UN warns of attacks against schoolgirls

GIRLS in at least 70 countries have faced threats, violent attacks and other abuse for trying to go to school over the past five years, the UN human rights office says.

A REPORT by the Geneva-based body on Monday has noted that, despite some progress, girls still face difficulty getting an education in many countries around the world.

"Attacks against girls accessing education persist and, alarmingly, appear in some countries to be occurring with increasing regularity," the authors found.The report cites as examples the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria last year, the shooting of education activist Malala Yousafzai in 2012 and the forced removal of girls from schools by the Somali extremist group al-Shabab in 2010."According to UN sources, more than 3600 separate attacks against educational institutions, teachers and students were recorded in 2012 alone," it said.The authors warned that the attacks have a "ripple effect" that sends a signal to parents of other girls that schools are not safe."The removal of girls from education due to fears for their security and concerns about their subsequent marriageability may result in additional human rights violations such as child and forced marriage, domestic violence, early pregnancy, exposure to other harmful practices, trafficking and sexual and labour exploitation," the report said.The authors concluded that attacks against schoolgirls can't be prevented without addressing broader patterns of violence and discrimination against women and girls.They recommended devoting more money to helping that ensure girls can go to school without the threat of violence and promoting the benefits that universal access to education has for society as a whole.

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Bali Nine duo's mums take plea to Jakarta

The families of Bali Nine death row inmates are taking their pleas for mercy to Jakarta. Source: AAP

THE mothers of death row Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have taken their struggle to stop the firing squad to Indonesia's capital, as their lawyers try yet another route to have their day in court.

HELEN Chan and Raji Sukumaran, and brothers of the Bali Nine ringleaders, Chintu Sukumaran and Michael Chan, had wanted to make their appeal for mercy outside the presidential palace.

But the worst floods since 2012 crippled Jakarta's roads and forced them indoors.Mrs Sukumaran said she wanted President Joko Widodo to know both men were committed to rehabilitating others through classes that weren't available at Kerobokan jail before.If they were spared from execution - which is being planned for this month - they would continue using their lives to help others, she said.Seeing how they had helped others had kept both families going for the past decade since their crime."Now at the end of 10 years, they want to execute them, how would you take it?" Mrs Sukumaran said."It's not fair."Michael Chan urged the president to look at testimonies from inmates, many of them Indonesian citizens, who had stayed off drugs thanks to the classes."Give them another go at life and they will thrive with what they do," he said."Look at their individual merits and not a blanket process, that's all I ask."Lawyers for Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, will seek to argue this unfairness in the courts.Mr Joko plans to enforce the death penalty for 64 death row drug offenders, regardless of their circumstances.Lawyer for the Australians, Todung Mulya Lubis, said it was "unfair, unjust and unacceptable" that individual cases weren't judged on their merits."This is probably the only legal recourse left for us at the moment," he told reporters.The challenge would be filed this week and a letter sent to inform the attorney-general, who is planning the next executions. He hoped this would mean Chan and Sukumaran would be excluded from those plans.Mrs Sukumaran said the families were desperate for the men to get a hearing, but didn't know where to turn to next.Chintu Sukumaran said they had seen Indonesia save its own citizens from the death penalty abroad and hoped it could also practice mercy at home."What mum is asking for ... is that the same type of mercy is extended to Myu and Andrew that Indonesia seeks for its own citizens," he said.While in Jakarta, the Sydney families found an ally in Indonesia's Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM).Commissioner Sandra Moniaga said they would write to the president on the family's behalf."We encouraged them to keep on fighting, to continue their struggle," she said.The lawyers' bid to have a second judicial review of the case was rejected by the courts in Denpasar last week.In 2012, a presidential clemency decree was challenged in Indonesia's State Administrate by anti-drugs group GRANAT.It failed to overturn former president Susilo Bambang Yudohoyono's decision to grant clemency to Australian Schapelle Corby.A friend of Sukumaran's read out a statement from him on ABC TV's Q&A program, appealing to the Indonesian government to spare he and Chan."I acknowledge more than anyone that I have made mistakes and that I am not a perfect person. But I've learnt a lot in prison and am grateful to the Indonesian justice system and to the prison guards for allowing me to achieve all that I have for myself and for the other prisoners."Andrew (Chan) and I are not the same people we were 10 years ago but who is really?"We did commit a serious crime and deserve punishment but we have also paid a great deal for our crimes as have our families."Please allow us to stay in prison and live. Our families should not have to suffer more for our mistakes."

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Perth Mint coins honour the Anzac spirit

Limited edition collectable coins commemorating the Anzac spirit have been released by Perth Mint. Source: AAP

LIMITED edition collectable coins commemorating the Anzac spirit have been released by Perth Mint.

THE Baptism of Fire 2oz gold coin depicts Australian and New Zealand soldiers scaling the cliffs above Anzac Cove, and features a red poppy and an inscription.

The Making of a Nation 1oz silver coin shows the troops in wooden row boats near the Gallipoli shore, with its rugged terrain in the background.Both coins are part of the five-year Anzac Spirit 100th anniversary coin program, marking Australia's involvement in World War I.About 10,000 Australian and New Zealand troops lost their lives at Gallipoli, and a further 18,000 soldiers were wounded.Perth Mint spokesman Ron Currie said although Gallipoli was considered a costly military failure, it sparked the start of the Anzac legend."The Anzac Spirit coin series recognises this incredible story of valour, mateship and sacrifice, all of which were exhibited at the Gallipoli landing," he said.Only 100 Baptism of Fire gold coins will be released at $5050, while 7500 of the Making of a Nation silver coin will be available at $99.Perth Mint will also soon release a Lest We Forget 1kg silver hero coin and a Goodbye Cobber 1/4oz gold coin.

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Greece gives same-sex couples legal status

GREECE'S new left-wing government has promised to grant same-sex couples legal status, in response to a 2013 international court decision condemning the country for discrimination.

JUSTICE Minister Nikolaos Paraskevopoulos told parliament Monday that civil partnerships, first legislated in 2008, would be extended to gay couples but did not say when the changes were planned.

The pledge was made two weeks after the left-wing Syriza party ousted conservatives in a general election and formed a coalition government with a right-wing, anti-bailout party, one which in the past has opposed awarding gay partners legal status.In 2013, the Council of Europe's Court of Human Rights awarded plaintiffs damages after they successfully challenged the Greek state over its civil partnerships law.

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Costa Concordia trial enters final week

THE Italian trial against captain Francesco Schettino, the man blamed for the deadly Costa Concordia shipwreck, has entered its final week, with a court ruling expected in the coming days.

THE 54-year-old is charged with negligence, manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. He faces a potential jail sentence of 26 years and three months.

On the night of January 13, 2012, the Concordia was taken off its planned route and steered close to the island of Giglio, where it hit rocks and partially capsized.Thirty-two of the 4229 people on board died in the accident, but according to Schettino's attorney, the captain's actions prevented a far worse catastrophe."Did Schettino make the right or wrong decisions? The right ones!" lawyer Domenico Pepe told the court on Monday during his closing arguments."If he had immediately ordered an evacuation, 4000 people would be dead," he said.On Tuesday, the prosecution and lawyers representing plaintiffs were due to speak one final time, before the court retires to consider a verdict that could be issued later on the same day or Wednesday.Any verdict is subject to appeal, and in Italy defendants are normally not jailed until a final judgment.The prosecution has claimed that Schettino is a flight risk and has called on the judges to have him arrested if he is convicted.

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Crews battle three out-of-control WA fires

Firefighters are still battling three out-of-control bushfires in Western Australia's south. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS continue to battle three out-of-control bushfires in Western Australia's south amid scorching temperatures.

NORTHCLIFFE residents have been given the go ahead to return home after a lightning-sparked bushfire burnt to within two kilometres of the township in the state's far south.

Because of the huge blaze the town was deemed "undefendable" but fire crews from WA and inter-state worked around the clock for more than a week to ease the threat.On Saturday the emergency alert for Northcliffe was dropped to a watch and act, however it is still not safe for residents in the secluded coastal township of Windy Harbour to leave.The fire has burnt more than 85,000 hectares. Two homes and five sheds have been confirmed destroyed.A separate bushfire burning near the community of Lower Hotham in the state's south has also been downgraded to a watch and act.But people have been told to remain vigilant as changing weather conditions may upgrade the warning level.At least one house and two sheds were destroyed in the Lower Hotham fire, which has burnt more than 52,000 hectares.A third watch and act is in place in Wattleup, south of Perth.The bushfire, which started on Wednesday, is currently stationary and contained but not under control.The cause of the fire is suspicious. Temperatures in Perth were forecast to reach 40C on Sunday.

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Schwarzenegger calls for climate action

FORMER California governor and Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling for more to be done to combat climate change, saying it is "the issue of our time".

SPEAKING on Sunday to a small group at the Munich security conference, where he introduced a new policy paper The Future of Energy, Schwarzenegger said his experience in California was that the adoption of green energy creates jobs and leads to energy independence.

He applauded formal efforts to come to new agreements to reduce carbon emissions and fight global warming, but says there is no need for governments to wait for summits.He says "we should be fighting climate change right now".Schwarzenegger says the issue shouldn't be politicised and people should work together for solutions.He says "we all breathe the same air".

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Group queries Mexico students probe

Forensics experts have questioned a Mexican investigation into the disappearance of 43 students. Source: AAP

ARGENTINE forensics experts have questioned Mexico's investigation into the disappearance of 43 students, saying the evidence doesn't support the government's conclusion the youths were killed and burned to ashes.

THE team, hired on behalf of the victims' parents as an independent party, issued what it said was a list of discrepancies in the case.

The Argentine team had access to forensic evidence and crime scenes along with federal prosecutors and Mexico's own forensic investigators.Its statement said Mexico's government presented biased analyses of the scientific evidence to support its conclusion that the bodies of the college students were burned to ashes in Cocula in southern Guerrero state and their remains thrown into a river to hide the evidence.So far only one of the students has been identified from charred remains found at the river.The team "would like to reiterate that it doesn't exclude the possibility that some of the students met the fate described by the attorney general," the experts said in the statement issued after they met with parents."But in our opinion there is no scientific evidence to support that in the Cocula garbage dump."The Attorney General's Office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the statement from the Argentine team, a nonprofit forensics science organisation that investigates human right violations around the world.It was established in 1984 to investigate cases of at least 9000 missing under Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

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Surfer attacked by shark near Byron Bay

A surfer is in hospital after being bitten by a shark off a beach near Bryon Bay. Source: AAP

A SURFER is in a stable condition after being attacked by a shark near Byron Bay on the NSW north coast.

THE man, in his 30s, was surfing on Seven Mile Beach on Sunday, according to reports.

A Gold Coast University Hospital spokesman said the man was in a stable condition but was unable to confirm whether he had undergone surgery.

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Magna Carta copy found in UK council

AN edition of the Magna Carta which could be worth up to STG10 million ($A19.65 million) has been found after it lay forgotten in a British council's archives.

THE discovery of a version of the English document which established the principle of the rule of law, was uncovered in the files of the history department of Kent County Council.

It was found in the archives kept in Maidstone but belonging to the town of Sandwich.Professor Nicholas Vincent, of the University of East Anglia, who authenticated the document, said: "It is a fantastic discovery which comes in the week that the four other known versions were brought together at the Houses of Parliament."Prof Vincent said the fact Sandwich had its own Magna Carta gives backing to the theory that it was issued more widely than previously thought to at least 50 cathedral towns and ports.There are only 24 editions of the Magna Carta in known existence around the world.The first Magna Carta was drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and agreed by King John on June 15, 1215 to make peace with a group of rebel barons.Considered the cornerstone of freedom, modern democracy, justice and the rule of law, the document forms the basis for legal systems across the globe, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the US constitution.

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