RUDD'S NEW TERROR TRAP

by MICHELLE GRATTAN AND DANIEL FLITTON

AUSTRALIA will target people from 10 countries for stringent new visa checks in a push to prevent terrorists getting through the security net.

Visa applicants from countries identified as high-risk will soon have to submit to fingerprinting and facial imaging, known as biometric checking.

The move will be announced today by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when he releases the government's white paper on counter-terrorism.

The paper warns that since 2004 there has been an increase in the threat from home-grown terrorists - people born or raised in Australia who have been influenced by violent jihadist messages from overseas.

Its assessment is that terrorism has emerged as a persistent and permanent feature of Australia's security environment. The main threat comes from a global jihadist movement, including al-Qaeda and those inspired by a similar world view.

The government will spend $69 million over four years to bring in biometric checks for visa applications from high-risk countries. The program is being undertaken in collaboration with Britain, which already has an extensive screening system.

The 10 locations have been selected but will not be immediately disclosed, to try to stop people slipping through the net before the system is in place. The nations will be announced over the next year.

The profiling of countries risks upsetting some by singling them out while leaving out borderline cases.

The government says the new system will make it easier for immigration authorities to detect people trying to hide their identity, and will lessen the danger of terrorists entering Australia undetected. Biometric data on visa applicants will be matched against data about terrorists, criminals and other ''people of concern'' held by Australia and its foreign partners.

The biometric checks come after the government recently announced $200 million to strengthen aviation security, and amid heightened terrorism concerns in Western countries following the attempt by a Nigerian man with explosive powder in his underwear to bring down a commercial flight in the US on Christmas Day.

In January, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown singled out Yemen, Somalia and the Sahel - areas from Eritrea across Africa to Nigeria - as regions vulnerable to terrorist influence. The US has also increased airport checks, with all citizens from Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen subjected to a pat-down search and extra baggage checks before boarding US-bound planes.

People from nations deemed by the US to be state sponsors of terrorism - Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria - are also singled out.

Indonesia is not singled out by either the US or Britain, and Australia is likely to follow suit, given its close ties on counter-terrorism with Jakarta.

But Somalia is of special concern to Australian counter-terrorism agencies after four men were arrested in Melbourne in August for allegedly planning an attack on a Sydney army barracks.
ASIO's annual report last year warned that small numbers of Australians continued to look to overseas conflicts for inspiration and to learn tactics and techniques used by extremists.
Links to terrorist outfits in Pakistan are another big focus, with al-Qaeda's leaders thought to be hiding in the lawless tribal lands along the border with Afghanistan.

The white paper says there have been counter-terrorism successes since 2004, including pressure on al-Qaeda leaders and action against terrorists in South-East Asia. But these have been offset by the rise of groups, such as in Somalia and Yemen, inspired by al-Qaeda.
The paper cites the July 2005 London bombings as a turning point in locally generated attacks in Western democracies.

Five men sentenced in Sydney this month for up to 28 years for terrorist-related crimes included Australian-born and naturalised citizens.


http://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/news/national/national/general/rudds-new-terror-trap/1758252.aspx?storypage=0

Only renewable energy for Adelaide in 40 years
By Brett Williamson

A fully sustainable and 100 per cent renewable energy source for Adelaide within four decades, that is the hope of Dr Harry Lehmann, a visiting energy expert.

Dr Lehmann, head of Environment Planning and Sustainable Strategies for the Federal Environment Agency of Germany is visiting Adelaide this week as a guest of the Australian Solar Energy Society and UniSA, hosting lectures and speaking with community leaders about how our city could turn off the coal fired power stations and move completely to renewable energy.
"With the right types of demand and supply management, it is possible to achieve a fully renewable energy supply," Dr Lehmann said.

"Not today clearly, we will need time to ... build up not only wind energy but the other renewable energies."

By utilising storage systems and managing supplies, Dr Lehmann believes the Adelaide could be self-sufficient on renewable energy sources, with the country eventually becoming a power exporter.

"You have much more potential; you have much more renewable energy than we [have] in Europe."

Dr Lehmann believes SA will strive forward in the areas of wind, solar and geo-thermal production, and will be able to make strong inroads into cutting power consumption by utilising solar heating and cooling, and wave energy.

To be a strong user of renewable energy, Dr Lehmann says we need to quickly become an industry producer of the technology that is used to convert the resources into power.
"This industry that produces the technology is a start up industry which, in future, will have a much higher importance than the automotive industry.

"In Germany, for example, we have already over 300,000 people working in the renewable energy industry, more or less half of that linked to export technology."

By increasing our current renewable energy production and investing in other types of production and storage, Dr Lehmann believes we could accomplish a fully renewable power supply within 40 years.

"I'm very optimistic that I will see the first 100 per cent renewable energy region in the next decade in Europe, in communities, and then it will grow and probably South Australia and Australia will be in the game of being 100 percent in three or four decades."

Dr Lehmann will speak at the Structure and Dynamic of a 100 percent Renewable Energy Supply for South Australia conference at the University of South Australia City campus from 7:30pm, Thursday 18 February 2010.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/02/17/2822625.htm

Miss this kids very much...Husna,Nani,Humaira & Nina...
Spent the 2 months holiday with them such a meaningful time to me..their crying, coquettish and 'naughty' make me happy even so tired....next holiday we meet again k...:)

Hi....

Hi everyone..
I' back to start blogging again after a long time didn't open my blog <>...
WeLc0Me BaCK.!!!!

AUSTRALIAN....

AUSTRALIAN....

From the movie 'Australian' that I had watched, the character that I like the most is Lady Ashley or normally known as Mrs. Boss. This character was played by Nicole Kidman.

Sarah Ashley is a beautiful lady. She travels from the Great Britain to Australia to meet her husband, Maitland Ashley in northern Australia. the husband's drover comes to the city of Darwin to bring Sarah to their farm, however, when they reach Faraway Downs Farm, they find that Maitland was murdered. Sarah befriends Nullah, who tells her that the administrator Neil Fletcher is stealing her cattle, has killed her husband, and is working for the cattle baron, King Carney. Sarah fires Flether and his men and together with Drover, Nullah and a group of loyal employees, they ride together to take the cattle to supply the army and win a tender in times of war. But the ambitious Fletcher has other intentions and uses Nullah to press Sarah.

Sarah Ashley is a very nice character. She is a loving and caring person. She willing to take care of Nullah after his mother dead. Eventhought Nullah is a black kid, which is at that time, there was a discriminant against the skin colour, but Sarah just ignored it because of her sympathy towards Nullah. She does everything to make Nullah happy and always cheer up after his mother dead. She sang a song to Nullah went Nullah ask her eventhought she do not know how to sing. When Nullah and some other boys were send to the Mission Island, she was the most person that worried about that. All this situations clearly showed that Lady Sarah is a loving and caring person.

Beside that, Sarah also a strong lady. Even her husband was murdered, she does not give up easily and she try to fulfill her husband mission which is wanted to bring all the cattles from the Faraway Downs. On their way to send all the cattles, they faced such a big problem. Fletcher and his workers were trying to kill all the cattles but fortunately they manage to safe all the cattles. Besides, one of her loyal worker was killed when trying to gather again all the cattles. But all this problems does not effect her instead she still with her planned; bring all teh cattles out of Faraway Downs.

She also a brave and determinant person. Even she is only a lady, but it is not an excuse to her for not to take the cattles from the Faraway Downs. At first, Drover refused to help her but her willingness to learn and her determinant to take the cattle from the Faraway Downs finally had changed the Drover's perspective and he finally helped Sarah.

Based on the above reasons, I choose Lady Sarah as my favourite character in this wondeful movie...