite simply been overwhelmed by messages of support, condolence, of every type from far and wide and I know that my mother would be pleased they have come from people of all walks of life," the 59-year-old told reporters.

Several Conservative MPs have called for Thatcher to receive a full state funeral but her spokesman Lord Tim Bell said Thatcher had specifically asked not to have one.

The government dismissed criticism over the cost of the ceremony, which is less ostentatious than the state funeral given to Churchill but is the same honour afforded to the Queen Mother and Princess Diana.

"I think we can afford to contribute to a funeral," Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC.

Thatcher and her policies, dubbed "Thatcherism", remain as divisive now as they were during her premiership from 1979 to 1990.

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US growth to pick up 3.2% in 2014: Obama

PRESIDENT Barack Obama's fiscal 2014 budget sees US economic growth picking up to 3.2 per cent next year from 2.3 per cent this year.

The $US3.77 trillion ($A3.61 trillion) proposed budget, released on Wednesday, also assumes unemployment will average 7.2 per cent next year, down from the current 7.6 per cent.

The budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1 foresees the US deficit falling to $US744 billion, compared to a projected shortfall of $US973 billion in the current year.

That would bring the country's deficit down to 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product from 6.0 per cent this year.

Government spending was projected to rise just 2.5 per cent in 2014 - slightly more than the projected inflation rate of 2.2 per cent - as pressure remains on the White House to curtail spending.

Nevertheless, Republicans in Congress are expected to reject the proposal and push for more cuts in disbursements.

"We don't view this budget as a starting point. This is an offer where the president came more than half way towards the Republicans in an attempt to get a fiscal deal," said a senior White House official.

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Dane cleared of crimes due to 'sexsomnia'

A DANISH man has been acquitted of molesting two 17-year-old girls after he was found to suffer from a rare sleep disorder known as "sexsomnia".

The Glostrup court said Wednesday that the man fondled the teenagers while sleeping in his suburban Copenhagen apartment after a party in 2011.

The girls awoke and interrupted the man, and later reported him to police.

But the court cleared the 31-year-old of sex crimes charges, saying medical tests show he suffers from "sexsomnia" in which a person engages in sexual activity while asleep.

Michael Laub, a Danish sleep specialist who wasn't involved in the case, said it's a rare but widely recognised sleep disorder.

The defendant said he had no recollection of what happened.

Prosecutor Martin von Buelow said he wouldn't appeal the ruling.

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European stocks close sharply higher

EUROPE'S main stock markets closed sharply higher on Wednesday, with London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies gaining 1.17 per cent to 6,387.37 points.

In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 jumped 2.27 per cent to 7,810.63 points, in Paris the CAC 40 rose 1.99 per cent to 3,743.71 points, while in Milan the FTSE-Mib soared 3.19 per cent and Madrid's IBEX 35 rose 3.35 per cent.

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Google expands superfast internet in US

WHILE Australians debate the merits of faster broadband, Google is extending its "super-fast" service to Texas.

Google Fiber debuted in Kansas City and in November began providing users there with internet service that moves data at a blazing gigabyte per second.

That's about 100 times faster than the speed provided by typical broadband connections in the US.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Labor's planned $44 billion national broadband network (NBN) aims to offer speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps).

The coalition plans a $29.5 billion NBN with speeds of 25 Mbps.

In the US, Google plans to extend its "gigabit" experimental internet service to Austin, the Texas state capital and a hotbed for internet entrepreneurs, by the middle of next year, says vice president of access services Milo Medin.

"It's a mecca for creativity and entrepreneurialism, with thriving artistic and tech communities, as well as the University of Texas and its new medical research hospital," Medin said of Austin.

"We're sure these folks will do amazing things with gigabit access."

The announcement was greeted immediately with a challenge from telecom giant AT&T, which said it would offer a similar service if it gets the same access as Google.

"When the startup community hears about Google Fiber coming to Austin there may be celebration in the streets," said Eugene Sepulveda, chief executive of the Entrepreneurs Foundation in that city.

Google says pricing details for the service are being worked out but are expected to be on par with those in Kansas City, where gigabyte-speed service is available for a monthly fee of $US70 ($A67).

Slower Google Fiber connection to the internet is made available free, after a one-time "construction fee" of $US300.

Consumers also will have an option to pay $US120 monthly for superfast internet combined with Google TV service that syncs with notebooks, smartphones or tablets powered by Android software backed by the California technology titan.

Google will hook schools, hospitals, community centres and other public facilities to Fiber for free, according to Medin.

"I don't think, probably, any Austinite can tell you what Google Fiber will mean to Austin a year from now, and that is really the cool part," Texas state Senator Kirk Watson said in a video posted at Google's blog.

Aspiring tech tycoons, their potential financiers, plus indie film-makers and musicians of all generations and genres flock by the thousands to Austin each year for a pop culture jamboree known as SXSW.

AT&T responded to the challenge from Google by announcing that it is prepared to build an advanced fibre optic network in Austin, provided it gets the same deal as Google did from local officials.

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New horsemeat scandal in the Netherlands

THE Netherlands' food watchdog had asked hundreds of companies across Europe, supplied by a Dutch wholesaler suspected of mixing beef and horsemeat, to check 50,000 tonnes of suspect meat.

The organisation sent a letter to 130 Dutch companies who were supplied with possible horse-contaminated beef from the Selten company asking them to "take it off the market as a precautionary measure" and "verify all products".

About 370 companies across Europe could also be affected, the organisation said.

"The companies have possibly already processed the meat and sold it," the government's NVWA food and consumer watchdog said in a statement.

"We estimate it's about 50,000 tonnes of meat," it added.

NVWA spokeswoman Esther Filon told AFP the meat was supplied between January 2011 and February 2013 across Europe, meaning that much of it has already been consumed.

The companies have two weeks to report back to the NVWA, who has also informed health authorities in France, Germany and Spain.

Dutch officials in February raided the Selten meat processing plant in the south of the Netherlands on suspicion that it was mixing horsemeat with beef and selling it as pure beef.

Since the problem was first discovered in Ireland in January, governments have scrambled to figure out how and where the mislabelling of meat happened in the sprawling chain of production spanning abattoirs and meat suppliers across Europe.

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Defence company to shed 450 Aust jobs

ONE of Australia's largest defence companies, BAE Systems, will make more than 400 workers redundant as it reels from the loss of defence contracts.

The Australian arm of the global defence company has revealed the loss of a maintenance contract will affect about 450 staff, according to the Australian newspaper.

The Land Material Maintenance contract, which is expected to be awarded to Transfield from July 1, is for the maintenance of Defence's land-based equipment such as military vehicles.

A BAE spokeswoman said on Wednesday the maintenance services elements of their contracts employ around 450 people, and the company is working closely with those affected to "support their transition".

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Spain princess suspect in corruption case

A SPANISH judge has named King Juan Carlos's daughter Princess Cristina as a suspect in a corruption case, dealing a spectacular blow to the prestige of the royal family.

It is first time a member of the Spanish royal family has been called to appear in a court of law on suspicion of wrongdoing.

The 47-year-old princess must testify as a suspect on April 27 at the court in Palma on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, said a written ruling by the judge, Jose Castro.

"The royal household does not comment in any way on judicial decisions," a spokesman for the royal family told AFP on Wednesday.

The case, which was opened at the end of 2011, is centred on allegations of embezzlement and influence peddling against her husband, former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, and his former business partner Diego Torres.

The pair are suspected of syphoning off money paid by regional governments to stage sports and tourism events to the non-profit Noos Institute, which Urdangarin chaired from 2004 to 2006.

The princess - the seventh in line to the Spanish throne - had seemed set to avoid being snared by the case.

But the judge said evidence, including emails provided to the court by her husband's former business partner, raised doubts that she really was unaware of the business operations of Noos.

Closing the case without hearing the princess, who was a member of the Noos board, would "discredit the maxim that justice is equal for all", he said.

The princess is accused of allowing the lustre of her royal connections to be used by the Noos institute.

Urdangarin, who has not been charged with any crime and maintains his innocence, had sought to distance his wife and the rest of the royals from his business dealings.

But Torres provided the judge with emails, which were leaked to the press, appearing to show that Urdangarin regularly consulted his wife about Noos affairs.

Cristina's personal secretary, Carlos Garcia Revenga, also was questioned by the judge after Torres submitted another batch of emails that suggested he was actively involved in the Noos Institute's dealings.

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French government hit by tax fraud scandal

FRANCE'S Socialist government is reeling from an explosive tax fraud scandal as critics question how much President Francois Hollande knew about a former budget minister's secret foreign bank account.

Jerome Cahuzac - the minister responsible for cracking down on tax evasion until he resigned two weeks ago - was charged on Tuesday with "laundering the proceeds of tax fraud" after he admitted to having a foreign bank account containing some 600,000 euros ($A742,000), following weeks of denials.

Hollande appeared on national television on Wednesday to address the scandal, vowing a new law within weeks on the "publication and control" of the wealth of ministers and parliamentarians.

Hollande said he knew nothing of the foreign account and that Cahuzac "did not benefit from any protection" from the government.

"He deceived the highest authorities in the country: the head of state, the head of the government, parliament, and through them all the French people," Hollande said.

The president had been quick to condemn Cahuzac's actions, but critics have pounced on the scandal, saying top officials must have been either lying to protect the ex-minister or naive enough to believe him.

The head of the main opposition right-wing UMP party, Jean-Francois Cope, has demanded Hollande explain the scandal to the French public.

Cope said the president either "knew nothing, and that's extremely serious because it means he showed a certain amount of naivete" or "he knew and that means he lied to the French people".

"Who can believe that Francois Hollande and (Prime Minister) Jean-Marc Ayrault were aware of nothing?" Cope asked on Europe 1 radio. "They must explain themselves more deeply before the French people."

Opposition lawmakers have called for a parliamentary probe into the scandal and for the resignation of Cahuzac's former boss, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici.

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front, said the entire government should resign and new parliamentary elections held.

Cahuzac announced his resignation on March 19 after prosecutors opened a probe into the account, first revealed by the investigative Mediapart news website in December. He met with investigators on Tuesday and admitted to having had the foreign account for around 20 years.

His lawyer said the account, originally opened in Switzerland, had been transferred to Singapore and that the amount laundered was equivalent to about 30,000 euros ($A37,000).

If convicted, Cahuzac faces up to five years in prison and a potential fine of up to 375,000 euros.

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