Militants kill two police in India Kashmir

TWO Indian policemen have been shot dead by suspected militants in a high security area of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, police say.

The policemen were shot from point blank range when they were on a regular patrol near the main court complex located in a busy commercial district of Srinagar, a senior police official said on Saturday.

"Both the policemen died at the spot. We don't know as yet who carried out the attack," city police chief Ashiq Bukhari said.

The attack comes at a time when security is being stepped up in the region ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early next week.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan along the UN-monitored Line of Control (LoC), but both countries claim the region in full and have fought two of their three wars over it.

Rebels opposed to Indian rule of the territory have been mounting shoot-and-run attacks on security personnel at regular intervals in recent times.

In April, armed militants attacked a police patrol near the northern Kashmir town of Sopore, killing four.

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Kerry calls for end to Syria 'imbalance'

US Secretary of State John Kerry says supporters of the Syrian opposition will step up military and other aid in a bid to end an "imbalance" on the ground in President Bashar al-Assad's favour.

Kerry, speaking at a conference of foreign ministers in Qatar on Saturday, said that the United States remained committed to a peace plan that includes a conference in Geneva and a transitional government picked both by Assad and the opposition.

The rebels need more support "for the purpose of being able to get to Geneva and to be able to address the imbalance on the ground," Kerry said.

"The United States and other countries here - in their various ways, each choosing its own approach - will increase the scope and scale of assistance to the political and military opposition," Kerry said.

Kerry said that the governments at the conference - which include stalwart supporters of the rebels Qatar and Saudi Arabia - would work to "coordinate our support" to the opposition's Supreme Military Council.

Kerry accused Assad of an "internationalisation" of the conflict which has claimed nearly 100,000 lives by bringing in the support of Iran and the Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah.

"Reliable civilian governance and a stronger and more effective armed opposition will better enable the opposition to be able to provide the counterweight to the initiative of Assad," he said.

President Barack Obama has announced plans to step up assistance to the rebels after concluding that Assad crossed his stated red line by using chemical weapons.

But the United States has said little about its own assistance, with Obama voicing concern about becoming too involved in the increasingly sectarian conflict.

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Attacks kill NATO soldier, 2 Afghan police

TALIBAN militants attacked local security checkpoints in a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan, killing two policemen in a fight that also left 18 insurgents dead, Afghan officials say.

NATO said a coalition service member also died in a militant attack in the south on Saturday, but did not provide further details.

The violence follows NATO's formal handover of security in the entirety of Afghanistan to Kabul's forces - a transition that comes at a time with violence levels matching their worst in nearly 12 years of war.

In northern Afghanistan, Kunduz provincial police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said on Saturday that the Taliban attacked multiple checkpoints at about noon Friday in the provincial capital of the same name, killing one member of the Afghan local police, a community-based force, and wounding two.

The Taliban then moved outside the city where a gun battle with Afghan security forces lasted until about midnight, Hussaini said.

Eighteen Taliban fighters and another local policeman were killed in the battle, and another 11 militants were wounded, he said.

Hussaini posted on his Facebook page a picture of 11 bodies lined up inside the provincial police compound in Kunduz that he said were those of Taliban militants his troops recovered from the scene of the fight.

The Interior Ministry said the battle outside of the city involved Afghan National Police, and that it was conducted independently "without the involvement of any foreigners."

As Afghan forces have become more involved in security operations they have seen a sharp rise in deaths, while casualties among the US-led military coalition have been reducing as the international forces pull back to let the Afghans take the lead.

According to an Associated Press count, 807 Afghan security force members - including soldiers and police - and 365 civilians have been killed so far this year through the end of May. A total of 63 coalition troops were also killed in that span.

Last year through the end of May, Afghan security forces lost 365 soldiers and police and 338 civilians were killed. Coalition forces lost 177 troops during that time.

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Dutch boys, 5 and 7, joyride in nan's car

DUTCH police have briefly detained two brothers aged five and seven who crashed a car after a short joyride.

"A police patrol this morning saw a car with the doors open and two young boys stood next to it," in Bloemendael, west of Amsterdam, police spokeswoman Lenny Beijerbergen said on Saturday.

"The seven-year-old boy told police that he had driven the car around one-and-a-half kilometres, hit a metal post on the pavement and come to a standstill," Beijerbergen said.

A policeman tweeted a photo of the crash scene, saying the car belonged to the boys' grandmother.

The photo, which was quickly removed from Twitter, showed the boys, the car and the uprooted post in a residential street strewn with debris from the car.

"At least I had my seat belt on! And my brother was in the child's seat," the seven-year-old driver said when police turned up, national news agency ANP reported.

"The boys were taken to the police station, given a talking to and made aware of what they've done," Beijerbergen said.

"Then they were taken home. Thankfully they were both unhurt."

She said there was considerable damage to the car and the pavement.

"This is really quite remarkable. I've never seen anything like it. Seven is very young," Beijerbergen said.

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Snowden extradition could take years

ATTEMPTS to extradite ex-intelligence technician Edward Snowden, charged with espionage by US authorities, will result in a protracted legal battle in Hong Kong that could last years, experts said.

Hong Kong, a former British colony that retained a separate legal system when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, has a long-standing extradition treaty with the US, but Beijing has the potential to veto any ruling.

However Beijing has appeared to distance itself from any decision on the possible extradition of Snowden, who is in hiding in the southern Chinese city after blowing the lid on vast US surveillance programs targetting phone calls and internet traffic.

Hong Kong officials remained tight-lipped on Saturday as to whether they will hold Snowden a day after Washington charged the former CIA contractor with espionage, theft and "conversion of government property".

Hong Kong lawmaker Alan Leong said that if local authorities proceed with extradition, it could result in a lengthy legal battle.

"If every appeal opportunity is taken, I suppose the process will last between three and five years" at the very least, he told AFP.

The case could possibly drag "through at least the magistrates' court, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal. So, at least three levels of (Hong Kong) courts," he said.

Snowden can claim fears of political persecution and ask for political asylum, which will buy him time, said Christopher Gane, the dean of law school of Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"If the court decides this man cannot be sent back, this is the end of it. He can't be sent back," he told AFP.

"But if the court decides he could be sent back, it is still up to the Hong Kong chief executive to decide whether to do so. This is when all kinds of possible considerations can come in," Gane said.

Experts have claimed that Snowden is testing Hong Kong's civil liberties under its "one country, two systems" framework by retreating to the former British colony.

Snowden has exposed details on vast US surveillance operations, leaking documents that appear to show huge quantities of private telephone and internet data -- such as emails and call records -- have been scooped up with little or no judicial oversight.

The revelations have embarrassed US President Barack Obama's administration.

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Snowden charge 'intimidation': Assange

THE United States has charged leaker Edward Snowden with espionage in an attempt to bully other countries into abandoning him, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says.

US authorities have filed espionage charges against rogue intelligence technician Snowden and asked Hong Kong to detain him.

Assange criticised the move on Saturday in a speech the Australian had planned to deliver from the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he's been holed up for over a year.

But WikiLeaks said via Twitter the appearance was postponed "due to a security situation" and instead released a copy of the speech.

Police weren't commenting and a response was being sought from the Ecuadorean embassy.

In the speech Assange says he's been able to work in relative safety from a US espionage investigation only because he sought asylum in the diplomatic mission.

"The charging of Edward Snowden is intended to intimidate any country that might be considering standing up for his rights," Assange said in the written speech.

"That tactic must not be allowed to work.

"The effort to find asylum for Edward Snowden must be intensified. What brave country will stand up for him and recognise his service to humanity?"

Assange this week revealed he'd been in contact with representatives of Snowden to discuss his possible bid for asylum in Iceland following his disclosure of US surveillance programs.

The 41-year-old on Saturday said the US government was spying "on each and every one of us" but it was Snowden who'd been charged with espionage.

"It is getting to the point where the mark of international distinction and service to humanity is no longer the Nobel Peace Prize but an espionage indictment from the US Department of Justice," Assange said.

"Edward Snowden is the eighth leaker to be charged with espionage under this president."

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino earlier this week revealed Assange had told him he was strong enough to remain in the embassy "for five years ... rather than face legal proceedings in the US".

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Spain care home worker gets 127 years jail

A SECURITY guard at a Spanish retirement home has been sentenced to 127 years in prison for killing 11 elderly residents, three of whom he forced to drink bleach.

Joan Vila Dilme, dubbed "the angel of death", was found guilty of the crimes on June 12 by a unanimous jury decision at a court hearing in the northeastern town of Girona in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region.

The court on Friday sentenced Dilme to 127 years behind bars but specified that under Spanish law he can serve a maximum of 40 years in jail.

The 47-year-old defendant, employed at the La Caritat home in Olot in Catalonia, was arrested in October 2010 after the death of an 85-year-old woman in a local hospital.

He later confessed to her murder, saying he had made her drink bleach, along with the killings of two other elderly people, which he said were carried out in order to "end their suffering".

Eight other murders, committed between August 2009 and October 2010, later came to light, with the victims given overdoses of insulin or various fatal pharmaceutical cocktails in a case which has stirred high emotions in the country.

Prosecutors had asked for a 194-year jail term.

The defence lawyer said his client suffered mental problems, but the jury found no extenuating circumstances.

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9/11 linked to increase in smoking

A MILLION former smokers in the US took up the habit again after 9/11, new research has shown.

They were driven back to tobacco by stress, experts believe.

Returning smokers accounted for a "significant" 2.3 per cent rise in smoking rates across the US in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington DC on September 11, 2001.

Scientists studied data from phone surveys carried out in every state to track rates of risky behaviour such as smoking and drinking habits.

Analysis of 1,657,985 responses showed that between the fourth quarter of 2001 and 2003, between 900,000 and 1.3 million adult former smokers started using tobacco again.

In contrast, there was no increase in smoking rates after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 which claimed 168 lives.

"This study provides the first unbiased estimate of the effect of stress on smoking, and the finding that there was such a big increase in smoking nationwide, seemingly due to one event, is extraordinary, and surprising," said lead researcher Dr Michael Pesko, from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

"It sheds light on a hidden cost of terrorism.

"I was really surprised to find that former smokers across the nation resumed their old habit. I was expecting to see impacts just in the New York City area - or, at most, the tri-state area."

The research, reported in the journal Contemporary Economic Policy, suggests stressful events can have an impact on public health.

Pesko suggested handing out free nicotine replacement therapy soon after traumatic events.

"Another strategy would be to alert health professionals to do more substance abuse screening during regular medical appointments following terrorist attacks, or any such event that is likely to stress the nation."

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Tutu backs South Africa opposition leader

SOUTH Africa's peace icon Desmond Tutu has welcomed renowned anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele's entry into opposition politics.

"Few thinking South Africans would not welcome the entry into South African politics of someone of the calibre, background, intellect and resourcefulness of Mamphela Ramphele," said Tutu in a statement on Friday.

A former World Bank managing director and medical doctor, Ramphele, will launch her political party Agang on Saturday to challenge President Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress (ANC) in 2014 polls.

"If Dr Ramphele formally enters the election race next year, and goes on to attract sufficient votes to become a parliamentarian, there is no doubt that South Africans will benefit from her experience and her knowledge," Tutu added.

Tutu, a Nobel peace laureate, last month said he will not vote for the ANC which brought Nelson Mandela to power 19 years ago.

He blamed the ruling party for corruption, failure to end poverty and inequality, and general falling standards of living.

He hailed Ramphele as a brave and "principled leader who has been ready to take costly stands for social justice."

She spent years banished to a small South African town by the white minority-regime and had been the partner of murdered activist Steve Biko.

She "has spoken of a pervasive climate of fear and intolerance in South Africa, where critics restrict their criticisms to their armchairs behind closed doors rather than risk their capital or their connections or their clout."

The ANC has been the ruling party since the fall of apartheid and the 1994 elections which made Mandela the country's first black president.

It has seen overwhelming victories at the ballot box, but is now under pressure because of failures to deliver on promises.

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The Age calls for Gillard's head

THE Age newspaper in Melbourne has called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to resign before the September 14 election and accept she has failed as leader.

The editorial said she must step down now in the interests of her party, the nation and for democracy.

"The Age's overriding concern is that under Ms Gillard's leadership, the Labor Party's message about its future policies and vision for Australia is not getting through to the electorate," the newspaper says in its Saturday editorial.

"Our fear is that if there is no change in Labor leadership before the September 14 election, voters will be denied a proper contest of ideas and policies - and that would be a travesty for the democratic process."

The newspaper argues that the coalition has been allowed to run unchallenged on its platforms for too long and Ms Gillard has not been able to sell Labor's narrative of landmark reforms to voters, who have stopped listening to her.

"The government under Ms Gillard has lost its way," it said.

"The onus falls on Ms Gillard to break the impasse."

The paper said it is not entirely convinced that Kevin Rudd has changed since he was a "flawed leader," but he should still be given a chance to be prime minister once again.

"We cannot ignore the clear and consistent evidence of the opinion polls that his return to the leadership would lift Labor's stocks and enhance its prospects of making the election a genuine contest."

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CSIRO unveils boost for food production

AUSTRALIAN scientists are listening to oyster hearts and monitoring cows online as part of plans to dramatically increase food production, with early findings showing yields could double in size.

Domestic and overseas demand for Australian-grown food is expected to surge in coming years, with predictions in May's National Food Plan that Asia will drive a 75 per cent rise in consumption by 2050.

The United Nations warned in May of a worsening food shortage, prompted in part by challenges such as land shortage and climate change.

But peak science agency, the CSIRO believes new technology can help Australian farmers meet rocketing demand both at home and overseas.

"We believe we can lift the productivity of the paddock enormously," CSIRO's Centre for Broadband Innovation director Colin Griffith told AAP.

Since 2011, the CSIRO has been conducting experiments on Australian farms, using fast internet-enabled gadgets to monitor everything from cattle movements and soil moisture to solar radiation.

Findings from the trials will be released in a white paper at the Digital Rural Futures Conference in Armidale from June 26-28.

But preliminary results seen by AAP suggests cotton farmers using this technology almost doubled their yields.

Crop, pasture, livestock health and quality were all increased significantly too.

The trials have been carried out three regions.

In Armidale, north NSW, the CSIRO and University of New England set up a 2800 hectare cattle and merino wool 'smart farm'.

It has hundreds of digital sensors and cameras on the land, feeding data back to a central computer programme advising when to water, when to plant and when to move livestock.

Cattle and sheep have been fitted with wireless tags, allowing farmers to monitor their precise movements via the internet, with SMS alerts sent to their phones if animals graze, give birth or are attacked.

In Tasmania, CSIRO scientists are monitoring oyster heartbeats and water quality on fish farms.

By doing so they can tell if the oysters are stressed - indicating changes in water purity, salinity or temperature - all potentially disastrous for bivalve health.

A 'digital homestead' is in operation in Townsville, north Queensland, with technology similar to the Armidale smart farm.

Hollie Baillieu, chairman of the National Farmers' Federation 2050 Committee backed the findings and said technology should also boost farmers' profits.

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US stocks mostly higher

US stocks have opened mostly higher as global markets steadied one day after recording steep declines in most markets.

About 40 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 52.75 (0.36 per cent) to 14,811.07.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 6.70 (0.42 per cent) to 1,594.89 while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 2.25 (0.07 per cent) to 3,362.39.

On Thursday, the US indices each tumbled by 2.3 per cent or more. There were sharp declines in markets in China, France, Britain and elsewhere. Gold prices shed 6.5 per cent and oil futures sank nearly $4.

Thursday's turbulence followed news that the Federal Reserve is close to tapering its bond-buying program. Markets are also jittery about the Chinese economy and the state of Chinese credit markets.

"The story is the broader market and how negatively it has reacted since the Fed decision on Wednesday," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"Today's chapter will be important since a happy ending is expected following such big losses."

Software and cloud computing company Oracle announced it was doubling its dividend and initiating a $12 billion share repurchase program, but shares still fell 8.8 per cent as the company reported flat revenues.

Restaurant chain company Darden Restaurants fell 2.5 per cent after reporting net earnings of 1.03 per share, one penny shy of expectations. The company expects a "slow and uneven recovery in both the overall economy and our industry," necessitating an emphasis on affordability.

Used car retailer CarMax rose 2.1 per cent after reporting that sales revenues grew 23.4 per cent compared with the year-ago quarter, and net profits rose 21.5 per cent.

Bonds were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury edged higher to 2.43 per cent from 2.42 per cent Thursday, while the 30-year slipped to 3.50 per cent from 3.51 per cent. Bond prices move inversely to yields.

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Facebook broke Indonesian terror case

SEFA Riano didn't try to hide his plans or his beliefs.

A Facebook page police traced to him is plastered with photos of bearded men in camouflage uniforms holding rifles and banners hailing "The Spirit of Jihad."

One status update in late April apologises to his parents before telling them goodbye.

Another declares ominously, "God willing, I will take action at the Myanmar Embassy, hope you will share responsibility for my struggle."

It ends with a yellow smiley face.

Days later, police arrested Riano, whose Facebook name is Mambo Wahab, just before midnight in central Jakarta.

Police say he and another man were on a motorbike carrying a backpack filled with five low-explosive pipe bombs tied together.

Riano, 29, is awaiting charges related to allegations that he plotted to bomb the embassy to protest the persecution of Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

A police investigator revealed Riano's connection to the page, which was still online Thursday, to The Associated Press.

The investigator spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to reporters.

The investigator said Riano caused his own downfall by publicising his mission on Facebook, but added that police believe it was another Facebook page that drew him to radical Islam to begin with.

Police said a growing number of young people in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, are being targeted for recruitment by terrorists on the social media site.

More than one in four of the country's 240 million people are on Facebook, thanks in large part to cheap and fast internet-capable phones.

While it is not clear how many terrorists are actually recruited through Facebook, the use of social networking to groom potential attackers poses new challenges for authorities struggling to eradicate militant groups that have been weakened over the last 10 years.

Though Facebook shuts down pages that promote terrorism when it learns of them, police say new pages are easily created and some have attracted thousands of followers.

Muhammad Taufiqurrohman, an analyst from the Centre for Radicalism and De-radicalisation Studies who works closely with Indonesian anti-terrorism officials, said 50 to 100 militants in the country have been recruited directly through Facebook over the past two years.

He said there were at least 18 radical Facebook groups in Indonesia, and one of them has 7000 members.

Police said some sites where radical discussion takes place focus on Islam, while others engage in talk about committing violence, such as how to make bombs.

Access is blocked unless group administrators allow users to participate.

Indonesian police say Facebook is one of many places where they've found terrorist activity online. They have detected militants using online games for attack drills.

A group was caught uploading propaganda videos on YouTube and terrorists are known to have purchased weapons using video calls, said Brigadier General Petrus Reinhard Golose, the director of operations at Indonesia's anti-terrorism agency.

Terrorists have used the internet for many years, but usually anonymously.

Groups such as al-Qaida have employed online discussion forums where people left comments but did not directly interact.

Today's smartphone generation appears to be operating more openly: As of Thursday, Riano still had about 900 Facebook friends.

The police investigator said authorities were alerted about "Mambo Wahab's" Myanmar bombing status update by other internet users.

Police used information collected from arrested militants in Riano's online networks to track his Web footprint.

After getting his internet protocol address and eventually linking that to a mobile phone, authorities say they were able to tap into conversations involving Riano and the plot's alleged mastermind, the investigator said.

The Mambo Wahab page has not been updated since Riano's arrest May 3.

Some people in Indonesian jails - even on death row - manage to post status updates, though others may be acting on their behalf.

Some Indonesian police want the law to address online communications that advocate or abet terrorism. Indonesia's information technology laws ban only pornography and illegal online financial transactions.

The government is drafting legislation that would criminalise hate speech and online terrorism activities.

Although police are starting to surf the internet as part of their work, many of those arrested for terrorism-linked activities on Facebook were caught not because of cyber patrolling, but because police received tips about their accounts.

Those cases include nine militants, including one woman, who were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail for funding terrorism activities by hacking into a Malaysian website and defrauding the company out $US800,000 ($A866,500) in cash and assets.

Indonesia has fought terrorism aggressively since the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

There have been no large-scale attacks for several years, though there have been several smaller strikes targeting mainly the government, police and anti-terrorism forces.

Well-funded terror networks have been disrupted, but radical clerics continue to spread their ideology to militants who set up military-style training camps.

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Life sentence for Rwandan genocide

A RWANDAN-BORN man has been sentenced to life in prison by a Swedish court for committing massacres and crimes against humanity during the 1994 genocide in the Central African country.

Stanislas Mbanenande, 54, a Hutu who holds Swedish citizenship, was found to have instigated and to have been an accessory to murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and kidnappings.

He was found guilty of complicity in the assault on Tutsis who fled attacks on the slopes of Ruhiro Mountain in the southern parts of Kibuye in western Rwanda in April 1994. Hundreds were shot and beaten to death.

Mbanenande was also found to have recruited militant Hutu youth in the mass slaughter of Tutsi civilians, inciting them to attack Tutsis at a Catholic church and a football stadium.

He was also convicted of attempted murder over shooting at crowds of people, the Stockholm District Court's ruling said.

The proceedings opened in November and was the Nordic country's first related to the genocide.

Mbanenande had denied all the charges against him, and his attorney said he planned to appeal.

The court said testimony from witnesses had been crucial in the case and, although the events took place more than 19 years ago, witnesses were able to focus on "key details such as looks [of a person] during extremely traumatic events."

The court rejected claims by the defence that Rwandan authorities had fabricated evidence against Mbanenande. However, it said evidence linking Mbanenande to a massacre in the town of Kibuye was not strong enough.

Hearings were held in Stockholm as well as in Rwanda. Claims for damages presented by 21 victims were rejected by the court, which referred such claims to Rwandan authorities.

Mbanenande was arrested in December 2011 after an extradition request from Rwanda, which Stockholm rejected because of his Swedish citizenship.

An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the ethnic violence over 100 days.

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SKorean airlines ban shark fin as cargo

South Korea's two largest airlines have both imposed a ban on the shipment of shark fin. Source: AAP

SOUTH Korea's two largest airlines, Korean Air and Asiana, have both decided to ban shark fin from their cargo flights as part of a growing global campaign against the Asian delicacy.

Korean Air, which flies to 45 countries, said in a statement on Thursday that it had stopped shipping shark fin from June 10.

"Korean Air has joined a campaign to protect an ecological system by imposing a complete ban on the shipment of shark fin," the statement said.

Asiana, the country's second largest airline, said it was following suit.

"Our airline has decided to stop shipping shark fin," an Asiana spokeswoman told AFP, without saying when the ban would be enforced.

Shark fin soup is served by many hotels and Chinese restaurants in South Korea and is a staple at wedding banquets and corporate parties.

Global shark populations have been destroyed by the trade.

Humans kill about 100 million sharks each year, mostly for their fins, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, which says 90 per cent have disappeared over the past 100 years.

The move brings Korean Air and Asiana into line with a number of other Asian carriers, including Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific which stopped shipping shark fin as cargo last September.

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Betting scandal case doomed to fail: court

A Sydney magistrate has thrown out a betting scandal case against three rugby league identities. Source: AAP

THE case against three rugby league identities embroiled in an alleged betting scandal was doomed to fail, says the Sydney magistrate who threw out the case.

Former rugby league player John Elias, former Parramatta player Brad Murray and Jai Ayoub, the son of Murray's manager Sam Ayoub, had the prosecution against them permanently stayed on Wednesday.

"I find that the prosecution would not be in a position to prove the element of deception beyond a reasonable doubt in all defendants' matters," Magistrate Greg Grogin said in Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.

"The prosecutions would therefore, if allowed to proceed, inevitably be doomed to failure."

The three men were previously charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception by placing bets on the NRL game between North Queensland and Canterbury on August 21, 2010.

The match was the subject of an unusual betting plunge on the first score being a Cowboys penalty goal which did not eventuate.

All up, they could have won a total of $123,000 from a series of separate wagers.

Former NRL player Ryan Tandy, who played for the Bulldogs that day, was fined $4000 after he was found guilty of trying to manipulate the first scoring point of the match to dishonestly obtain a financial advantage.

In his decision, Magistrate Grogin supported the defence's argument that just because the trio may have received information about actions on the field to force the penalty it did not constitute an offence.

It is the nature of professional sport for people close to players, coaching staff and others to hear information that could affect the outcome of a match, he said.

He also said there was no evidence they took part in planning what happened on the field.

"There is a lack of proximity or causal link between the on-field activity and the placing of the exotic bet," he said.

The magistrate also noted they were not charged with a conspiracy, joint criminal enterprise or common purpose charge.

Counsel for the trio will have their applications for costs heard before the same court on September 20.

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Nigella's case raises politicians' hackles

BRITISH politicians have questioned the way police treated Nigella Lawson's husband after he admitted assaulting the celebrity chef in a restaurant.

Opposition Labour Party MP Sandra Osborne asked in the House of Commons on Thursday if there is one rule for the rich and famous, and another rule for everyone else.

She was referring to advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, who earlier this week was given a police "caution" after admitting assault.

He contacted police after newspapers published photos of him grasping his wife's throat during an argument.

He will not face further charges or penalties.

Osborne said it sent the wrong message to allow someone to receive only a caution after admitting assault.

UK prosecutors' guidelines indicate cautions are appropriate for some assaults.

But, in the House of Lords, Lord Avebury also hit out at the "leniency" shown to Saatchi.

As Lord Avebury spoke, Lawson's father - former chancellor of the exchequer Lord Lawson of Blaby, who was present in the chamber - shook his head.

The Liberal Democrat peer raised the issue as Baroness Northover for the government answered questions on domestic violence.

He asked her: "Do you think that the leniency shown to Mr Saatchi when he half-strangled his wife set the wrong tone?"

Lady Northover replied: "I can't comment on a particular case and I think that what I'm struck by also is the media reaction, which is really very interesting, the support and the sympathy for people who may find themselves in such situations and also that these problems go through every level of society."

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg faced criticism for suggesting Saatchi's clutching of Lawson's throat could have been "just a fleeting thing".

Asked by a female caller to his weekly radio phone-in whether he would have stepped in had he been present, Clegg said he could not say as he did not know the full facts.

"I just don't know. There was this one photograph. I don't know whether that was just a fleeting thing," he said.

He was immediately rebuked by female MPs.

Shadow home office minister Diana Johnson said Clegg's comments were "disgraceful" and called for a debate in the Commons "on how seriously the government take the issue of domestic violence".

On Twitter, Tory MP Sarah Wollaston wrote: "So just don't 'call Clegg' if your partner likes to grab you by the throat to emphasise a point."

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Judge summons Messi in tax fraud case

A SPANISH judge has named Barcelona star Lionel Messi as a suspect in a tax fraud probe and summoned him to appear in court on September 17, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Barcelona says.

The 25-year-old four-time World Player of the Year and his father Jorge Horacio are accused of defrauding Spanish tax authorities of more than four million euros ($A5.8 million).

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