Syrian rebels launch counteroffensive

SYRIAN rebels have launched a counteroffensive in the northern city of Aleppo, recapturing a base near its international airport hours after the army had advanced into the area, activists say.

Saturday's fighting came as the main Western-backed opposition group was to begin a two-day meeting in Istanbul to decide whether they will attend a proposed peace conference the US and Russia are trying to convene in Geneva.

The Syrian National Coalition has demanded that President Bashar Assad step down in any transitional Syrian government as a condition for its going to Geneva. Syrian officials say Assad will stay in his post at least until his terms ends in 2014 and that he may run for re-election.

In Cairo, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told reporters upon arrival from Geneva that the UN-Arab League's top envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, will hold a new meeting in early December with concerned parties to decide on a new date and the attendees of the Geneva conference.

Gangs pay blood money to avoid jail

CRIMINALS are making secret "blood money" settlements with victims and their families in a back-channel justice system designed to help them avoid jail.

Adult flu shot left boy brain damaged

A TODDLER taken to the doctor for a child's flu shot was left unable to walk or talk after being given a version of the drug banned for under fives.

"We were saddened and depressed because of the failure of the latest meetings to decide on a date and participants for the conference," Elaraby said, referring to a meeting in Geneva earlier this week that many had hoped would call for holding the talks later this month.

The League had wanted the peace conference to lead to a ceasefire and secure means to deliver humanitarian aid to Syrians, Elaraby added.

In Aleppo, rebels were able to fully recapture the military base of "Brigade 80" after government troops seized parts of it early on Friday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Aleppo Media Centre said.

The main job of "Brigade 80" was to protect the government-held Aleppo International Airport, which has been closed due to fighting for almost a year.

Rebels captured the base in February and now government troops are trying to get it back.

The Observatory said 40 rebels and more than 20 troops were killed in the latest fighting, which began Friday and continued early Saturday.

Syria's state-run news agency SANA said a rocket fired by opposition fighters hit near a health centre in Aleppo's Ashrafieh neighbourhood, killing six children and wounding six others.

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Jetski rider dies after Gold Coast crash

A MAN has died after a jetski crash on a Gold Coast river.

Police say the 22-year-old was riding the jetski on the Coomera River at Paradise Point at about 5.45pm (AEST) on Saturday and initial reports suggest he collided with a small boat.

"The occupants of the boat immediately recovered the man from the river and provided medical assistance before emergency crews arrived," police said in a statement.

He was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

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Four charged with severing US man's penis

FOUR people are accused of torturing a California marijuana dispensary owner with a blowtorch and cutting off his penis in an attempt to force him to reveal where he had buried piles of cash in the desert.

Ryan Anthony Kevorkian, 34, and his wife Naomi Josette Kevorkian, 33, were arrested on Friday in Fresno, a day after the FBI arrested 34-year-old Hossein Nayeri in Prague in the Czech Republic.

Another man, Kyle Shirakawa Handley, 34, was arrested in October 2012.

The four have been charged with kidnapping for ransom, aggravated mayhem, torture, burglary and a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.

Prosecutors said the victim was a prosperous medical marijuana dispensary owner who took some of his pot suppliers - including Handley - to Las Vegas last year for an extravagant weekend.

Authorities allege that after the trip, Handley told some friends that the dispensary owner was extremely wealthy and they came up with a plan to kidnap and rob him.

Gangs pay blood money to avoid jail

CRIMINALS are making secret "blood money" settlements with victims and their families in a back-channel justice system designed to help them avoid jail.

Adult flu shot left boy brain damaged

A TODDLER taken to the doctor for a child's flu shot was left unable to walk or talk after being given a version of the drug banned for under fives.

Orange County authorities contend that on October 2, 2012, Handley, Nayeri and Ryan Kevorkian went to the man's Newport Beach home, stole cash, bound and beat him and kidnapped him along with his room-mate's girlfriend, then drove them out to a desert spot in a van.

Throughout the drive, they allegedly burned the dispensary owner with a blowtorch.

At the spot where the men believed the victim had hidden money, they cut off his penis, poured bleach on him in an effort to destroy any DNA evidence and dumped him and the woman on the side of the road, authorities allege.

It is alleged the three men then drove away with the penis so it couldn't be reattached.

The man survived his injuries.

Handley pleaded not guilty to the charges last month.

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Strangers to pay respects to war hero

HUNDREDS of people are expected to attend the funeral of a British war veteran they never knew after it emerged he died with no close friends or relatives.

Harold Jellicoe Percival helped with the famous Dambusters raids during the Second World War.

He died last month aged 99 in a nursing home in the UK but had lived much of his life in Australia.

Poignantly for the ex-military man, his funeral service will be held at 11am on Armistice Day on Monday.

But Percival never married, had no children and has no close family members able to attend the service.

Those involved in organising the funeral say they have been contacted by veterans' groups and other military supporters keen to acknowledge Percival's career.

Funeral director Edmund Jacobs said: "We're hoping a few faces will turn up and show their support for a war hero.

Gangs pay blood money to avoid jail

CRIMINALS are making secret "blood money" settlements with victims and their families in a back-channel justice system designed to help them avoid jail.

Adult flu shot left boy brain damaged

A TODDLER taken to the doctor for a child's flu shot was left unable to walk or talk after being given a version of the drug banned for under fives.

"It doesn't sit well with me that somebody who has served their country can be forgotten about, that his service can go un-noted.

"I am sure he would have had a few stories to tell."

Mr Percival was one of four siblings but lived a "nomadic lifestyle" after leaving the RAF at the end of the war.

His nephew, David Worsell, said: "He was a private man, he worked in Australia for a number of years as a decorator and would visit England for holidays.

"He travelled around England with only his backpack.

"He didn't have a postal address, he just used to get everything sent to my mother's address and would go through it when they met up."

Percival was based in the north west of England and became part of the ground crew which helped with the Dambusters, the squadron which was initially formed to destroy dams in the Ruhr valley in Nazi Germany.

After working in Australia, he later retired to England.

He was a distant relative of former British prime minister Spencer Perceval, who was shot dead by a bankrupt broker, John Bellingham, as he entered the House of Commons, in 1812.

"My uncle would be very surprised at the attention this seems to have received and the number of people wanting to attend," Worsell said.

"What with him being a very private person, forming long-term relationships didn't seem to be part of his make-up.

"He didn't really speak about his military career but he perhaps wished he didn't leave the RAF at the end of the war.

"But he was a free spirit."

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Young Aussies are most stressed out: study

AUSTRALIAN employees are suffering high levels of stress, a survey reveals.

That's not surprising. Australians overall report declining wellbeing and increasing stress, according to a state-of-the-nation survey commissioned by the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

They also have more depression and anxiety symptoms than those revealed in the 2011 and 2012 surveys.

Younger people are the most stressed and people older than 66 are coping the best, according to the online survey of 1548 people, 999 of whom are employed.

Workplace issues include a lack of feedback, unclear expectations and not feeling valued.

Employees report significantly lower levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of interest in their job compared with previous years.

Gangs pay blood money to avoid jail

CRIMINALS are making secret "blood money" settlements with victims and their families in a back-channel justice system designed to help them avoid jail.

Adult flu shot left boy brain damaged

A TODDLER taken to the doctor for a child's flu shot was left unable to walk or talk after being given a version of the drug banned for under fives.

While most employees feel physical injuries are taken seriously, only 50 per cent feel supported with mental health issues, according to the survey, released to coincide with national psychology week.

Women feel more supported by their managers than men.

This could be because men do not seek support and try to cope on their own, APS executive director Professor Lyn Littlefield says.

"Feedback should be regular and should be both formal and informal. Not just once a year at a performance review," she said.

Prof Littlefield says temporary stress can be a useful motivator, but when stress reaches a certain level it becomes problematic and people become dysfunctional.

If it continues too long it can lead to depression and anxiety.

Stress-management techniques and making changes to things that are within a person's control can help, Prof Littlefield says.

The worst thing to do is to attempt to manage it with alcohol or drugs.

"People do try to self medicate, but that does not ever solve the problem," she said.

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Chess world championship starts

DEFENDING champion Viswanathan Anand has held Norwegian challenger Magnus Carlsen to a quick draw with the black pieces in the first game of their chess world championship match.

Playing in Chennai on Saturday close to where Anand was born, the 43-year-old Indian grandmaster forced Carlsen to repeat a position by chasing his opponent's queen back and forth with a knight, leading to an automatic draw after just 16 moves.

That gives Anand a slight early advantage, as he now gets the white pieces in six of the remaining 11 games.

The 22-year-old Carlsen is the biggest star in chess and the game's top-ranked player, but this is his first world championship match. Anand has held the world title since 2007 and has defended it against three previous opponents.

Gangs pay blood money to avoid jail

CRIMINALS are making secret "blood money" settlements with victims and their families in a back-channel justice system designed to help them avoid jail.

Adult flu shot left boy brain damaged

A TODDLER taken to the doctor for a child's flu shot was left unable to walk or talk after being given a version of the drug banned for under fives.

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Germans commemorate Kristallnacht

GERMANS across the country have commemorated the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht - the night of broken glass - during which the Nazis staged a wave of attacks on Jews in Germany and Austria.

On November 9, 1938, hundreds of synagogues were burned, numerous homes and Jewish-owned stores were ransacked, some 1000 people were killed and more than 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps.

The attacks marked the beginning of the state-organised, violent persecution of Jews which ended in the murder of six million European Jews by the end of the Third Reich in 1945.

Germans in many cities and towns held candle-light vigils, listened to Jewish survivors share memories and met at Jewish cemeteries to remember the victims of Kristallnacht during Saturday's commemorations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the night of broken glass "was an event that humiliated Jews in an unbelievable way ... a real low point in German history had been reached."

Gangs pay blood money to avoid jail

CRIMINALS are making secret "blood money" settlements with victims and their families in a back-channel justice system designed to help them avoid jail.

Adult flu shot left boy brain damaged

A TODDLER taken to the doctor for a child's flu shot was left unable to walk or talk after being given a version of the drug banned for under fives.

She added, "Unfortunately, later on German history developed in an even more dramatic way which eventually ended in the Shoah" - or Holocaust. The chancellor also called on Germans to never forget the past.

Across Berlin, guided groups of residents walked through their neighbourhoods, noting sites where Jewish stores, schools and other locations once stood before being destroyed by the Nazis and their supporters.

Several Berliners came together to polish some of the city's 5000 Stolpersteine, or stumbling blocks, which identify by name individual victims of Nazis in front of their former homes.

The cobblestone-sized brass plaques are inserted on sidewalks and called stumbling blocks because one unexpectedly trips over them -figuratively speaking - while strolling through the city.

"We have organised 16 groups who are out today cleaning the stumbling blocks and we are hoping to turn this into an annual event in the future," said the coordinator of the tours, Silvija Kavcic.

Despite the many positive activities, some speakers sounded a note of caution, reminding their listeners that anti-Semitism is still a problem in Europe.

A poll of European Jews released on Friday found that more than three-quarters of those questioned believe anti-Semitism is surging in their home countries and close to one-third have considered emigrating because they don't feel safe.

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Colombia club shooting leaves 8 dead

• From: AAP
• November 10, 2013 3:50AM

EIGHT people have been killed and six injured after a man entered a nightclub in the Colombian city of Cali and opened fire, police say.

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