Russia blocks bid for Antarctic sanctuary

RUSSIA has blocked attempts by Western countries to create the world's largest ocean sanctuary off Antarctica, green groups say.

The Russian representative questioned the legal right of a meeting in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, to declare such a haven, according to organisations at the talks.

The three-day talks gathered 24 nations plus the European Union (EU) in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), a 31-year-old treaty tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Southern Ocean.

One proposal, floated by the United States and New Zealand, covered 1.6 million square kilometres of the Ross Sea, the deep bay on Antarctica's Pacific side.

The other, backed by Australia, France and the EU, would protect 1.9 million square kilometres of coastal seas off East Antarctica, on the frozen continent's Indian Ocean side.

Protecting those areas - which biologists say are rich in unique species - would more than double the amount of ocean sanctuary in the world.

Andrea Kavanagh, in charge of the Southern Ocean Sanctuaries campaign at the US green group Pew Environment, said Russia had refused to negotiate, saying simply that it questioned the legal status of CCAMLR to declare such zones.

"The actions of the Russian delegation have put international cooperation and goodwill at risk, the two key ingredients needed for global marine conservation," she said on Tuesday.

"After two years of preparation, including this meeting, which Russia requested to settle the scientific case for the Ross Sea and East Antarctic proposals, we leave with nothing," said Steve Campbell, director of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance (AOA) of green groups.

"All members, except Russia, came to this meeting to negotiate in good faith," he said in a press statement.

The parties met in Hobart, Australia, last October, but failed to reach a deal because of opposition by China and Russia, supported by Ukraine, which said restrictions on fishing were too onerous.

As a result, they agreed to an exceptional meeting this July. It was only the second time that the CCAMLR has met outside its annual gathering.

The fate of the proposed marine sanctuaries now lies in the next annual meeting of CCAMLR in Hobart, running from October 23 to November 1, the sources said.

Kavanagh said many delegates had been stunned and dismayed at the setback, given the effort in time and money to attend a meeting that had been requested by Russia itself, ostensibly to address questions of science.

"The proponent countries were unwilling to negotiate when it appeared that Russia was here in bad faith. They weren't willing to lay their cards on the table," she said.

The waters around the Antarctica are home to some 16,000 known species, including whales, seals, albatrosses and penguins, as well as unique species of fish, sponges and worms that are bioluminescent or produce their own natural anti-freeze to survive in the region's chilly waters.

They are also rich in nutrients, whose influence spreads far beyond Antarctica thanks to the powerful current that swirls around the continent.

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Man shot in neck in Sydney's south

A YOUNG man has been shot in the neck in a street in Sydney's south.

Police say a man in his 20s was on Princes Street, Bexley, when he suffered a gunshot wound to the neck about 8.35pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

He was rushed to hospital in serious but stable condition.

A police spokesman said the man's injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.

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Attacked Queen portrait returns to Abbey

A PORTRAIT of the Queen defaced as it hung in Westminster Abbey has gone back on display four weeks after being sprayed with paint.

Artist Ralph Heimans who created the artwork said he was "thrilled" it was now on public view again.

The oil painting, entitled The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, had been on display in the Chapter House for just a few weeks before it was vandalised last month.

The incident came a few weeks before another attack on Abbey artwork when a statue was sprayed with paint.

"I am thrilled that the painting has been restored in good time and that it can be returned to public display as intended," Heimans said.

"Westminster Abbey feels like the natural home for my portrait and I'm glad to see it back where it belongs in this remarkable setting."

The Australian-born painter worked with the Abbey's conservation team to remove the paint from the artwork which went on display yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the artist said: "There was a team to restore and clean the painting and Ralph Heimans had to come in and do some touching up."

The painting depicts the monarch in the Sacrarium of Westminster Abbey, also known as the Coronation Theatre.

It was shown publicly for the first time in September by the Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Heimans, who is based in London, had a sitting with the Queen at Buckingham Palace on March 21 last year, but the scene is an imagined one, set at night in Westminster Abbey.

Tim Haries, 41, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London last month charged with criminal damage to Mr Heimans' canvas.

He was bailed to appear at the court again in September.

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Rampaging wild boar wreaks havoc in Prague

A WILD boar went on a rampage in downtown Prague, terrorising pedestrians and even smashing a window at a five-star hotel in the Czech capital before being sedated, police say.

"On Sunday at 9.15am, a citizen called the emergency line saying a wild boar was swimming across the Vltava river... towards a Prague hotel," city police said in a statement on Tuesday.

The wild animal broke a window at the glass-covered Hilton hotel, stormed through four districts of the capital with police in hot pursuit, and even tried to attack a mother pushing a pram.

"An officer promptly barred its way with a motorbike so the woman and child escaped unscathed," police said.

The boar then charged through a backyard garden - and sent bewildered workers clambering up scaffolding - before it attacked a police officer.

"That was a mistake: the officer turned its head away and lay down on it," police said.

Other officers then threw chain link metal fencing over the boar and vets injected it three times with tranquilisers to knock the animal unconscious.

The police officer who wrestled down the boar was treated for minor injuries while the animal itself was handed over to the company in charge of Prague's forests.

Forests around Prague abound in wild boars. There have been sightings of them roaming the streets and squares of smaller towns near the capital, damaging gardens and fields.

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Astronaut's helmet leak halts spacewalk

AN Italian astronaut discovered a "funny" tasting water leaking in his helmet during a spacewalk at the International Space Station, forcing an early end to the outing, NASA says.

The US space agency said it was probing what caused the situation, but stressed the astronauts were not in danger during what was supposed to be a routine repair job at the orbiting lab.

Just over an hour into the walk, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency was rushed back into the space station Quest airlock where crew members removed his helmet.

As the headgear came off, globs of water could be seen floating away.

Shortly afterward, he described for his fellow astronauts a strange liquid that appeared to come from inside the back of his helmet.

"Luca says the water tastes really funny," US astronaut and fellow spacewalker Chris Cassidy told NASA mission control in Houston.

"To him the water clearly did not taste like our normal drinking water," said Cassidy, suggesting that engineers investigate the fluid that fills up the suits ahead of the spacewalk for clues.

Parmitano's long underwear inside the suit was dry around his midsection, and it appeared the leak had come from the vent port near the back of Parmitano's helmet, Cassidy added.

Cassidy said his colleague was doing "okay," and NASA TV showed images of Parmitano floating inside the space station and blowing his nose with a tissue.

"Neither astronaut was in serious danger throughout," a NASA commentator said, but added the cause of the leak was "not easily identifiable."

Parmitano, 36, is the first Italian to walk in space, and Tuesday's outing was the second of his career.

The purpose of the spacewalk, the second of two planned this month, was to prepare the ISS for a new Russian module and to make some repairs.

The outing lasted one hour 32 minutes, NASA said. It was supposed to last six hours and 15 minutes.

Parmitano blogged about his first experience suiting up in the heavy gear and walking in space just last week, when he stepped out of the ISS on July 9 with Cassidy.

"Putting on the space-suit requires considerable physical effort, especially for the top part," he wrote of that first sortie on blogs.esa.int/luca-parmitano.

"The torso section is stiff and tight, especially for me because I chose a smaller size in order to be more agile," he added.

"And I will be more agile but the price I pay is having to contort my arms and shoulders while pushing with my feet as hard as I can, until my head fits through the metal collar and my hands pass through the wristbands of the suit."

Soon after, he described the elation of seeing the Earth spin beneath him for the first time.

"I feel so good I can't stop myself from smiling," he said.

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Egypt swears in first cabinet since Morsi

EGYPT'S first government since the military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi almost two weeks ago has been officially sworn in, state television reports.

The 35-member cabinet, including caretaker prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi, individually took their oath before army-appointed interim president Adly Mansour on Tuesday.

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general behind the popularly backed coup that toppled Morsi on July 3, was appointed first deputy prime minister and minister of defence.

A former ambassador to Washington, Nabil Fahmy, took the post of foreign minister, while Mohammed Ibrahim, who served as interior minister in Morsi's government, retained his job.

There are three women ministers in the new cabinet, including health minister Maha El-Rabat.

One of the women is a Coptic Christian.

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European stocks drift lower

EUROPE'S stock markets retreated on Tuesday as traders weighed conflicting European data but mainly awaited testimony from US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke.

At close, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares was down 0.45 per cent to end at 6,556.35 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 retreated 0.41 per cent to 8,201.05 points and in Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.71 per cent to 3,851.03 points.

In Britain, which is a member of the European Union but not the single-currency eurozone, annual inflation hit a 14-month peak in June, official data showed Tuesday.

Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation jumped to 2.9 per cent in June from 2.7 per cent in May, driven by rising petrol prices and shallower discounts from clothing and footwear retailers, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

That was the highest level since April 2012 but was lower than market expectations for 3.0 per cent, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

Separately, eurozone inflation rose to 1.6 per cent in June from 1.4 per cent in May, EU data agency Eurostat said Tuesday, with the figure for powerhouse Germany jumping from 1.6 to 1.9 per cent.

Meanwhile investors in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, turned gloomy this month as disappointing economic data appeared to cast a shadow over the recovery outlook, a new survey found.

The widely watched investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute fell by 2.2 points to 36.3 points in July, disappointing analysts' forecasts for an increase to around 40 points this month.

German investors apparently took little cheer from a recent pledge by the European Central Bank to keep eurozone interest rates low for the foreseeable future.

They fretted instead about the fallout for exports from the slowing Chinese economy.

China's economic growth slowed to a 7.5 per cent pace in the April-June quarter, down from 7.7 per cent in the previous three months, its government said Monday.

The slower growth rate came in as expected, which analysts said might explain the lack of impact on markets.

Meanwhile, the euro rose to $1.3138 from $1.3064 late in New York on Monday. The dollar fell to 99.37 yen from 99.82 yen.

The price of gold grew to $1,291.50 an ounce from $1,284.75 Monday on the London Bullion Market.

US stocks also turned lower on Tuesday as a strong second-quarter earnings report from Goldman Sachs was offset by a sagging performance from Coca-Cola.

In midday trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.33 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite lost 0.47 per cent.

Asian stock markets mainly closed higher on Tuesday, taking their lead from Wall Street after the Dow and S&P 500 indices closed overnight at record highs for a third straight session despite weak US retail sales figures.

The focus was soon to turn to Bernanke and his testimony on the US economy and monetary policy due on Wednesday and Thursday.

Dealers will be hoping for more clues about the future of the Fed's huge bond-buying scheme.

Bernanke said recently that the US central bank would maintain its growth-oriented policies "for the foreseeable future" but some analysts expect the $US85 billion ($A93.77 billion)-a-month stimulus program to be wound down from the end of the year.

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Court orders relocation of Mandela remains

A SOUTH African court has ordered the return of the remains of three of Nelson Mandela's children to his ancestral village, following a bitter family feud linked to the eventual burial site of the ailing anti-apartheid hero.

A judge in the southern city of Mthatha instructed Mandela's eldest grandson Mandla to transfer the remains to Qunu by 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Wednesday.

Mandla allegedly had the graves moved to Mvezo, about 30 kilometres away, without the rest of the family's consent in 2011.

Mandela, who remains critically ill in what is now his fourth week in hospital, had expressed his wish to be buried in Qunu, and his daughters want to have the children's remains transferred so they can be together.

Mandela's parents are also interred at the family gravesite in Qunu.

Previously the grandson has argued that Mandela should be buried at his birthplace Mvezo, where Mandla holds court as clan chief.

The court order was issued in response to a request by 16 relatives of the revered leader, including two daughters and several grandchildren.

"I now rule that the respondent complies with the order to return the remains by 3:00 pm on Wednesday," said Judge Lusindiso Pakade.

The remains belonged to Mandela's eldest son Thembekile who died in 1969, his nine-month-old infant Makaziwe who passed away in 1948, and Mandla's own father Magkatho who died in 2005.

Mandela has three surviving children, and a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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70-year-old charged over child sex offence

A FORMER member of the Catholic church has been charged over child sex offences from the 1970s and 1980s.

The 70-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in connection with child sex offences allegedly committed on the NSW south coast and in Sydney's west, police say.

He was later charged with with five counts of indecent assault on a male.

Conditional bail was granted and he's due before Penrith Local Court in late July.

A police spokeswoman would not provide details about the man's position within the church.

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US auto sales accelerate in June

US auto sales accelerated in June with General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota posting strong gains as analysts forecast more growth in the months to come.

Toyota led the pack with a 14 per cent gain to 195,235 vehicles in June. Sales for the first half of the year were up six per cent at 1.1 million vehicles.

"The auto industry led the economic recovery through the first half of 2013, kicking off a strong summer selling season, which we expect will carry into the second half of the year," said Bill Fay, general manager of the Japanese automaker's Toyota division.

"Sales in June were solid, and demand didn't skip a beat."

The gains came as Toyota celebrated selling its 10 millionth Camry, which has held the crown for the top-selling car in the Unites States for the past 11 years.

Ford's sales climbed 13 per cent to 235,643 vehicles in its best June performance since 2006. Sales for the first half of the year were also up 13 per cent at 1.3 million vehicles.

"In June, we continued to see strong demand across the entire lineup," said Ken Czubay, Ford's sales chief.

"We're particularly encouraged by strong retail share gains, especially in coastal markets, where the combination of great design and fuel economy is resonating with customers -- including many buying a Ford for the first time."

Chrysler's sales rose eight per cent to 156,686 vehicles in the company's best June in six years. Sales for the first half of the year were up nine per cent at 908,332.

"The fundamentals for continued industry gains in new vehicle sales remain intact," Reid Bigland, Chrysler's sales chief, said in a statement.

GM's sales increased six per cent to 264,843 in June and were up eight per cent for the first half of the year at 1.4 million vehicles.

"We have good momentum heading into the second half of 2013: the economic outlook is solid and our launch vehicles are performing well in the marketplace," GM sales Kurt McNeil said in a statement.

Automotive website Edmunds.com forecast that total industry sales will rise 6.3 per cent in June and come in at an adjusted, annualized rate of 15.5 million vehicles once all automakers have reported.

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