AIDS conference in Australia to generalize access to treatment

The conference of the International AIDS Society (IAS), which brings together experts from around the world, began on Sunday in Sydney with a call for easier access of the poorest countries to progress in treatment and prevention.

"Science has given us the tools to prevent and treat Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) effectively (...) The fact that we have not yet implemented is a failure for which the international community should be ashamed" , said IAS President, Pedro Cahn, opening the fourth conference of the society.The IAS brings together 11,000 experts from around the world.Just 11,000 are every day people get HIV in the world, despite the great advances in the study and treatment from the onset of the disease 25 years ago, lamented Cahn.IAS President stressed that in poor countries only a third of HIV-positive receive effective treatment. This figure is even lower when it comes to access to condoms or clean needles.The conference will conclude on Wednesday, brings together 5,000 delegates. Meeting is expected to review the new generation of AIDS drugs, which are more effective and have fewer side effects than antiretrovirals.It is also hoped that the meeting ended with the signing of a "Sydney Declaration" to pressure governments and donors to grant to research by 10%. This effort should enhance the efficiency of research programs."We need more resources," stressed the Frenchman Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.Created in 2002 and based in Geneva, the agency receives public and private funds.Kazatchkine also called for the development progress in recent years.In 2001, only some hundreds of thousands of HIV positive have access to antiretrovirals in developing countries. Currently there are 2.2 million.The figure goes far beyond what most of us thought possible, "Kazatchkine welcomed.The U.S. government adviser on AIDS, Anthony Fauci, praised the "progress" made in the treatment of the disease but warned that they only cover a portion of the affected population."Today is attended only by 28% of people who need treatment," lamented the head.Some 40 million people worldwide living with HIV. More than 25 million patients have already died because of disease.

China and Australia signed five cooperation agreements

China and Australia signed Tuesday in Beijing, China's capital,five agreements to strengthen constructive cooperation between both countries.Among the agreements, whose signing was witnessed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Australian counterpart, Julia Gillard,include a ministerial-level joint statement on science andtechnology, three memoranda of understanding on customs, tourism, and creating a forum for trade in services between the twonations, and a document on the financing of the proposed iron oremining in Western Australia Karara.In a meeting with Gillard after the signing ceremony of agreements,Wen said China attaches great importance to relations withAustralia and considers the country an "important partner" ofmutually beneficial cooperation.During his four-day official visit to China, Australian Prime Minister, who arrived in Beijing on Monday, will meet with the president, HuJintao, and assist with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang at theForum for Economic Cooperation and China-Comecial Australia.(Xinhua)

AUSTRALIA: NEW POLICY ON AFGHAN PRISONERS MAY VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL LAW

The policy, recently announced by the Australian Government to transfer to the custody of U.S. forces and Afghan prisoners held in Afghanistan, would violate international law, according to Amnesty International warned today.

On December 14, 2010, the Australian Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, announced an agreement on the management of detainees, according to which prisoners considered "high risk" will be delivered to the U.S., "low risk" will be awarded Afghan forces, and the remainder will be released.

"The transfer of detainees to U.S. and Afghan forces raises a real concern about possible human rights abuses," said Sam Zarifi, director of Asia-Pacific Programme at Amnesty International. "The U.S. continues to detain prisoners without giving them access to fair judicial proceedings. And the Afghan National Directorate of Security, which manages some of the detention is related too often with disturbing allegations of torture and ill treatment. "

Smith's announcement on the new framework formalizes the agreements that have taken place between the three countries from the planned withdrawal of Dutch forces in Uruzgan province on August 1, 2010. Until then, the Dutch troops had been in charge of the detainees captured by the Australian Defence Force.

"This is a setback in their treatment of detainees in Afghanistan," said Sam Zarifi. "Several senior members of NATO, including Dutch forces have established safeguards to ensure that detainees will not be delivered to the United States, and acknowledged the problems related to the National Directorate of Security. With this agreement, Australia seems to want to learn the harsh lessons of the recent past. "

According to the Australian Ministry of Defence, Australia has been captured in Afghanistan from August 1 to more than 300 detainees who are held in a temporary center of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan. Most were later released but 64 were delivered to U.S. or Afghan forces, most of them to Afghan forces.

By delivering detainees to the NDS, where they risk torture or other ill-treatment, Australia would be violating its international obligation to protect people against such treatment. International law forbids the States to deliver detainees to situations where they can run this risk.

Smith said the Australian government has relied on assurances from the Afghan and U.S. governments regarding the proper treatment of detainees, and in "formal arrangements" including, he said, the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross visits field of Australian authorities.

"Diplomatic assurances that, as Australia, support this agreement should be viewed with caution, given the dismal record of U.S. and Afghan governments on the treatment of detainees," said Sam Zarifi. "We need much clearer answers about the nature the 'under management of detainees' announced by the Australian government. "

In June this year, a British High Court imposed strict restrictions on the supply, by British forces of detainees to Afghan institutions, especially those managed by the National Directorate of Security.The court had received reports that detainees had been subjected to a range of abuses such as beatings, electric shock, forced into stress positions and sleep deprivation.

Australia alarm at the highest cyclone in it's history

Australia 300 000 people evacuated coastal cities northeast of the territory at a time when the advance a cyclone with a force similar to that of Hurricane Katrina affects tourism, the sugar industry and coal mining.
Authorities warned that the phenomenon could affect areas within the left hemisphere ruined by the floods last month.
Mines, railroads and coal ports remained closed in the state of Queensland, while the cyclone "Yasi" approached the coast. The cyclone could threatening nearly a third of the sugar harvest State, said an industry official. "This storm is enormous and threaten lives," said Prime Minister of Queensland, Anna Bligh, warning that "Yasi" is strengthening and accelerating in advance from the Coral Sea. Cyclone "Yasi" could generate winds of up to 280 kilometers per hour and heavy rain when it hits the coastal state of Queensland in recent times today, with a force similar to that of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the U.S. city of New Orleans 2005. Over 400 thousand people live in the area where expected to pass the cyclone, which includes cities such as Cairns, Townsville and Mackay. These are in turn the main tourist areas and are home to the Great Barrier Reef. Military helicopters evacuated about 250 patients Cairns hospital. Queensland, which represents about a fifth of the Australian economy and 90% of its coal exports for the manufacture of steel, carries most of a cruel summer, with floods that washed away the coastline last month, leaving about 35 dead.

Australia wants to accelerate the withdrawal of its troops from Afghan soil

        This indication of an early termination of the mission to developAustralian troops on Afghan soil, comes after that in September, thehead of NATO troops and U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, requestedthe dispatch of reinforcements in order to stop the increasing number of Taliban attacks.

       The Australian Defence Minister, John Faulkner, said thegovernment and Australian military leaders discussed how to complete the tasks as soon as his troops met in Afghanistan.

       "I have asked the Australian Army any recommendations on how tomake sure we complete this important and responsible role in an effective manner, but in the shortest possible time, " Faulkner toldthe ABC radio network.
Although Australia is not a NATO member, is one of the biggest allies, with about 1,550 troops deployed, mostly in the central province of Uruzgan, where they work alongside Dutch forces,whose withdrawal is due in August 2010.

Carbon tax protests in western Sydney

ANTI-carbon-tax protesters have voiced their concerns in Sydney's western suburbs, where about 1000 people joined a rally at Blacktown Showgrounds.

The protest was the third of its kind, following last weekend's demonstration in Sydney's Hyde Park and an earlier one in Canberra.

Speakers included Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce, Liberal Party MP Bronwyn Bishop, climate scientist David Archibald and small-business owners.

"It was a small-business focused rally,'' the rally's coordinator, Chris Johnson from the Consumers and Taxpayers Association said.

Senator Joyce was forced to speak via a telephone link because of a knee injury sustained on his farm near Tamworth. The injury required a hospital operation.

Fewer people attended the event than those who showed up at previous ones, but Mr Johnson said he was happy with Saturday's turnout.

"Some people were unable to turn up because they were probably working,'' he said.

Another rally is planned on April 30 at Port Macquarie, the home of the independent MP for Lyne, Rob Oakeshott.
The venue is yet to be decided.

Mr Oakeshott has been criticised for pledging his support for Prime Minister Julia Gillard's planned carbon tax.

"If this carbon tax gets through, it will ruin Australia,'' Mr Johnson said.
 

Brace for more extremes - climate experts warn after Queensland floods and Cyclone Yasi.

A WARMER Australia may face fewer storms like this year's devastating Cyclone Yasi but they could be more intense, extreme weather experts said today.

And Australians need to look beyond the experiences of their own lifetimes when preparing for extreme weather events like floods, fires and cyclones in the future.

Speaking ahead of a climate conference in Cairns, Melbourne University scientist Kevin Walsh said in some cases the public had let down their guard and had been taken by surprise by the intensity of recent weather extremes.

“The public remembers decade to decade trends in tropical cyclone incidents,” Dr Walsh, Associate Professor in Earth Sciences, said.

“Most people who are older remember in the ‘60s and ‘70s when there were lots and then they remember that in the 1990s there were fewer.

“The (thing) we find that is sometimes a bit frustrating is that sometimes folks will take that anecdotal knowledge of the past 10 or 15 years or so and assume that’s what it’s going to be like for the rest of civilization.”

Dr Walsh said warnings about the increasing intensity of storms in a warmer Australia came from latest modelling and that “the most intense ones, when they occur, are likely to be more intense”.

“The difficulty is because there are fewer of them we don’t know whether in a warmer world there will be more of the really intense category 4 and 5 cyclones,” he said.

John McBride from the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research said while scientists know more than ever about climate change they still cannot accurately predict what will happen in any specific place.

Despite this, and other disputes about climate science and model predictions, Dr McBride said some broad trends were obvious.

“Climate shifts and extremes go hand in hand,” he said. “It’s safe to say there will be more heatwaves by virtue of the fact that if the background temperature is higher you will have more days above particular thresholds.”

Drs McBride and Walsh are presenting at Greenhouse 2011, The science of Climate Change conference in Cairns this Friday.

TREASURY has warned the federal government that the river of company tax revenue that has supported the budget for the past eight years is drying up, with payments falling massively short of budget projections.

A Treasury executive minute to Wayne Swan has blamed the strength of the Australian dollar and the run of Reserve Bank rate rises for the shortfall, and says the government should not expect the minerals boom to bring a quick turnaround.

The dollar hit $US1.04 yesterday - the highest level since the currency was floated in 1983 - increasing the pressure on industries such as manufacturing, education and tourism.

The Treasury minute shows company tax revenue will reach only $60.6 billion for this financial year, down from the $63.7bn expected when the government's finances were reviewed last November and 10 per cent short of the $66.5bn revenue forecast in last year's budget.

Treasury said that, although the mining industry had boosted its profits by 59 per cent over the past calendar year, the rest of the economy had not achieved any growth in profits.

Although the minute contained numbers for only this financial year, it has serious consequences for the government's promised return to surplus by 2012-13, and helps explain the need for tough budget cuts."Non-mining sectors have been significantly affected by the strong dollar, tightened financial conditions in the wake of the global financial crisis and the continuing slowdown in household consumption," says the minute, obtained by The Australian.

Before last year's election, the government had been buoyed by the renewed strength of the mining boom, which Treasury forecast would help lift company tax revenue to $80bn next year.

That is now about $20bn, or 33 per cent, ahead of where the company tax receipts for this year are likely to end up. The minute advised the Treasurer he should not expect the mining boom to bring a rapid recovery in company profits and federal tax receipts.

Because the big mine companies are investing heavily in expanding production, they have high levels of eligible tax deductions. "Company tax receipts from the sector will be dampened in the next few years by the substantial increase in capital expenditure," the minute states.

The $3.1bn drop in this year's company tax revenue predates the Queensland floods, which are expected to hit the tax payments from coalmining companies hardest in 2011-12.

Over the past few weeks, the government has been highlighting the threat to the budget from the natural disasters and the need for a tough budget.

"Taking some pain now will ensure that households avoid a lot more pain in the future," Julia Gillard warned last week.

The government has argued that it must stick to the surplus target of 2012-13 because it expects the economy will be growing strongly by then. There would be a risk of inflation if the government did not rein in the deficit.

But the rapid deterioration in the government's revenue since the last budget update just over four months ago underlines the challenge it faces in closing a deficit that now looks likely to surpass the $41.5bn forecast for this year.

The Greens said yesterday they would resist a tough budget to protect average people. Greens leader Bob Brown said he was concerned about the Prime Minister's warning of an austerity budget, and pledged his party would vote against a planned cut in the corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 29 per cent.

When last year's budget was compiled, it was based on an assumed exchange rate of US90c - or 14.5 per cent lower than the rate is now. The 6 per cent jump in the exchange rate in two weeks has taken the markets by surprise, with the rise to yesterday's peak of US104.2c sparked by better-than-expected jobs figures in the US.