Greek unions call July 16 general strike

GREECE'S main unions will hold a general strike on July 16 to oppose a new round of civil service job cuts announced by the government to secure EU-IMF loans.

"An emergency meeting of the executive committee has decided to call a 24-hour general strike on July 16" in reaction to a government bill enshrining the layoffs, leading union GSEE said in a statement on Wednesday.

The conservative-led Greek government on Tuesday submitted to parliament a bill detailing the redeployment of civil servants, which has sparked widespread protests.

Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has reportedly said parliament must approve the bill by July 19 in order for the heavily indebted country to receive the first instalment of rescue funds from its EU-IMF bailout.

Affecting thousands of teachers, school wardens and municipal staff, the latest cuts have caused fresh outrage in a country undergoing a fourth year of austerity and record unemployment.

Greece has committed to carrying out the reforms in exchange for about 6.8 billion euros ($A9.54 billion) in fresh bailout funds from the troika of international creditors - the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

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Crisis sinks European birth rate: study

FEWER babies were born in Europe because of the world economic crisis, a study shows.

The birth rate per woman in 28 European countries sank faster on average the higher the unemployment rate rose, the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in the north-eastern German city of Rostock said in a study published in the journal Demographic Research.

The economic crisis, which began in 2008, ended a Europe-wide upswing in the birth rate, co-author Michaela Kreyenfeld said.

The trend most impacted southern European countries such as Spain and Croatia, as well as Hungary, Ireland and Latvia.

People under 25, in particular, forwent having children when faced with rising unemployment and the trend was observed most sharply in young people having their first child, the institute found.

It said that one of the biggest open questions in demographic research is the influence economic conditions have on reproduction.

The study proved that in Europe today the jobless rate in a country affects its people's willingness to have children, Kreyenfeld said.

If unemployment rises one percentage point, the birth rate per woman for 20- to 24-year-olds sinks 0.1 across the continent and 0.3 in southern Europe, she said.

The institute documented a particularly strong change in direction in Spain. The birth rate there was 1.24 children per woman at the beginning of the millennium and rose every year, reaching 1.47 in 2008, but in 2009, it fell to 1.4 as the jobless rate rose from 8.3 to 11.3 per cent. In 2011, births had fallen to 1.36 per woman.

In the Czech Republic, Poland, Britain and Italy, the economic crisis only stopped the rise in the birth rate. In Russia and Lithuania, the crisis had a small or no effect on births.

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the crisis had little effect on the birth rate, but unemployment in those countries rose little or not at all and in Germany it sank.

The institute is investigating whether the crisis is having a continuing effect on the birth rate. So far, it has only analysed data for 2001 to 2010 and part of 2011.

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Dropping dollar is good for unis

THE dropping dollar is being seen as a boost to Australia's international education industry.

Universities Australia says with international competition for tertiary students becoming more intense, the cost of going to university is playing a strong part in deciding whether to come to Australia or head to the US or UK.

The high Australian dollar had led to a dip in international students enrolling in local universities, UA chief executive Belinda Robinson said on Wednesday.

But recent drops meant studying at an Australian university had become a more affordable proposition.

International education is the country's fourth-largest export industry and the biggest non-resources export.

It's worth $14.5 billion a year.

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Suppliers blamed for Vic dispatch glitch

THREE potentially life-threatening failures in Victoria's emergency dispatch system were caused by external suppliers, a government document has revealed.

Emergency service operators were forced to revert to manual technology as glitches on May 30, June 17 and July 5 shut down the computer aided dispatch system for several hours.

A document from Emergency Services Commissioner Michael Hallowes, obtained by AAP on Tuesday, says new dispatch technology is being installed and industrial action is preventing authorities from taking full advantage of it.

A post-incident review blames the first of the dispatch system failures, which occurred on May 30, on an external technology supplier.

The second failure was caused by an external maintenance contractor who inadvertently introduced a fault, the review found.

A review into the latest failure on July 5 is not yet complete, but initial indications are that the failure was also due to a fault created by an external software supplier.

The faults occurred in earlier versions of computer dispatch software and the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) is currently upgrading technology, the document stated.

"It is regrettable that whilst the program to upgrade the technology is on track, industrial action continues to prevent ESTA from taking full advantage of implementing the essential complementary improvements to its business processes," the document said.

In particular, this includes staff taking part in training, it said.

"This does mean ESTA is not able to deliver the full benefits to community safety that we all want and expect from technology upgrades at this time," the document said.

ESTA was not responsible for a radio outage that occurred in Mildura on May 28 as Ambulance Victoria is responsible for its own radio services in regional Victoria, which have been contracted out to Telstra, it said.

Ambulance Employees Australia state secretary Steve McGhie said he could not see how a ban on training had caused the dispatch problem, given the problem had only arisen recently and bans had been in place for approximately five months.

"I can't see how that training ban has a great deal to do with the problem," he told AAP.

"If they believe that the training is an issue, let's get the dispute resolved and the bans can be lifted."

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Driver dies in NSW bus crash

A BUS has crashed into a duplex on NSW's Central Coast, killing the driver and critically injuring a man inside the home.

Police say the bus crashed into the house on Greenfield Road at Empire Bay shortly after 4.15pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

Fire and rescue officers are trying to stabilise the building before attempting to free the body of the driver, police say.

A man who was inside the building was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition and a woman in the house with him was treated at the scene.

None of the 11 passengers in the bus suffered major injuries.

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Women in Ohio kidnap case thank public

THREE women held captive in a house in Ohio for a decade have issued a YouTube video in which they thank the public for the encouragement and financial support that is allowing them to restart their lives.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight broke their public silence in the three-minute, 30-second video posted on Tuesday. They said the support and prayers of family, friends and the public is allowing them to rebuild their lives after what Berry called "this entire ordeal."

The women had gone missing separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16, and 20 years old and were held in a Cleveland house.

Ariel Castro has pleaded not guilty to a 329-count indictment alleging he kidnapped them off the streets and held them captive in his two-storey home.

The 52-year-old former bus driver fathered a 6-year-old daughter with Berry and is accused of starving and punching Knight, causing her to miscarry. He was arrested on May 6, shortly after Berry broke through a door at the home and yelled to neighbours for help.

Knight said in the video, filmed on July 2, that she is building a "brand new life."

"I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and my head held high," she said, reading from a prepared statement.

"I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation. I don't want to be consumed by hatred."

DeJesus' parents, Felix DeJesus and Nancy Ruiz, thanked the public for donations to a fund set up to help the women. In addition, Ruiz encouraged parents with missing loved ones to reach out for assistance. ""Count on your neighbours," she said. "Don't be afraid to ask for the help because help is available."

Kathy Joseph, an attorney for Knight, said in a statement that the three women wanted to "say thank you to people from Cleveland and across the world, now that two months have passed."

She said they're being recognised in public, "so they decided to put voices and faces to their heartfelt messages."

James Wooley, attorney for Berry and DeJesus, also issued a statement saying Knight and his clients thank people for the privacy they've been given and do not want to discuss their case with the news media or anyone else.

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Bahrain bomb kills policeman

A BOMB attack has killed a Bahraini policeman and wounded two others in a Shi'ite Muslim village outside the capital, a police statement carried by the official BNA news agency says.

"Terrorist groups targeted a police station in Sitra" late on Saturday, public security chief General Tariq Hasan said on Sunday.

"As police attempted to secure the area ... the terrorists blew up an improvised bomb against security forces in an attack that killed policeman Yasser Dhaib and wounded two others."

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Deported cleric Abu Qatada lands in Jordan

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada has been deported from Britain and is on his way to Jordan. Source: AAP

RADICAL Islamist cleric Abu Qatada has arrived in Amman after Britain deported him to face terrorism charges, ending a decade-long legal battle, a Jordanian government official said.

"Abu Qatada landed at Marka airport in east Amman," a Jordanian government official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Sunday.

"He was escorted by British and Jordanian guards, who handed him over to state security court prosecutors."

The military tribunal lies just outside the airport.

Abu Qatada's father, brothers and other family members stood outside the courthouse waiting for his arrival, an AFP photographer reported.

The Palestinian-born preacher, 53, was taken from prison in an armoured police van to a military airfield on the outskirts of London, from which he was flown out of Britain at 0146 GMT.

Abu Qatada was condemned to death in absentia by a Jordanian court in 1999 for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks including on the American school in Amman but the sentence was immediately reduced to life imprisonment with hard labour.

In 2000, again in his absence, he was sentenced to 15 years for plotting to carry out terror attacks on tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations.

His deportation came after Jordan and Britain ratified a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters aimed at removing any remaining concerns about the use of tainted evidence in Abu Qatada's retrial.

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Solar airplane lands in New York

THE experimental Solar Impulse plane, powered by the sun, has completed a transcontinental trip across the United States, touching down in New York despite a rip in the fabric of one wing.

The giant, single-person plane landed at New York's John F Kennedy airport at 11.11pm (0311 GMT) on Saturday, ahead of its originally scheduled time due to a 2.5-metre long tear that appeared on the fabric of the lower side of the left wing.

Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg was met on the tarmac by compatriot and fellow pilot Bertrand Piccard, and the two posed triumphantly for pictures.

The men had taken turns flying the spindly, long-winged plane across the country.

The Solar Impulse, which runs on four electric propellers powered by an array of solar cells mounted on the plane's 63-metre wingspan, lifted off just before dawn Saturday from Washington Dulles International Airport.

"This last leg was especially difficult due to the damage of the fabric on the left wing," Borschberg told reporters upon landing after the 18 hour, 23 minute flight.

The team looked at all possible scenarios, "including bailing out over the Atlantic," he said. "But this type of problem is inherent to every experimental endeavour."

Flying coast-to-coast "has always been a mythical milestone full of challenges for aviation pioneers," added Piccard. "During this journey, we had to find solutions for a lot of unforeseen situations, which obliged us to develop new skills and strategies."

The team also "pushed the boundaries of clean technologies and renewable energies to unprecedented levels," he said.

Piccard said they had mixed feelings about the end of their long trip. "Normally you feel a bit sad and nostalgic, but with the problem with the wing, we feel relieved," he said.

The coast-to-coast US journey began on May 3, near San Francisco, California. The plane then landed in Phoenix (Arizona), Dallas/Fort Worth (Texas), St. Louis (Missouri), Cincinnati (Ohio) and the capital, Washington.

Borschberg was forced to pass the hours Saturday by circling over the Atlantic not far from the "Big Apple," before being allowed to fly over the city in the evening, due to heavy air traffic.

The light solar plane flies at around 70km per hour, and is especially sensitive to air turbulence.

Before the final leg, Piccard and Borschberg spoke of the most memorable moments from the cross-country flight.

For Piccard, a Swiss adventurer who founded Solar Impulse over a decade ago, one of those moments was flying past the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco at the very start of the journey.

Borschberg recalled one of the most dangerous moments of the trip, when wind threatened to unbalance the aircraft.

The crossing has been "more difficult than expected because of the weather: There were a lot of tornadoes, storms, causing several of our flights to be delayed or slowed down," Piccard said.

The Solar Impulse is powered by 12,000 solar cells and flies in the dark by reaching high altitudes during the day and gliding downward over long distances by night. It uses no fossil fuels.

Drawbacks include the tiny cockpit, vulnerability to turbulence and the lack of a toilet, so the pilots must relieve themselves by using an empty plastic water bottle on solo flights that can last up to 24 hours.

The current aircraft model, the HB-SIA, is soon to be phased out as the Swiss team prepares test flights next year of the second-generation aircraft, the HB-SIB.

Piccard said the next plane will be 10 percent bigger, with more power, reliability, an auto-pilot function and a toilet so that pilots can make the four to six-day long trips that will be part of its journey across the world in 2015.

The plane's American trip is just the latest in a series of groundbreaking flights across different parts of the world, including Europe and Africa.

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Qld-NSW interstate drug ring smashed

AUTHORITIES have dismantled an interstate criminal enterprise accused of importing flu medicine to make $10 million worth of the drug ice.

A Queensland-based network is accused of placing orders with importers for ContacNT on behalf of criminal gangs in NSW.

The over-the-counter flu medicine can be used to extract pseudoephedrine, which is then used to produce the drug ice.

The 10-month joint operation, codenamed Operation Lithium, has resulted in the seizure of eight kilograms of precursor chemicals.

They had the potential to produce ice with an estimated street value of $10 million.

Two men and a woman from the Brisbane area were charged on Thursday with a raft Queensland and NSW drugs charges.

All three appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

One man was remanded into custody while the other man and woman are expected to also appear in Sydney courts next week.

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