S.African miner fires 8500 staff

SOUTH African miner Gold Fields has fired 8500 workers who refused to halt an illegal stoppage at its KDC East mine, a spokesman says.

"All 8500 people who were on strike did not come back. They did not return to work, so we have issued dismissal letters to all of them," spokesman Sven Lunsche told AFP. Workers have 24 hours to appeal their dismissal, he added.

Workers at the last striking mine of the world's fourth gold producer in Carletonville, southwest of Johannesburg, had ignored an ultimatum to clock in at 4:00 pm (0100 AEST).

The firm let go 1500 strikers at its KDC West mine on October 18, though most later appealed their dismissal.

Mass dismissals are not unheard of in South Africa and are often part of a hard-ball negotiating strategy on the part of mine owners.

Tens of thousands of workers across South Africa's mining sector have been involved in a spate of illegal strikes over pay and conditions.

The stay aways have crippled production in a sector that fuels 19 per cent of South Africa's economy, prompting pressure from employers, government and even the workers' own unions.

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Police admit botched gunman investigation

FRENCH police have unveiled a damning report that shows up several loopholes in the investigation of al-Qaida inspired gunman Mohamed Merah before his shooting spree in Toulouse.

The 17-page report by the police disciplinary unit IGPN said "several objective failures had come to light," including a "delayed coordinated reaction," as Interior Minister Manuel Valls vowed to "rapidly put into place the necessary adjustments."

Various units of the French police and intelligence bodies were working in a compartmentalised manner, the report said, slamming the French intelligence agency DCRI, which reports directly to the interior ministry, for "identifying the change in Merah's profile very late."

Merah, a self-described al-Qaida sympathiser, shot a rabbi, three Jewish schoolchildren and three French paratroopers in attacks in and around the southern city of Toulouse in March before being shot dead in a police siege.

The report said Merah, who has had at least 15 previous criminal convictions, attacked a neighbour in June 2010 who confronted him for showing her son a video depicting decapitation.

The lack of coordination resulted in the DCRI being unaware of this development, which could have led to increased surveillance on Merah, who turned into an Islamist hardliner in prison in February 2008, it said.

Merah's transformation to a radical only became apparent to the agency two years later.

And Merah's departure to Pakistan in August last year also went unnoticed because he transited through Oman, which is not part of the 31 destinations where outbound travel is monitored by French intelligence.

It called for tighter surveillance and better coordination between the various security agencies, including fiscal policing. Merah had a rented apartment in Toulouse despite having no declared income.

Separate reports from the DCRI show that Merah was under intense surveillance throughout 2011 but that agents decided to reduce monitoring.

They show that Merah, who had been under surveillance since 2006, was identified as a "privileged target" at the beginning of last year after returning from a trip to Afghanistan, where he was detained in November 2010.

Surveillance from March to July indicated he was in regular contact with "the radical Islamist movement in Toulouse", was showing "paranoid behaviour" and was receiving funds from extremists.

Merah travelled to Pakistan between August and October last year and met with DCRI agents upon his return.

French President Francois Hollande has vowed to beef up its anti-terrorism laws following the killings.

Plans presented to cabinet earlier this month would allow authorities to prosecute suspects for terrorism-related crimes committed outside the country, allowing France to target extremists who attend foreign training camps.

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Friend your boss at your peril

THOUSANDS of young Aussies might have to update their Facebook status from 'hired' to 'fired' sooner than they'd like.

Almost one-third of workers aged between 18 and 25 are friends with their boss on social media, a new survey has found.

But more than half them - 58 per cent - admit they've never cleared potentially career-damaging content from their profiles.

According to a worldwide survey by anti-virus company AVG, 13 per cent of working Gen Yers in Australia admit to posting abusive content about their boss or company after a bad day at work.

They're not nearly as angry as young employees in Italy, where 18 per cent express their emotions online.

Nor are they as fearless as the 80 per cent of Spanish young adults who say they've posted inappropriate images online. Only 28 per cent of Australians admit to sharing unsuitable pictures on social networking sites.

The survey also found that one in 12 young Aussies had been asked in a job interview about things they've posted online.

AVG's Australian security adviser Michael McKinnon said the level of comfort with social media was blurring the line between young people's professional and private lives.

"It seems obvious that posting abusive content about a boss or workplace is not very sensible, but it's important to understand that not only could it damage a person's existing career, it could negatively impact on future opportunities too," Mr McKinnon said.

The survey canvassed 4400 people in 11 countries.

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'Dead' Brazilian is guest at own wake

THERE was screaming. There was fainting. It doesn't happen every day: a car washer in Brazil walked into his own wake, where his distraught family was already weeping over their loss.

"People were so startled. Women were fainting, people started running all over the place," said Maria Menezes, one of the mourners at the event in Alagoinhas, in Salvador de Bahia state, G1 news reported.

Gilberto Araujo, 41, heard from a friend on the street that his family thought he was dead and was busy getting ready to bury him so he decided to head straight to the wake and clear things up.

"A friend of mine told me there was a coffin at the wake - and that I was inside it," Araujo said. "I told him: 'But I am alive! Pinch me!"

In fact, Araujo's family had been burying a corpse that looked startlingly like their loved one, a body that had yet to be formally identified, G1 reported.

"I am just beside myself with joy," a beaming Marina Santana told the network. "What mother who is told her son is dead is not going to be overjoyed when she sees her son alive again?"

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Roche probed for not reporting side effect

EUROPE'S top drug regulator has announced it is taking action against pharmaceutical giant Roche for allegedly failing to properly report the side effects of 19 drugs being used by US patients.

It is the first time the European Medicines Agency has begun a so-called 'infringement proceeding against a drug maker. European regulations lay out numerous requirements for pharmaceuticals, including reporting suspected side effects and submitting such cases to officials.

Eight of the drugs involved are used for the treatment of cancer, including breast cancer. They include Avastin, Herceptin, Tarceba, and Xeloda. The flu drug Tamiflu was also included in the list.

British authorities brought the problem to the attention of the European authorities in May after noticing "serious shortcomings" in how Roche AG reported potential side effects.

Regulators said about 80,000 reports by consumers of possible adverse effects to drugs sold in the US had not been properly analysed. Among those reports were over 15,000 deaths, though it was unclear if those deaths were caused by Roche medicines.

The regulator said there was no evidence that users of Roche's drugs were at risk.

The European Medicines Agency did not state what the side effects were but said it was more concerned that these potential reactions were not properly reported.

"It could have been anything like a rash on your hand to something more serious," including death, said Monika Benstetter, an agency spokeswoman. "There was a failure in the system," she said, noting officials didn't have information on how many of the side effects may have been reported.

If Roche is found to have violated its reporting requirements, it could be fined up to five per cent of its sales revenue in the European Union from the preceding year. Shares in the company fell two per cent on Tuesday.

The European Commission, the executive body for the 27-country EU, asked the European Medicines Agency to begin the infringement process. In a statement, the European Medicines Agency said it will further investigate the allegations against Roche.

The agency sent Roche a detailed letter listing the allegations against them and is now awaiting the company's response. Officials have 18 months to finish their investigation. After that, it will be up to the European Commission to decide whether Roche should be penalised.

Daniel Grotzky, a Roche spokesman, said the company was working with the EMA to provide more information and it did not want to speculate on the outcome of the investigation. Roche said patient safety was "of paramount importance" and that it was possible some of the potential side effects may have been reported to European officials in other ways, such as reports from doctors.

"Both the EMA and other health authorities have consistently said there is no change to the safety profile of our drugs," Grotzky said.

He said Roche recognised that some adverse events had not properly been reported in the past.

"We are taking measures within the company...to make sure this does not happen again," he said.

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More BBC staff probed on sex claims

A SEXUAL abuse scandal shaking the BBC has broadened, with the broadcaster's chief saying the corporation was investigating claims of abuse and harassment against as many as 10 former and current staff.

The BBC has been rocked by allegations that longtime children's host Jimmy Savile, who died last year, abused underage teens over several decades, sometimes on BBC premises. Some of the alleged victims have accused other entertainers and BBC staff of participating in abuse during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Director-general George Entwistle told British MPs on Tuesday that the BBC is looking into historical allegations of sexual abuse or harassment against "between eight and 10" past and present employees.

Separately, the BBC press office said it was aware of "nine allegations of sexual harassment, assault or inappropriate conduct" involving current staff or contributors to the BBC, which employs some 20,000 people.

Entwistle said it was too early to say whether sexual abuse had been endemic within Britain's publicly funded national broadcaster, but insisted the BBC would assist police if detectives chose to investigate whether there had been a pedophile ring at the corporation.

Entwistle acknowledged there had been "a problem of culture within the BBC ... a broader cultural problem" that allowed Savile's behaviour to go unchecked.

"There is no question that what Jimmy Savile did and the way the BBC behaved ... will raise questions of trust for us and reputation for us," Entwistle said. "This is a gravely serious matter, and one cannot look back at it with anything other than horror."

Entwistle's testimony before the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee came a day after the BBC aired a powerful documentary about the corporation's role in the expanding sex abuse scandal involving Savile, who died a year ago at age 84.

Since Savile's death, scores of women and several men have come forward to say the entertainer - a longtime host of music and children's programs including Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It - abused them when they were children or teenagers. Police have identified more than 200 potential victims.

The BBC, one of the world's largest and most respected broadcasters, is under fire for failing to stop the abuse and for pulling an expose on Savile from TV schedules at the last minute in December. The sex allegations were later aired on the rival ITV network.

The head of the BBC's Newsnight program, Peter Rippon, has been suspended pending an investigation of his decision to scrap the Savile story.

Monday's documentary, which was watched by more than five million people, presented the unusual spectacle of BBC journalists grilling their own bosses about why the piece had been dropped.

In an attempt to get to the bottom of the story, the parliamentary committee spent two hours on Tuesday questioning Entwistle, who has been in the BBC's top job for just a month, after years in senior news and current affairs roles.

It may also want to question his predecessor, Mark Thompson, who led the organisation at the time the Newsnight report was yanked. Thompson was appointed chief executive of the New York Times Co in August and is due to take up the post next month.

Entwistle insisted the BBC was not complacent about sexism, and had hired a senior lawyer to look at how it handles sexual harassment cases.

"I do believe the culture has changed since the 70s and 80s," Entwistle said. "But I'm not convinced it has changed as much as it should have."

He said Savile had been "a very skilful and successful sexual predator who covered his tracks."

"These things are institutionally, it seems, very difficult to deal with," he said.

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Oldest Battle of Britain hero dies aged 99

THE oldest surviving Battle of Britain pilot, shot down in his Spitfire during the desperate struggle between the Royal Air Force and Hitler's Luftwaffe, has died aged 99, a memorial trust says.

William Walker suffered a stroke and died in hospital on Sunday, just days before he was due to attend a special dinner for veterans of the conflict in 1940, the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust said in a statement.

He was just 27 when he survived being shot in the ankle, bailing out of his plane and clinging to a shipwreck in the English Channel during the battle, which helped turn the course of World War II.

"Flight Lieutenant William Walker was a warm, engaging and friendly man who always had a twinkle in his eye," said Richard Hunting, chairman of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust.

"He knew how important it was that we continue to tell the story of what he and the rest of the Few did in 1940."

The Battle of Britain pitted outnumbered RAF Hurricanes and Spitfires against the Nazis' aerial might, leading Winston Churchill to say that "never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

Born in 1913, Walker was commissioned into 616 Squadron on June 18, 1940, according to his biography on the trust's website. At the time he was older than many of his fellow pilots, whose average age was 20.

On August 26, 1940, his Spitfire was scrambled from its base in Kenley, east London, to help intercept a large German bomber force with a heavy fighter escort heading towards England.

During a dogfight Walker's plane was badly damaged and he parachuted out, landing on a sandbank in the English Channel with an armour-piercing bullet in his right ankle.

He held onto a wrecked ship before a fishing boat rescued him. A crowd welcomed him on shore, where an elderly woman presented him with a packet of cigarettes.

Walker kept the bullet as a souvenir.

After recovering from his wound he spent the rest of the war on anti-aircraft duties and went on to become chairman of a brewery, as well as writing books of poetry.

The Battle of Britain began on July 10, 1940, and ended on October 31 the same year. More than 2900 British, Commonwealth and Allied airmen took part in some 600 planes - less than half the 1750 German aircraft involved.

Adolf Hitler had Britain in his sights after British troops were forced to evacuate Dunkirk in June 1940, but the Battle of Britain caused the German Nazi leader to abandon his plans to invade and laid the foundations for Allied victory five years later.

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