ADM to buy Swiss flavouring maker

Agribusiness giant ADM is to buy Swiss flavouring company Wild Flavors for about $US3 billion. Source: AAP

AGRIBUSINESS giant ADM will pay about $US3 billion ($A3.25 billion) to buy the privately held Swiss company Wild Flavors, which supplies natural ingredients to the food and beverage industry.

THE all-cash deal will total about $US3.13 billion counting debt, or 2.3 billion euros.

Archer Daniels Midland Co processes corn, soybeans and other crops to make everything from animal feed to ethanol. Its food and wellness group also provides products for the beverage, meat, snack and bakery markets.The Decatur company said on Monday that the acquisition will allow it to better serve the evolving needs of its customers.Wild Flavors sells full flavour and ingredient products, as well as fruit juice concentrates and ingredients like natural flavours and extracts.It has production sites in Europe, the United States, Asia and South America. Its estimated revenue for this year is about $US1.36 billion, or 1 billion euros.Wild is the last name of company chairman and owner Dr. Hans-Peter Wild, whose father founded the business. ADM will pay the purchase price to the owner and funds tied to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.Shares of ADM closed at $45.77 last week, a new high point for the year and they are within striking distance of a new record, set just as the recession began, of $48.95.Originally published as ADM to buy Swiss flavouring maker

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Defence to close Pistorius case

The prosecutor in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial has challenged the objectivity of a witness. Source: AAP

THE defence team for Oscar Pistorius plans to close its case after its last witness, a physician who has treated the athlete, completed his testimony at the murder trial on Monday, a lawyer said.

THE end of testimony signals a new phase in the months-long trial of Pistorius, who killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home in what he has described as a mistaken shooting.

It is expected to lead to a break during which the defence and prosecution prepare final arguments as the high-profile legal battle moves toward a conclusion.Barry Roux, the chief defence lawyer, indicated that he would wrap up on Tuesday morning after final consultations with his team."We plan to close the case," Roux told Judge Thokozile Masipa.Pistorius, 27, has said he fatally shot Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, through a closed toilet door after thinking there was an intruder in his home. The prosecution says Pistorius fatally shot Steenkamp after a Valentine's Day argument last year.Earlier on Monday, chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the last defence witness, physician Wayne Derman, could not be objective about the double-amputee runner because he was too familiar with the Paralympian, having treated him over many years and travelled with him extensively.Derman had testified that Pistorius had an anxious nature linked to his disability, bolstering the defence case that the runner's allegedly deep sense of vulnerability was a factor in the killing because, according to his version, he believed he was under threat.Under questioning, Derman acknowledged that his testimony did not amount to a "forensic report" but disputed Nel's assertion that he could not be objective.On Sunday, an Australian broadcaster showed video footage of Pistorius participating in a re-enactment of how he says events unfolded on the night he killed Steenkamp.In the video, Pistorius is seen walking on his stumps with an arm outstretched and fist clenched, as though holding a gun. It also shows Pistorius carrying a woman. It is unclear where the re-enactment was filmed.The broadcast by the Seven Network prompted criticism from a lawyer for Pistorius who said the re-enactment was made with the help of a US-based company last year as part of the defence team's trial preparations. The video has not been shown at the trial, and it was not mentioned in court on Monday.Pistorius, who is free on bail, faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder, but he could also be sentenced to a shorter prison term if convicted of murder without premeditation or negligent killing. Additionally, he faces separate gun-related charges.Pistorius was born without fibulas, the slender bones that run from below the knee to the ankle. His lower legs were amputated when he was 11 months old.Originally published as Defence to close Pistorius case

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Delays on Eurotunnel after breakdown

Hundreds of passengers have been evacuated from a train broken down in the Channel Tunnel. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of passengers have been evacuated from a shuttle train and thousands more are experiencing delays after an electrical fault brought a train to a halt in the Channel Tunnel.

THE shuttle train carrying passenger vehicles was travelling from Britain to France and was a quarter of the way through the tunnel when it encountered a problem with an overhead power line.

Eurotunnel says travellers will encounter delays of between two and four hours as traffic is re-routed around the train.Problems in the tunnel also led to some cancellations for the high-speed train company, Eurostar, which cancelled eight services by early afternoon.Eurostar says it expects delays throughout the day and that it recommends that passengers booked on Monday exchange their tickets for another date wherever possible.Originally published as Delays on Eurotunnel after breakdown

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Aussie sorry for Indonesian crash victim

AN Australian man in Indonesian custody after a fatal motorbike crash says he hopes he can befriend the victim's family and return to the country after the ordeal is over.

JAKE Drage, 23, has been in custody for a week since the collision in West Java, where he was on a surfing holiday.

The West Australian personal trainer has not been charged, and police say even though the family of the victim want him released, that doesn't close the investigation.Mr Drage's mother Tiena has joined her son in Indonesia where she is speaking to authorities and hopes to secure his release.In a statement she released to local news website Everything Geraldton on Monday, Ms Drage said it was a relief to hug her son and see he had been treated well.Police are still investigating the crash but Ms Drage says it happened when Mr Drage nudged the nose of his motorbike into an intersection, and was clipped by another motorbike.A woman on the back of the second bike - ridden by her teenage daughter - died of her injuries.In the statement, Mr Drage extended his sympathies to them."The accident leaves me with a sadness that is very difficult to describe and I want to thank her family for all the kindness and goodwill they have shown me," Mr Drage said in the statement."My family will be providing support to them and I hope we can be warm and close friends in the future."More than $3000 has been donated to aid Mr Drage's release and any funds remaining are to be donated to the victim's family.The Australian also wanted his supporters to know he didn't have any ill feelings towards Indonesia."I love Indonesia and its people and I'll be coming back," he said.West Java police wouldn't comment on the case on Monday, except to say Mr Drage was in good health and spirits after seeing his mother.Originally published as Aussie sorry for Indonesian crash victim

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Young arsonists often repeat offenders

YOUNG arsonists are often serial offenders who have lit at least 10 fires, a Queensland study has found.

THE Bond University study of 274 people under 18 years old found one in five had committed 10 or more acts of arson, and 19 per cent of them said they would likely continue lighting more.

Bond University assistant psychology professor Dr Bruce Watt says he was surprised by the large number of fires the serial offenders lit."We found that of those who lit multiple fires, there was a predisposition to be involved in other anti-social behaviours such as fights, lying and stealing," he said.The majority said they lit fires for fun or out of boredom while 13 per cent said they did it out of curiosity and 10 per cent because their friends were doing it.Dr Watt said a small number of them had set buildings on fire while most targeted vegetation and outdoor objects.In Queensland, of the 349 offenders proceeded against for arson in 2011-12, 133 were children aged 16 and under.Dr Watt said children under 16 accounted for 38 per cent of arson attacks despite making up only 11 per cent of the state's population.The research, conducted with the Australian Centre for Arson Research and Treatment and the Child and Youth Forensic Outreach Service, is one of the largest undertaken into youth arson.Results of the work have been published in a journal by The British Psychological Society.Originally published as Young arsonists often repeat offenders

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Aussie gardeners win at Hampton

Kooky clan's hands on our future

THEY are mysterious and spooky and decidedly unlike your average politicians. The new senate crossbenchers have already brought an air of uncertainty to federal parliament.

Zookeeper recovering after croc attack

A POPULAR zookeeper on the state's south coast endured a terrifying day at the office after he was dragged into the water by a huge crocodile during a feeding demonstration.

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Transformers could break Chinese boxoffice

THE latest Transformers movie, which features Chinese locations, actors and products, has so far earned almost as much in China as in the United States, helped by a record number of screenings for a foreign movie.

TRANSFORMERS: Age of Extinction has made an estimated $US149 million ($A161.21 million) in the US and $US134 million in China, the world's respective first- and second-biggest movie markets, according to figures from box office tracking website Box Office Mojo.

Director Michael Bay's film, which was released on June 27 in both markets, heavily courted the Chinese audience by employing Chinese stars, basing part of the action in cities in China and showing Chinese products such as liquor and milk. A reality TV show to choose four people to play roles in the film helped to drum up publicity.More than half of China's more than 20,000 screens showed the movie.Hou Tao, vice president of leading entertainment consultancy EntGroup, said on Sunday that on average 55 per cent of screens were set aside for the movie at the start, which had dropped to 46-48 per cent in the last few days. He said that it was a record for foreign movies, which would normally be lucky to be shown on 40 per cent of screens.Hou said that Transformers is on course to beat Avatar as the biggest earner at the Chinese box office. Avatar earned $US218 million in China in 2010.Originally published as Transformers could break Chinese boxoffice

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Budget busters busted numbers

A three-metre puppet of Tony Abbott was the centre of attention at Canberra's anti-budget rally. Source: AAP

THEY gathered to bust the budget, but it seems the only thing that's broken is their basic arithmetic.

HUGE discrepancies have emerged between figures provided by the Bust The Budget March organisers and authorities, with Sydney members of the anti-budget cohort initially claiming between 30,000 and 50,000 people attended.

"(They) filled two blocks of Market St across all lanes," organiser Jane Salmon said in a statement on Sunday, before later updating the her estimate to "closer to 15,000 than 50,000."Sydney police told AAP about 6,000 people turned out.Melbourne organisers say police estimated a crowd of 25,000, but when contacted for comment police said they didn't provide figures for protests.It was the same for Adelaide, with Bust The Budget claiming 4000 had gathered and police refusing to say how many they believed attended.In Brisbane, however, police said about 1000 people marched, which accords with the group's claims of 800 protesters.No one was arrested in any of the cities, Queensland, NSW, Victorian and SA police told AAP.About 300 people rallied in Perth, with moderate to heavy rain falling across the city.Across the country the Bust The Budget marches drew an eclectic mix of religious, trade union, student and political groups.Several of the government's budget measures, including the $7 GP visit co-payment, changes to jobless benefits, a higher pension age and deregulation of university fees have been criticised as unfair by the budget busters.Greens leader Christine Milne told Sydney reporters the protest was borne out of frustration with planned federal cuts to health and welfare spending."(Tony Abbott) is making life a misery for people who are unemployed and searching for work," she said."You need to join with us in busting the budget."Tony Abbott is a crash or crash through prime minister. We have to make sure that in response to this budget we make sure he crashes."Unions NSW secretary Mark Lennon said there hadn't been such continuous outrage against a budget in 30 years."People are going to come here to Town Hall and make it very loud and clear what they think about what happened on May 13," he said, urging incoming senators to vote the budget down.Many of those who marched in Adelaide were at their first political rally, SA Unions state secretary Joe Szakacs told AAP after the demonstration in the city's centre.They felt "it's time to fight back," he added."We had a very broad cross section of the community.""Pensioners, young people, students, working people, people with disabilities, families ... because we know that this budget attacks everybody and no-one is safe."Collectively now, those people are standing up."Originally published as Budget busters busted numbers

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Ground search for cop, teen suspended

Australia comes top of global drug list

AUSTRALIA, a country of sports champions, innovators … and drug takers. The nation has the inglorious distinction of having the highest proportion of recreational drug users in the world.

Flying instructor among crash's dead

AS the search for a plane that crashed into the ocean off Batemans Bay continues this morning, it has been revealed one of the killed men was Wagga Wagga's Graham White.

Petrol retailers playing us all for fuels

MOTORISTS in southwest Sydney are saving up to $500 a year on their petrol bills compared to drivers on the north shore, with price variations yesterday topping 18c a litre.

First boat returned to country of origin

THE mystery of at least one of two asylum seeker boats at the centre of a week-long controversy has been solved — all 41 passengers have already arrived safely on their home soil.

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SA woman charged with murdering husband

A woman has been arrested for the alleged murder of her husband in their Adelaide home. Source: AAP

A WOMAN has been charged with the murder of her husband in their Adelaide home.

POLICE and paramedics were called to a home in Alberton about 7.50am on Sunday, after reports of a stabbing.

They found the body of a man in the bedroom and arrested the woman, 75, who was in the home.Police later charged her with murder.The woman had some injuries and was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a stable condition.Police say she will remain in custody in hospital and have a bedside court hearing on Monday.Originally published as SA woman charged with murdering husband

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Parental leave scheme unfair: report

THE Abbott government's paid parental leave scheme is expensive, unfair and will do nothing to boost numbers of working women, a new report argues.

INSTEAD, the $22 billion scheme should be overhauled and replaced with a loans scheme similar to the Higher Education Contributions Scheme, The Centre for Independent Studies says in a report released on Monday.

Report author Matthew Taylor says the proposed government scheme is poorly targeted, delivering large amounts of cash to the highest-income families.The timing of the proposal is also extraordinary, given the government's tough talk on ending an "age of entitlement" and budget savings measures, he says."Despite the Abbott government's claims that the scheme is a productivity measure, the additional $3 billion of expenditure will do nothing to increase women's labour force participation," he says."The coalition's PPL scheme is also unfair, giving $50,000 to women with incomes over $100,000, but only $16,172 to women earning the minimum wage."The move took money from low-income families and gave it to those who could afford to self-finance their parental leave, he said.The scheme was also excessively costly as many parents, especially those on high wages, already have access to paid parental leave from their employers.If the scheme is implemented, its annual cost will rise to more than $5 billion by 2016-17, the report says.But Mr Taylor argues it should be scrapped and replaced with a parental leave contribution scheme, which would be fairer and offer a more sustainable approach.Under that model, money would be given to working families as a loan, to be paid back once they earned above a minimum threshold.The government's leave scheme, scheduled to start in mid-2015, has been criticised for being too generous.Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicated legislating paid parental leave will take second place to other government promises.Originally published as Parental leave scheme unfair: report

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Hope runs out for trapped Honduran miners

AUTHORITIES are making a last ditch effort to rescue eight men trapped in a small Honduran gold mine.

GEOLOGIST Anibal Godoy is heading the rescue and recovery operation at the old, unregulated San Juan Arriba pit.

The mine is located in a mountainous municipality known as El Corpus, about 100 kilometres south of the capital Tegucigalpa.Godoy said on Sunday rescue workers were unlikely to find the men alive.Seven workers who were in the mine were able to flee immediately after Wednesday's collapse, and three others were rescued on Friday.About 5000 people work in mines in the area, many because plagues devastated the region's grain and coffee crops.Originally published as Hope runs out for trapped Honduran miners

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