Malta to ID buyers of its citizenship

THE Maltese government has rolled back one element of its controversial law to sell its citizenship for 650,000 ($A942,644), saying it will publish the names of people buying their way into European Union passports.

The government had argued that keeping the names secret would have brought in more money - the key goal of the initiative - because more people would have been attracted to buying a Maltese passport anonymously.

But the government withdraw the secrecy clause "after listening to the people," according to a statement late Sunday.

Opposition politicians and ordinary Maltese had argued that keeping the names secret could have exposed Malta to ill-intentioned citizenship-seekers, including possible terrorists.

Citizens of EU-member Malta can freely enter and reside in any of the other 27 EU member states.

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Singer in UK court on child sex charges

VETERAN folk and rock performer Roy Harper has appeared in a UK court charged with committing a series of child sex offences in the 1970s.

The singer-songwriter, who has performed with Pink Floyd and influenced rock band Led Zeppelin, was not required to enter a plea to any of the charges during a four-minute appearance at Hereford Magistrates' Court.

Harper, of Rossmore, near Clonakilty, County Cork, in the Republic of Ireland, is accused of two counts of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 13.

The singer also faces three charges of indecent assault and four of gross indecency relating to the same alleged victim.

West Mercia Police announced last week that Harper had been charged with the offences, which are alleged to have occurred between 1975 and 1977 in the Herefordshire area.

Harper, dressed casually in a checked shirt and blue jeans, spoke only to give the clerk of the court his name and full address during today's hearing.

The 72-year-old declined to comment to reporters after his appearance before three magistrates, who granted unconditional bail and ordered him to appear before a judge at Worcester Crown Court on December 2.

The prolific performer has produced more than 30 albums during his career, and continues to tour.

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WA cop cleared after fatal crash

A WEST Australian policeman whose car struck another vehicle and killed the female driver has been found not guilty of dangerous driving causing her death.

Constable Gareth Hopley, 29, has been on trial in the Perth District Court for the past two weeks, charged over the death of Sharon Ann D'Ercole in April last year.

Ms D'Ercole, 50, died from multiple injuries, while her 16-year-old daughter, who was a passenger, has no memory of the accident.

A jury took an afternoon of deliberating before deciding to acquit the officer on Monday.

During the trial, Mr Hopley denied having "tunnel vision" while chasing a stolen car before crashing into Ms D'Ercole's vehicle, and testified that he believed she was slowing down for him when he hit her.

The officer's lights and sirens were activated at the time, the court heard.

Some evidence also indicated Ms D'Ercole was driving at about 25km/h in a 60km/h zone, while the police vehicle was travelling at up to 75km/h.

Const Hopley was emotional while giving evidence as he recounted seeing the injured woman at the crash scene.

He also told the court that his passenger was like a brother to him and he would do anything to keep him and the public safe.

"I never would have gone through that intersection if I didn't deem it safe to do so," Const Hopley said.

Ms D'Ercole's husband Ron said he was disappointed with the verdict.

"I'm all in favour of the justice system - democratic process and the jury system as it is," he told reporters outside court.

"I respect that, on the premise that he's innocent until proven guilty and beyond reasonable doubt, the decision - the way it went - went against us."

He said his wife had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

WA Police Union president George Tilbury called on Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan to ensure Const Hopley was returned to duty.

"He's been acquitted of the charge and there should be no barrier to him returning," Mr Tilbury said.

Const Hopley was being sought for comment.

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Indonesia recalls ambassador

Australian spies have reportedly tried to listen to the phone calls of Indonesia's president. Source: AAP

INDONESIA has recalled its ambassador to Australia and will review all information exchanges and cooperation amid growing anger in Jakarta over fresh spying allegations.

The Indonesian government on Monday demanded a full explanation following revelations Australian spies targeted the mobile phones of the country's president, his wife and other senior figures.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said his country's ambassador to Australia Nadjib Riphat Kesoema would return to Jakarta immediately to discuss the matter.

Dr Natalegawa has also foreshadowed the possibility of further actions on the diplomatic front, which he described as applying the "principal of reciprocity so that we have corresponding level and nature of cooperation."

Asked if this meant Australian officials could be expelled, Dr Natalegawa said he would "not enter into who shall be leaving, who will not be leaving".

"It is - I want to make it absolutely clear - an unfriendly act unbecoming of relations between strategic partners," Dr Natalegawa said of the fresh claims of phone-tapping.

The comments came after more top secret documents relating to Australia's spying operations were leaked by fugitive US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The Defence Signals Directorate documents, obtained and published by the ABC and The Guardian, list 10 officials and their phone details - beginning with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and wife Ani.

Vice President Boediono and Indonesia's former vice president Jusuf Kalla were also targeted.

The papers suggest the president's mobile activity was tracked for 15 days and at least one eavesdropping attempt was made.

"This is not a clever thing to do. It's not a smart thing to do," Dr Natalegawa said.

"It violates every single decent and legal instrument I can think of; national in Indonesia, national in Australia, international as well."

Dr Natalegawa said the allegations, as well as others made recently that Australia's embassy in Jakarta was part of a US-led spy network in the region, were "having a very serious impact on bilateral relations".

"They should be able to say in a crystal clear, in the most clearest way possible, we are not in the business of tapping foreign leaders, or anyone," he said.

"I have not used the word reprisal, I have not used the word expel. What I have simply said is that we are reviewing the state of Indonesia-Australia cooperation in the exchange of information."

He suggested the Lombok Treaty would also be reviewed.

"I need quite desperately an explanation how a private conversation involving the president of the Republic of Indonesia, involving the first lady of the Republic of Indonesia, how they can even have a hint, even a hint of relevance impacting on the security of Australia," he said.

"The ball now is very much in Australia's court."

Dr Natalegawa said he would attempt to call Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Monday night.

Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto earlier said Australia must give a public explanation and make a commitment that it would not monitor the phones again.

Australia's deputy ambassador to Indonesia David Engel was summoned to the Foreign Ministry earlier in the day. He said he had "a very good meeting" when he emerged 20 minutes after arriving.

The latest spying allegations have also prompted an angry response from other members of the Indonesian political elite.

Mahfudz Siddiq, head of the Indonesian parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee and a member of the ruling coalition, said the president should review all cooperation with Australia.

"It's clear that Australia is not a good neighbour, and even a threat," he said.

The committee's Deputy chairman, T.B. Hasanuddin, warned the allegations could lead to an explosion in anti-Australian sentiment.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to comment on the specific claims but defended Australia's intelligence activities.

"All governments know that every other government gathers information," he told parliament.

The prime minister said Australia uses all the resources at its disposal, including information, "to help our friends and our allies, not to harm them".

"My first duty is to protect Australia and to advance our national interest and I will never ever depart from that," he said.

"Consistent with that duty I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close cooperation that we have with Indonesia."

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek, who was in the Labor government under whom the alleged phone tapping occurred, was circumspect in her comments.

"Indonesia is a close neighbour, trading partner, and good friend. Our relationship is important for our region," Ms Plibersek said in a statement.

"Tony Abbott must work hard to reassure Indonesia of the Australian government's goodwill."

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Indonesia recalls Aust ambassador

INDONESIA'S ambassador in Canberra will immediately return to Jakarta following claims Australia had tapped the phone of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa announced on Monday afternoon the ambassador would be recalled.

"It's nothing less than an unfriendly act," Dr Natalegawa said of the spying claims.

Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto earlier said he would demand Australia make a public explanation about the claims and make a commitment that it would not monitor the phones again.

Top secret documents from Australia's Defence Signals Directorate, leaked by fugitive US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden and published by the ABC and The Guardian, list 10 officials and their phone details - beginning with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and wife Ani.

Air Marshal Suyanto also said Indonesia would review the exchange of information with Australia and "all other cooperation".

Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will be told the issue will have a negative impact on the countries' bilateral relationship.

Dr Natalegawa emphatically condemned Australia's alleged actions.

"It is, I want to make it absolutely clear, an unfriendly act unbecoming of relations between strategic partners," he said.

"It violates every single decent and legal instrument I can think of; national in Indonesia, national in Australia, international as well.

"It is nothing less than an unfriendly act which is already having a very serious impact on bilateral relations."

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Brooks a demanding editor: UK lawyer

REBEKAH Brooks was a demanding editor who wanted to "get stories into the newspaper", a lawyer has told her phone-hacking trial in Britain.

But Justin Walford, who worked as an in-house lawyer at the company that published The Sun and the News of the World (NotW), said he was never asked to give advice about phone hacking, and never felt under any financial pressure while checking stories for legal pitfalls.

Walford, deputy legal manager at News Group Newspapers, told the Old Bailey he was mainly responsible for legal checks on The Sun, but would stand in for legal manager Tom Crone in checking its now-defunct weekly sister title the NotW.

He told the court that lawyers would "libel read" both The Sun and the NotW before they were published, then make suggestions for possible changes.

Describing Brooks, Walford told jurors: "I think she was a very demanding editor. She wanted high standards. She was very demanding in my dealings with her."

He said she would often argue with legal queries rather than accepting them without discussion.

"She was passionate about the paper and what she wanted to get into the newspaper and we had many an argument about material going into the paper," he said.

"She is a strong personality, she has strong views and she expected hard work and everyone pulling in the same direction to get stories into the newspaper.

"It was not the case where a lawyer could just make a few legal marks and it would be quickly forgotten. She would want an explanation why those marks had been made."

Asked to describe Brooks' fellow defendant Andy Coulson, Walford said: "I think Andy Coulson was an editor who wanted to get stories into the paper.

"I didn't libel read the paper (the NotW) that many times when he was editor but he listened to advice."

He said Coulson would also argue over material to go in the paper, but would "take seriously" the legal advice he was given.

Brooks, 45; former NotW editor Andy Coulson, also 45; former NotW head of news Ian Edmondson, 44, and the tabloid's ex-managing editor Stuart Kuttner, 73 are on trial for conspiring with others to hack phones between October 3, 2000 and August 9, 2006.

Walford told the court on Monday: "Clearly editors want to get stories into the newspapers and, quite rightly, they will push the lawyer to agree the copy they want to put in."

But he said he never felt any financial pressure to allow material in.

"I try to give advice and if editors don't like it, it's up to them. It's their decision to publish, not the lawyer's.

"I have never felt under financial pressure or anything like that."

He said he could not remember being asked to give any advice on phone hacking, and had no cause to suspect that any story had been sourced in that way.

And he told the court he could not remember private investigator Glenn Mulcaire's name being mentioned until he was arrested alongside NotW royal editor Clive Goodman in 2006.

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New device aims to reduce stillbirths

AN experimental device that helps deliver babies during troubled labours was invented by an auto mechanic in South America.

It's being developed as part of an effort to reduce stillbirths around the world.

The instrument is named the Odon Device in honor of its inventor, car mechanic Jorge Odon of Argentina, who got the idea when friends re-created a YouTube video showing how to extract a cork from a wine bottle.

It is to be tested in Argentina and South Africa before wider distribution.

Birth is still a perilous event in the developing world.

According to the World Health Organisation, 2.6 million babies were stillborn globally in 2009, a number that has declined little since 1995, when there were 3 million stillbirths.

Moreover, about 260,000 women died in childbirth last year.

The device being developed by Becton, Dickinson and Co of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, essentially consists of a polyethylene bag and a tube.

The bag is inserted into the birth canal and inflated slightly to create a balloon that holds onto the baby's head.

That makes it easier to deliver the newborn, without the potential dangers that arise when a less-skilled practitioner uses forceps or vacuum suction.

It's also an alternative to cesarean sections, which are not readily available in poor countries.

"Developing countries just don't have access to the type of interventions that women would receive in the US or Western Europe," said Gary Cohen, executive vice president at BD, a medical technology company that is a leading manufacturer of needles and syringes.

Officials there estimate that if the tests go well, the device will be ready for use in about three years.

Odon got the idea in 2005 after seeing a plastic bag inserted into a wine bottle and inflated to get a cork out through the bottle's narrow neck.

He connected with officials at WHO, and the concept won a competition called "Saving Lives at Birth," which is sponsored by USAID, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other organisations.

Officials from WHO reached out to Becton Dickinson in January 2012 because of the company's experience working with governments and non-profits to tackle health issues - especially HIV/AIDS - in the developing world, according to Cohen.

The company doesn't have any background in obstetrics, but it does have expertise in global distribution, as well as plastics molding, he said.

BD is working on the device under an exclusive licensing agreement with the inventor, as well as an agreement with WHO that calls for WHO to test the device.

BD said it plans to develop and manufacture the device in Singapore and distribute it globally, starting in areas where the maternal mortality rate is highest.

BD will make a profit on the product, but plans to offer it at an affordable price in developing countries. Cohen said it's too early to estimate prices for Odon.

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Harry urged to return Down Under

PRINCE Harry proved such a hit during his recent trip to Australia he should return - and stay longer - Prime Minister Tony Abbott says.

The prince spent just 36 hours Down Under during a visit last month to celebrate the centenary of the country's navy - but caused what was dubbed "Harry mania".

Speaking during a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka, which was opened by the Prince of Wales, Abbott said: "It would be a good idea if he did what his father did and came out for a longer time."

Charles developed a deep affection for Australia when, in 1966, he spent about six months as an exchange student at Timbertop, a remote outpost of the Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne.

Abbott made the remarks as he attended a lunch reception hosted by Charles in Colombo for new Commonwealth leaders.

Speaking to other politicians, he added: "Prince Harry came to Australia recently and he's a knockabout guy. He took Sydney by storm. He would be welcome back to Australia any time."

Harry returned from Sydney last month after attending the International Fleet Review to celebrate the Australian Navy's 100th anniversary.

He also spent a few months in the country in 2003 as a jackeroo working at a cattle station during a gap year.

Charles did not hear the comments about his son but when he chatted to Abbott the conversation turned to the quality of Australian wine compared to English.

The Australian prime minister explained to the prince that he had been handed a glass of Camel Valley sparkling wine produced in Cornwall.

Charles told the politician: "Of course the Australian ones are much better."

Abbott then replied: "I have been angling for that compliment for some time."

The prince then recalled how he flew over the Penfolds wine estate when he arrived in Australia in the sixties.

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NSW man dies after crashing into tree

A 22-YEAR-OLD man has died after crashing his car into a tree in central west NSW.

Emergency services were called to a rural road at Butlers Falls, near Dubbo, early on Friday afternoon on reports a Holden Commodore had smashed into a tree, police say.

The driver and only occupant of the car died at the scene.

A crime scene has been established and investigation is underway.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash to come forward.

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India, Pakistan agree: Google ad a hit

AN emotional advertisement for Google's search engine has become a hit in India and Pakistan by referring to a traumatic period in the history of the South Asian arch-rivals.

The "Reunion" commercial has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube.

It portrays two childhood friends, now elderly men, who haven't seen each other since the 1947 partition that created India and Pakistan from the old British empire in South Asia.

Partition created a mass exodus as millions of Muslims and Hindus fled across the new borders, fearing religious violence.

In the ad, a young Indian woman tracks down her grandfather's childhood friend in Pakistan using the search engine and arranges a surprise reunion.

The ad is drawing praise and tears on both sides of the border.

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