British jihadi gets 17-year sentence

A BRITISH jihadi nicknamed "Barbie" who fled a Syrian training camp because he had "had enough" of conditions there has been handed a 17-year extended sentence.

IMRAN Khawaja, 27, complained of a lack of toileteries, cocoa butter and condoms for the "war booty" during his six-month stint with the Rayat al-Tawheed insurgents in the war-torn country last year.

The bodybuilder appeared in gruesome videos posted online for Islamic State's propagandist arm, including posing with severed heads and dead fighters.He initially resisted his family's pleas for him to return to the UK.But in June, Khawaja snuck back home after telling friends he needed to raise further funds to support the RAT cause. He was able to do so after falsely spreading word of his death online.He was stopped by port officials at Dover while trying to regain entry to the UK with his older cousin, Tahir Bhatti, who had been dispatched to rescue him.Jailing Khawaja at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday, judge Jeremy Baker handed him a 17-year term for the most serious offence.It will comprise a 12-year custodial term before being released on licence. He will serve a minimum of eight years.The judge described Khawaja as a "willing and enthusiastic" participant in recruitment films, and dismissed Khawaja's claim that he came home to see his family and regretted his actions.He said Khawaja therefore presented a risk to the public.

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WA beach murderer jailed for 18 years

A MAN who stabbed a stranger to death on a West Australian beach after a drug binge will spend at least 18 years behind bars.

A WOMAN walking her dog saw Daniel Luke Zwerus dragging the body of Ilario Maiolo into the surf at a Mandurah beach in May 2013.

She then saw him leaving a trail of blood from a cut to his hand inflicted during a frenzied attack that left the victim with 18 stab wounds and jaw fractures.The West Australian Supreme Court heard during sentencing on Friday that Zwerus then embarked on an elaborate attempt to hide evidence, stealing a fresh shirt and a bicycle from people's backyards and abandoning other items along the way.These included bloodstained clothes, the knife and the victim's wallet, which he'd emptied of cash.He also insisted a woman drive him to the other side of a golf course. He sat between her and her daughter on the front bench seat, before sliding down to hide from a police car the woman didn't see.Zwerus was arrested the next day at Peel Health Campus after seeking treatment for his cut hand.The court heard he was assessed as psychotic, and had at different times claimed to be God and possessed by the devil.He initially pleaded not guilty, with his lawyer indicating he may enter an insanity plea.But in January this year, he changed his plea to guilty.On Friday, the court heard Zwerus had been using methamphetamine and cannabis daily for at least a fortnight in the lead-up to the attack.His mother and a friend had noticed his behaviour had become increasingly bizarre. They thought he appeared paranoid and delusional and was suffering hallucinations.Defence lawyer Tony Elliott said Zwerus did not deny the crime but his psychosis at the time of the offending needed to be taken into account in sentencing."He was operating under the delusion he could perceive things about people that would justify the taking of their lives," Mr Elliott said."You don't punish people for their insanity. We might say you do if it's self-induced and I accept that's the case."But Zwerus' intent was not a rational, cold one, he said, and he'd slipped between the cracks of the mental health service.Justice Stephen Hall noted the fact Zwerus had sought assistance for his mental problems, so had some understanding of his state."Are you saying he was not aware of the effect these drugs were having on him?" Justice Hall asked.Mr Elliott argued seeking help should go in his client's favour, not against him.Justice Hall sentenced Zwerus to life in prison with a minimum term of 18 years, backdated to the day he was arrested.

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Verizon gets $15B in wireline sale, towers

Verizon Communications will make almost $US15 billion from selling part of its wireline business. Source: AAP

VERIZON Communications will make almost $US15 billion ($A19.22 billion) from selling part of its wireline business and leasing thousands of wireless towers.

THE largest US mobile phone carrier is selling its California, Florida and Texas wireline businesses, which serve phone, TV and internet customers, to Frontier Communications Corp for $US9.9 billion ($A12.69 billion) in cash. Frontier is also taking on $US600 million in debt.

Verizon says it wants to concentrate on the East Coast wireline business and will focus on expanding its FiOS broadband and high-speed internet business in that region.In 2010, Verizon sold Frontier four million phone lines in 14 states for $US5.3 billion. Frontier said the newest deal is scheduled to close in the first half of 2016.American Tower Corp will pay $US5.06 billion to lease 11,300 wireless towers and buy 165 towers. For the towers it is leasing, it will be able to operate them for an average term of 28 years, with an option to buy. The company expects to close the deal during the first half of 2015.Verizon Communications Inc said it plans to return some of the cash to shareholders with a $US5 billion stock buyback. Its shares rose one per cent to $US48.35 in aftermarket trading.Shares of Stamford, Connecticut-based Frontier Communications Corp stock climbed US70 cents, or 9.9 per cent, to $US8.40. Shares of Boston-Based American Tower Corp rose US12 cents to $US99.71.

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UK doctor guilty of sex assault on girls

A FORMER children's doctor has been found guilty of indecently assaulting young girls at Stoke Mandeville Hospital at the same time Jimmy Savile was abusing patients on the wards.

MICHAEL Salmon, 79, was convicted at Reading Crown Court on Friday of indecently assaulting girls at the Buckinghamshire hospital and was also convicted of raping a girl at his home.

He carried out many of his attacks behind a screen in his consulting room, while his victim's parents waited believing he was completing a medical examination.A jury found him guilty of nine indecent assaults and two rapes carried out against six girls aged 11 to 18, between 1973 and 1988.Although he worked at Stoke Mandeville at the same time Jimmy Savile is thought to have abused patients at the hospital there is no suggestion of any link between the two.Salmon had already been struck off the medical register after he admitted three counts of indecent assault against young female patients in 1991.The father worked as a consultant paediatrician at hospitals in Buckinghamshire including the world-renowned Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury, which was thrown in to the spotlight following disclosures about abuse by the late Savile in 2011.Miranda Moore QC, prosecuting, said there is "no suggestion that this defendant abused a young female patient in concert with Jimmy Savile"."It's simply that these allegations relate to a time when the other things were happening," she said.Prolific child abuser Savile is believed to have carried out his worst offending at the hospital, where he had his own office after setting up the Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandeville Hospital Trust charity in 1981.The court previously heard how Salmon thought he was "bomb-proof" because no one would believe a child over him.

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Japanese city to help freeze women's eggs

A JAPANESE city is planning to help female residents with the cost of freezing their eggs as part of efforts to turn around declining birth rates, an official says.

THE city of Urayasu, near Tokyo, is considering legislation helping women aged between 20 and 35 have their eggs frozen for possible later pregnancies, said the local official, who did not want to be named because the bill had not yet passed.

It is one of a number of measures designed to counter a falling birth rate after the city set up a foundation to tackle the issue, he said on Friday.Two years ago, the city's fertility rate fell to 1.04, much lower than the national average of 1.39.Japan as a whole is facing an increased demographic burden, after decades of rapid ageing of the population and low birth rates.People aged 65 or older are expected to make up 40 per cent of the country's population by 2060, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.Urayasu would be the first local government to launch such an initiative if its assembly approves funding, doctors from the Japan Society for Reproductive Medicine told broadcaster NHK.

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‘We cannot continue with Tony as leader’

Appearing on the 7:30 Report, Dr Dennis Jensen said that he does not supprort Tony Abbott to remain as preferred Prime Minister. Courtesy: ABC

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been told he no longer has the support of backbencher Dennis Jensen. Picture: AAP Source: AAP

TONY Abbott has been told directly by Liberal backbencher Dennis Jensen that he no longer has his support to lead the party.

Dr Jensen told the Prime Minister he wanted him removed from the nation's top job on January 23 via text message.

Dr Jensen is the first MP to display such brazen dismay in Mr Abbott's leadership.

Dr Jensen texted Mr Abbott and the pair had a "lengthy" exchange about why he should be removed.

Speaking out ... Liberal backbencher Dr Dennis Jensen has publicly broken ranks to say he no longer supports Tony Abbott as Prime Minister. Source: News Corp Australia

Mr Abbott asked Dr Jensen: "Well who would be better to lead the party?", to which he replied it was not about the "who" but the "what".

Dr Jensen told News Corp Australia: "I told him that he no longer has my support."

The disgruntled MP also said Mr Abbott didn't have the right vision for the nation, particularly on politics.

"We can't continue with Mr Abbott as leader," he said.

Dr Jensen is from the WA electorate of Tangney. He was involved in calling the first of the Liberal spills in 2009 with Wilson Tuckey that ultimately saw Mr Abbott installed as the party's leader.

Speaking on 7.30 tonight, Dr Jensen said he informed Mr Abbott on January 23 — three days before the disastrous Australia Day knighting of Prince Phillip — that he no longer supported the Prime Minister.

Deposed ... Dr Jensen was instrumental in the 2009 Liberal Party leadership spill, which saw Malcolm Turnbull replaced with Tony Abbott. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: News Corp Australia

"I always believe in being upfront and honest," he said.

Dr Jensen said that while Mr Abbott was an "absolutely fantastic" Opposition leader, he was still "operating on that wartime footing."

"He was a great wartime leader, [but] now we need a great peacetime leader."

Despite being instrumental in installing Mr Abbott as Opposition leader in 2009- and now being the first backbencher to publicly speak out against him — Dr Jensen said he did not want to be seen as "just a hitman".

"I don't want to be seen as the person who in effect is just pulling the trigger ... I think I'm certainly expediting the discussion that we need to have."

When asked if Mr Abbott could still save himself, Mr Jensen replied: "I don't believe so".

"I don't think fundamentally he understands what the problem is, and therein lies the problem," he said.

Not just a hitman ... Federal Liberal MP Dennis Jensen said he wants to be known for more than just "pulling the trigger" in leadership spills. Picture: News Limited Source: News Limited

But Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton quickly came to the Prime Minister's defence, saying Mr Abbott needed to be given an "opportunity to exercise what he said".

"He's made mistakes, we've all made mistakes, and we're listening to colleagues, and, most importantly, to Australians," Mr Dutton said in an interview following Dr Jensen's, also on ABC's 7.30.

"He's made it very clear he's not going to stand down ... I want the prime minister elected only 16 months ago to have a fair go."

Mr Dutton said the Cabinet was unanimously in support of Mr Abbott, and that without a challenger, there was no point.

"He's made it very clear he's not going to stand down — why would he, if he's 16 months into his first term?"

"When there is no challenger, to me that [a leadership spill] makes no sense," he said.

According to other ABC reports, Warren Entsch will be looking to get the leadership issue resolved at their partyroom meeting next Tuesday, and he's a strong supporter of Malcolm Turnbull.

Resolution ... Federal MP Warren Entsch, a supporter of Malcolm Turnbull, reportedly said he wants to resolve the leadership issue at the next partyroom meeting. Picture: Wesley Monts Source: Supplied

It is estimated that as many as 30 MPs want Mr Abbott gone, according Fairfax reports.

The news comes after cabinet ministers have privately been lamenting that the relationship between Tony Abbott and his deputy Julie Bishop is now "untenable" as leadership speculation continues to swirl in Canberra.

But Ms Bishop has remained firm that she would not challenge the Prime Minister, telling Sky News that she was not counting her numbers.

"I'm not ringing the backbench for support, I'm not counting numbers," she said.

"I will not challenge the leader."

Speaking on Sky News, Mal Brough has put his support behind Tony Abbott, sighting tough challenges causing cracks in the Liberal leadership.

Social Services Minister Scott Morrison also publicly denied mounting a challenge against the Prime Minister, despite being touted as a possible leadership candidate.

Speaking on 7.30 yesterday, Mr Morrison said Tony Abbott could count on his support.

"The prime minister has my support and I've outlined that in any number of ways," Mr Morrison said.

Not challenging ... Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, has ruled out challenging Mr Abbott for the prime ministership. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

MPs today continued to leak against the Prime Minister despite a staunch defence of his leadership to the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday.

"Cabinet ministers have been ringing me and telling me things are just untenable," one MP said.

"Julie Bishop and Tony Abbott now have a Gillard-Rudd like relationship. It can't go on like this," another said.

Meanwhile, disgruntled Queensland MP Mal Brough has not ruled out potentially bringing forward a motion of no confidence in Tony Abbott in the party room if he is still Prime Minister when Parliament resumes next week.

Loyal MP ... Scott Morrison has also pledged his commitment to the Prime Minister. Source: News Corp Australia

Mr Brough told Sky News he had no intention to challenge Mr Abbott for the leadership, but had concerns about issues affecting the government, including the GP co-payment and the cuts to the wages of the defence force.

He said he would be having more discussions with Mr Abbott about these issues, but did not say a leadership spill was the way the party should go.

One of the possible options being discussed by MPs unhappy with Mr Abbott's leadership is that Mr Brough will act as scapegoat to bring the leadership issue to a head.

Originally published as 'We cannot continue with Tony as leader'

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PM likely to face spill in party room

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called on coalition MPs to end the instability and get back to work. Source: AAP

WHILE Julie Bishop says she won't challenge Tony Abbott, the prime minister could face a leadership spill next week as three coalition MPs have broken ranks and called for action.

QUEENSLAND backbench MP Warren Entsch says he'll seek to resolve festering leadership tensions when the Liberal Party has its first meeting for the year next Tuesday.

Fellow MPs Dennis Jensen and Mal Brough say the issue needs to be "lanced".Ms Bishop assured Mr Abbott on Tuesday she was not campaigning for his job.But Dr Jensen pointed out there didn't have to be a specific challenger for a leadership spill to be called.The West Australian MP told Mr Abbott more than a week ago he had lost confidence in the prime minister."I don't think the leader and his office are listening and communicating effectively," Dr Jensen told ABC television."Fundamentally I see there is no strategic direction in where we are going."Dr Jensen said many of his constituents had told him they wanted to see a change of leader."I believe that it is necessary that this is brought to a head and lanced," he said.Ms Bishop, however, told Mr Abbott in a cabinet meeting she was not plotting against him."I am not campaigning for the job of prime minister," the foreign minister told the meeting."I am not ringing the backbench asking for support. I am not counting any numbers. I will not challenge the leader."And Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said Malcolm Turnbull, another leadership aspirant, had given his personal assurance he would not challenge.But Mr Entsch said he strongly supported Mr Turnbull to replace Mr Abbott.Mr Brough, a ministerial colleague of Mr Abbott under John Howard, said he couldn't offer the prime minister his unequivocal support."I have issues and I'm hoping to work through with the prime minister," he told reporters on the Sunshine Coast."The matter needs to be resolved and if Tuesday is the appropriate time for people to talk about it ... then it's for them to say so."He personally had no intention of challenging Mr Abbott.Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said without a leadership contender, people should back off."My plea is for people to give the prime minister a fair go," he told reporters in Canberra.Mr Dutton said the backbench should get the message that Mr Abbott had unanimous support from the cabinet.The prime minister's standing has been battered by the Prince Philip knighthood and other policy missteps, which some MPs have blamed for the Liberal National Party losing office in Queensland at the weekend.Visiting a childcare centre in Sydney before returning to Canberra for the cabinet meeting, Mr Abbott said the lesson of Labor's leadership changes from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard and back again was that "instability breeds instability"."If you want to get away from that, you just end it now and my message to the people of Australia is this is `Back to Work Tuesday'," Mr Abbott said.Asked whether he had sought Ms Bishop's assurance about not challenging, Mr Abbott said: "Julie and I, we're friends, we are part of the leadership team. We support each other. We always have and we always will."Treasurer Joe Hockey appeared convinced of the foreign minister's loyalty and said he'd not spoken to her or Mr Turnbull about a change of leadership.Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said government policies were to blame for the coalition's malaise."The best advice I could give on behalf of Australia is drop your GP tax, drop your $100,000 degrees, drop your cuts to families and drop your cuts to pensions," he said.An Essential poll published on Tuesday found one in four voters supported Mr Turnbull to lead the Liberals, while 21 per cent backed Ms Bishop and 11 per cent supported Mr Abbott.Ms Bishop was the most popular among coalition voters.

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WA man dies after his car gets bogged

A MAN has died in the far north of Western Australia after his vehicle got bogged on his property and he tried to walk home in hot weather.

THE 45-year-old's body was found on his remote property in the Dampier Peninsula on Tuesday.

His wife called police on Monday, and said she hadn't seen or spoken to her husband for about 10 days."It is believed that the man has become bogged on the track, he has left his vehicle and attempted to walk home in the heat, approximately 6km away," WA Police said on Tuesday."WA Police are urging members of the public who are travelling in remote locations by car to stay with their vehicle if they become lost or incapacitated for some reason."Police and the man's co-worker had to use a quad bike to access the area, after they were unable to navigate the water-logged track.There are no suspicious circumstances, police say.

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Brough calls for GP payment to be dumped

Liberal MP Mal Brough has called for the GP co-payment to be dumped. Source: AAP

AMID questions of Tony Abbott's leadership a Liberal MP has called for the GP co-payment to be dumped.

QUEENSLAND MP Mal Brough says Medicare spending on GP visits is not out of control.

This contradicts the message from the government since it unveiled the co-payment in the budget last May.The government initially wanted to impose a $7 co-payment on Medicare rebates, which it brought back to $5 late last year in the face of widespread opposition.Mr Brough told a meeting of medical professionals on the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday it was more cost-effective for governments to spend money on GP visits than hospitals.Government spending on GPs may not have flatlined but it wasn't out of control, he said.In contrast, spending on hospitals had a "trajectory going north rapidly"."I am suggesting to the government that we should be taking the co-payment off the table full stop," he said."I don't think it makes economic sense and I don't think it makes health sense."Mr Brough has reportedly been touted as a "stalking horse" to draw out a potential leadership challenge against Mr Abbott.But he insisted on Tuesday night he has no intentions of challenging the prime minister.

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Israel wants UN Gaza war probe axed

ISRAEL has called for a UN inquiry into its 50-day war in Gaza last summer to be shelved, as its chairman quit over Israeli accusations of conflict of interest.

CANADIAN international law expert William Schabas tendered his resignation on Monday after Israel complained he had prepared a legal opinion for the Palestine Liberation Organisation in October 2012, the United Nations said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the departure of a man he said was "biased against Israel" but said the whole investigation needed to be abandoned as it had been commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council, which he described as an "anti-Israel body"."This is the same council that in 2014 made more decisions against Israel than against Iran, Syria and North Korea combined."Israel has long had stormy relations with the UN Human Rights Council.In January 2012, it became the first country to refuse to attend a periodic review of its human rights record. And two months later, it cut all ties with the council over its plans to probe how Jewish settlements were harming Palestinian rights.In his resignation letter, Schabas strongly denied he was in any way beholden to the PLO but said he was reluctantly stepping down to avoid the UN inquiry into the war being compromised in any away.Council spokesman Rolando Gomez said the commission, which is scheduled to present its findings to the council next month, was in "the final phase of collecting evidence".The Gaza conflict ended with a truce between Israel and the territory's Islamist de facto rulers Hamas on August 26 after the deaths of more than 2140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.

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US toddler fires gun, injures both parents

A 3-YEAR-OLD boy got a hold of a handgun from his mother's purse and fired just one shot that wounded both his parents, US local police say.

ALBUQUERQUE police said the child apparently reached for an iPod but found the loaded weapon instead.

The bullet first struck his father in the buttocks and then hit the shoulder of his mother, who is eight months pregnant.His two-year-old sister was present but not hurt.Local media reports said police believe the shooting on Saturday was accidental.Police said the father was treated and released, while the mother was hospitalised in stable condition.They will be investigated for possible negligence charges.Police said child care officials are taking care of the children.

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EU parliament evacuated amid security fear

BELGIAN police have evacuated hundreds of people from the European Parliament after a suspicious vehicle was spotted nearby.

PARLIAMENT spokesman Jaume Duch Guillot said Monday that "police evacuated three of the parliament's buildings" in Brussels and cordoned off a suspicious car. Belgian media showed a photograph of a police robot moving toward a vehicle in a nearby street.

Duch Guillot said about 500 people were evacuated but two of the three buildings, used only for administrative purposes, have since been declared safe.Belgium has been on high alert since the January Paris terror attacks and a series of police raids on suspected foreign fighters in Belgium and France last month.

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Whitney Houston's daughter offered support

CELEBRITIES are offering their support and prayers for Whitney Houston's daughter, who authorities say was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub over the weekend in a suburban Atlanta home.

TWENTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD Bobbi Kristina Brown was taken to a hospital in the northern Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Georgia on Saturday, police said.

La Toya Jackson is one of several celebrities who used Twitter to express her support Sunday."Let's All Send Love Light & Prayers to Bobbi Kristina Brown!" Jackson tweeted. "Wishing Her A Healthy & Speedy Recovery!" Singer-songwriter Missy Elliott said on Twitter that she's also throwing her support behind Brown. "Still Praying 4 Bobbi Kristina," Elliott tweeted in part.Brown is the daughter of Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown.Lindsey Harber, a spokeswoman at North Fulton Hospital, where police say Houston's daughter was taken, declined comment."I can't confirm she's even there," Harber said Sunday.Brown's husband, Nick Gordon, along with a friend, found her in a bathtub Saturday, Roswell police said in a statement. The friend called 911 while Brown's husband performed CPR on her because they did not believe she was breathing nor had a pulse, said Officer Lisa Holland, a Roswell Police Department spokeswoman.Police gave Brown additional care before she was taken to the hospital, Holland said.Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel bathtub on February 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. The 48-year-old Houston had struggled for years with cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her behaviour had become erratic.Authorities examining Houston's death found a dozen prescription drug bottles in the hotel suite. They concluded Houston accidentally drowned. Heart disease and cocaine use were listed as contributing factors in Houston's death.

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Ebola vaccines trial starts in Liberia

A LARGE-SCALE human trial of two potential Ebola vaccines is under way in Liberia's capital, as part of a global effort to prevent a repeat of the epidemic that has now claimed nearly 9000 lives in West Africa.

THE trials in Liberia are taking place after smaller studies determined that the vaccines were safe for human use. By comparing them now with a placebo shot, scientists hope to learn whether they can prevent people from contracting the ghastly virus that has killed some 60 per cent of those hospitalised with the disease.

Yet despite the trials' promise, authorities must still combat fear and suspicion that people could become infected by taking part. Each vaccine uses a different virus to carry non-infectious Ebola genetic material into the body and spark an immune response.On Sunday, in one densely populated neighbourhood of Monrovia, musicians sang songs explaining the purpose and intent of the trial in a bid to dispel fears.B Emmanuel Lansana, 43, a physician's assistant, was the first to receive doses on Monday. Two shots were administered at different points on his right arm. His wife had expressed apprehension about the vaccine trial, but Lansana said he still wanted to take part."From the counselling, all of the reservations I have were explained, my doubts were cleared," he said.Up to 600 volunteers are taking part in the first phase, and trial organisers have said eventually as many as 27,000 people could take part.The World Health Organisation says the Ebola epidemic has infected more than 22,000 people and claimed more than 8800 lives over the past year. Without a vaccine, officials have fought the outbreak with old-fashioned public health measures, including isolating the sick, tracking and quarantining those who had contact with them, and setting up teams to safely bury bodies.The vaccine trials come as the three most affected countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - appear to be making strides against the Ebola epidemic first identified last March.The UN health agency said last week that the countries had reported fewer than 100 cases in the past week, for the first time since June.

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Super Bowl ads strike serious tone

FORGET slapstick and sex in Super Bowl ads: This year, serious was the name of the game.

NATIONWIDE ran an ad on preventable childhood death. Carnival struck a sombre note with a voiceover by John F Kennedy speaking lyrically about the sea. And a public service announcement by coalition No More depicted a chilling 911 call from a battered woman to demonstrate the terror of domestic abuse.

Other advertisers had positive, albeit equally serious themes: McDonald's said it would let some customers pay with acts of kindness, Coca-Cola showed online negativity and bullying turning positive and Procter & Gamble's ad for its Always feminine products brand tried to redefine what it means to do things like a girl."It's a shame there aren't any commercials for antidepressants because these commercials make me want some," said Jon Early, who was watching the game in New York with friends. "Football is supposed to be an escape."The serious tone is an effort to win over Americans who have a lower tolerance for crass ads with an overuse of sexually explicit themes and sophomoric humour.They also have short attention spans these days, thanks to bite-sized communication of social media.The serious spots were a continuation of a trend that started last year when advertisers shied away from the tactics that had been commonplace during Super Bowl.The difference this year is that many of the serious ads had an overarching "message" to live better, think better and be better.With 30-second ads costing $US4.5 million ($A5.8 million) for the chance to market their brand to 110-plus million Americans, advertisers were trying to make their mark by marketing socially-conscious messages.In the process, they hoped to boost the image of their brands.

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