Farmers in shock over banana disease scare

There are fears a fungal disease detected in a Queensland banana farm could decimate the industry. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND'S banana farmers always knew it was possible a devastating fungal disease could emerge in the state.

AND now it looks like it has, they're praying it doesn't spread.

Australian Banana Growers' Council chairman Doug Phillips has worked his banana farm near South Johnstone for 13 years.His 16-hectare property is about a 40-minute drive south of a plantation near Tully which was quarantined on Wednesday after the Panama TR4 fungal disease was detected.It's the first time it has been found in Queensland, having wrought havoc on the Northern Territory's industry after breaking out there in 1997.Mr Phillips says Queensland growers have always hoped the disease wouldn't reach the Sunshine State."We always knew it was a possibility, but you never quite think it's going to happen," he said."We need to get on top of this as soon as possible."The spread of the disease would be the worst-case scenario for the industry, he warned.The suspected case is on the Cassowary Coast - an area considered to be the heart of the banana growing industry.In all, the far north produces about 95 per cent of the country's bananas, is worth about $570 million and employs thousands.Biosecurity Queensland says it's too early to say how the disease got into the state and the results of final tests won't be ready for up to two weeks.Until then, Mr Phillips is urging farmers to take prevention into their own hands.The best way to do this is to limit access to their properties, given the disease is carried through water and soil, he says.Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne and Biosecurity Queensland have defended their response to the scare after reports the quarantined property's farmer raised concerns about his plants weeks ago.The department says it acted as quickly as possible after he notified the growers' council about potentially diseased plants on February 10.A biosecurity spokesman said testing for bacteria and fungi could take a number of weeks and involved growing tissue cultures, adding there were no symptoms consistent with the disease.PANAMA TROPICAL RACE 4 DISEASE* One of the world's worst banana plant diseases, caused by a fungus* TR4 is the worst strain and affects all banana plant varieties, including Australia's major banana variety, Cavendish* It kills banana plants by destroying the plants' vascular tissue* It doesn't affect fruit and bananas are still safe to handle and eat* TR4 is in the Northern Territory where it has significantly impacted the industry.Source: Australian Banana Growers' Council

23.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

More Abbott leadership speculation: report

LESS than three weeks after Prime Minister Tony Abbott survived a party room vote, leadership tensions at the top of the government have emerged yet again.

THE Seven Network and the ABC have reported that Malcolm Turnbull has been told he has the numbers to topple Abbott.

But a government insider and Abbott supporter says Mr Turnbull just doesn't have the numbers.He said this latest leadership speculation was down to the same few disaffected MPs as last time trying to beat up support for Mr Turnbull."The vast majority of people know we can't win the election with Malcolm as leader, because with Malcolm as leader we would lose a chunk of our base and no party has ever won an election without its base," he told AAP.This follows the unsuccessful leadership spill on February 9 when Liberal MPs voted 61-39 to defeat a motion to declare leadership positions vacant.That was without a challenger to Mr Abbott.Mr Turnbull, regarded as the most likely leadership contender, didn't stand or even indicate where he stood on the leadership.The vote did show that internal disaffection - stoked by poor polls and the rout of Queensland's LNP government at their state election - was substantially greater than even many government insiders realised.An immediate casualty was chief whip Philip Ruddock, regarded as having an insufficient grasp of party thinking. He was dumped in favour of Queenslander Scott Buchholz.Assistant infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs said nothing had changed."The issue was raised in the party room a few weeks ago. The issue was resolved and the government is getting on doing its job," he told Sky News.Liberal backbencher Rowan Ramsey said MPs were falling in behind Mr Abbott."We've had that day in the party room. Not everybody's happy all the time but that's life," he told the ABC.Liberal MP Russell Broadbent said Mr Abbott had been given some time, although there was no deadline."He's on a test at all times - so every prime minister is," he told the ABC.Mr Turnbull declined to fuel the latest speculation."I'm a member of parliament so I talk to my colleagues all the time," he told reporters."Really.....I'll leave you guys to speculate about all that stuff."

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Aust plays part in comet rendezvous

IN the fields of human achievement, landing a washing machine sized probe onto a speeding comet millions of kilometres from earth must rank up there with man's first steps on the moon.

THE stunning rendezvous occurred late last year when the Rosetta orbiter released its Philae lander to touch down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko half a billion kilometres from earth - and Australia played its part.

Dr Paolo Ferri, head of mission operations for the European Space Agency, said aspects of this mission had never been encountered before and were extremely challenging."What I found most difficult of this mission was the rendezvous and flying around the comet. It has very little to do with normal space flight," he said.Dr Ferri, in Australia to deliver a presentation on the Rosetta mission, said ESA operated the small Gnangara antenna outside Perth which tracked initial progress of Rosetta following launch from French Guyana, South America, in 2004.Subsequently the larger deep space tracking station at New Norcia, north of Perth, tracked Rosetta to the comet.Rosetta's probe Philae landed on the comet surface but failed to anchor properly.It now lies on an angle in the shadow of a cliff or crater wall, its battery depleted. Scientists hope to revive Philae next month as the comet approaches the sun and extra light falls on its solar panels.The mission produced the first images from the surface of a comet plus a huge amount of scientific data on comet composition.The US journal Science billed this as the top scientific achievement for 2014.Australia is a significant user of space services, launching satellites through both ESA and NASA.But once Australia hosted space facilities and even launched a satellite in 1967, the third nation on earth to launch a satellite from its own territory.Now the federal government has commissioned another report into the future of Australia's space industry.That will be completed by the end of October, assessing what Australia is doing in terms of civil space-related technology.Dr Ferri said the future of space was in international co-operation and an increasing role could only be good for Australia."Globally I think it makes a lot of sense not to replicate capabilities everywhere," he said."Co-operating in space is a vehicle for many things which are not strictly related to space - science, technology, development, outreach and education. - it's inspirational."

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Tribute at UK parliament to French victims

HUNDREDS of British MPs, peers, parliamentary staff and journalists have gathered in Westminster Hall in London for a two minute silence in memory of the 12 people killed in the Paris terror attack.

SPEAKER John Bercow led the vigil as the Big Ben bells tolled twelve noon over the Parliamentary estate and as the event ended said: "Colleagues, thank you for supporting the people of France."

Politicians from all sides united to hold pens in the air and with many holding banners reading "Je suis Charlie".Debates continued in both the Commons and Lords during the silence but those not speaking flooded to Westminster Hall.Labour MP Chris Bryant announced the event in the Commons and afterwards said: "It's a delight to see politicians from the Lords and the Commons, staff, police officers, everybody, standing still to commemorate the people who died in France yesterday."Frankly, that solidarity extends not just to the journalists and the police officers killed in France but also to journalists everywhere where freedom of the press is not enjoyed."Among the politicians taking part were Commons leader William Hague and Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman.

23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Early weight gain 'ups asthma risk'

BABIES who rapidly gain weight in the first three months of life are more likely to develop asthma, a study has found.

RESEARCHERS at the University of Bristol analysed information on height, weight and asthma symptoms in almost 10,000 people from birth to age 17.

They found rapid weight gain from birth to age three months was consistently associated with asthma in eight and 17-year-olds.It was also linked with lower lung function and increased responsiveness of the airways, which are both signs of asthma.In contrast, fast weight gain in children aged between three and seven years was associated with higher lung function at 15 years old.Asthma is one of the world's most common chronic diseases in childhood, affecting 1.1 million children and 4.3 million adults in the UK.Britain has some of the highest asthma rates in Europe, with three people dying from the condition each day, according to Asthma UK.Dr Agnes Sonnenschein-van der Voort, lead researcher on the study, said: "It is clear from our research that there is a connection between babies gaining weight quickly in the first three months of life and the risk of them developing asthma later on."We are not sure exactly what causes this, but it may be that rapid weight gain leads to abnormal development of the lungs or the immune system. Further studies will be required to confirm these findings."We would recommend that GPs check a child's personal growth curve if they come to them with asthma-related symptoms and take this into account in their decision to start medication."The research, which used data from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol, analysed records for 9723 people.Current asthma was reported for 13.9 per cent of those aged eight, 13.2 per cent at age 14 and 15.3 per cent at age 17.Many factors are associated with an increased risk of asthma but the cause of the condition is still not known.It is now widely accepted that events in early childhood could be critical for asthma development, with rate of foetal growth and low birth weight both associated with the condition.The study is published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

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Japanese whalers return, without harpoons

JAPANESE whalers are heading back to the Antarctic Ocean to carry out non-lethal research on whales after a UN court decision.

TWO Japanese whaling ships without harpoons left from Shimonoseki port in western Japan, and their research will not involve hunting whales, the Fisheries Agency said on Thursday.

Japan gave up what it said was "research whaling" this season after the International Court of Justice in The Hague halted the much-criticised program in March, ruling that it contravenes a 1986 moratorium on whale hunting.Tokyo has vowed to resume "research whaling" in the next financial year, starting in April, and submitted to the International Whaling Commission a revised plan that cuts the target number of minke whales for hunting by two-thirds from the previous target to 333.In 1987, Japan officially halted commercial whaling.However, since then the country has conducted "research whaling" under what critics say is a loophole in the IWC charter.

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Freed Pakistan blasphemy-accused killed

A 52-YEAR-OLD Muslim man arrested for blasphemy in Pakistan has been killed by gunmen after being released from jail, police say.

POLICE officer Mohammad Ayub said on Thursday that the bullet-riddled body of Aabid Mehmood was found the day before in Taxila, a town about 40 kilometres from the capital Islamabad.

He said Mehmood was arrested in 2011 after claiming to be Islam's prophet, but authorities freed him recently after concluding that he was not mentally stable.Ayub said relatives of the man buried him at the courtyard of his home after residents objected to his burial at a local graveyard.Under Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws, anyone convicted of insulting Islam or the Prophet Muhammad can be sentenced to death.However, people often take the law into their own hands.

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Suicide attack kills 7 in Iraq

A SUICIDE bomber targeting a police checkpoint south of Baghdad has killed seven people, Iraqi officials say.

POLICE officials said the bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the town of Youssifiyah on Thursday, killing three police and four civilians, and wounding another 21 people.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures.All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to journalists.Iraq has near-daily bombings and other attacks targeting the Shi'ite majority and security forces.

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Pakistan cricket legend Khan marries

PAKISTAN'S legendary cricket star and politician, Imran Khan, has tied the knot, ending weeks of speculation about whether one of the country's most famous bachelors was getting married for a second time.

KHAN married Reham Khan, a former BBC journalist who now hosts a talk show on Pakistani television, during a ceremony on Thursday at his house on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad. Party officials said it was a simple ceremony.

"We hope that this marriage will be successful, and it will be a good omen for the nation," said Naeemul Haq, a senior official with Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party.Khan, who led Pakistan to the World Cup in 1992, was previously married to British socialite Jemima Khan and has two sons.His new wife reportedly has three kids from a previous marriage. Khan's PTI is the third largest party in the parliament, and he has been one of the most vocal opponents to the current government.Pakistan has been abuzz for weeks about the remarriage and in a press conference earlier this week, Khan promised to share some good news with the country. His former wife, Jemima, with whom he had an amicable divorce, said on Twitter that she hoped Imran would be happy in the new phase of his life.Pakistani television showed photos of the couple in formal Pakistani wedding attire. Imran wore a gold-colored achkan, a knee-length coat for formal occasions, and white pants, called salwar. His bride wore a more elaborate, silver-colored wedding outfit.Little is known about their romance, although Reham Khan has interviewed the politician on her talk show. The two are not related, and Khan is a common family name in the country.Weddings in Pakistan are often elaborate affairs but PTI officials said only close friends and relatives were invited to the ceremony and that instead of a reception, food and clothes would be distributed to poor families.Even so, some opposition politicians slammed Khan for getting married at a time when the nation is still mourning last month's Taliban massacre at a Peshawar school.

23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine in 'punitive' war against rebels

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has branded Ukraine's attempt to crush a Moscow-backed separatist uprising in the east of the country a "punitive operation" and said Russia was fighting for its right to exist.

"IT is indeed a punitive operation. But it is being conducted by the current Kiev authorities," Putin told his annual end-of-the-year news conference, side-stepping a question from a Ukrainian journalist.

The reporter from Ukraine's UNIAN news agency stole the limelight at the news conference, accusing Putin of conducting a punitive operation in the east of Ukraine.The reporter also asked how many regular troops the Russian president had sent in to prop up the separatist insurgency there and what would he say to families of those sent to Ukraine.Putin conspicuously chose not to reply to the Ukrainian journalist's question on Russian regular troops, simply saying:"All people who perform their duty following the call of the heart or participate in the fighting voluntarily including in the southeast of Ukraine are not mercenaries because they are not getting any more for it."The Russian strongman also ratcheted up his anti-Western rhetoric, accusing Moscow's partners of treating other countries like their underlings."Our (Western) partners have not stopped. They decided that they are winners, they are an empire now and the rest are vassals and they have to be driven into a corner," Putin said, referring to raging tensions with the West over Ukraine.He accused the West of wanting to tame the legendary Russian bear, saying the real goal was not to punish Moscow for seizing Crimea from Ukraine in March, but to neutralise the country's independence."As soon as they have torn out its claws and teeth, then the bear won't be needed at all - they will make a stuffed dummy out of it."This is not about Crimea, the thing is that we are protecting our independence, its sovereignty and its right to exist."

23.09 | 0 komentar | Read More