Passengers say Victorian cabs improving

VICTORIANS are happier with the state's cab service than they have been in six years, according to a survey by the taxi directorate.

The questionnaire also showed a marked improvement in customer satisfaction over the past 12 months.

So far, for the financial year 2012/13, customers gave Victorian cabs a 69.5 per cent satisfaction rating, up from 66.6 per cent for the previous financial year and 63.6 for 2009/10.

The Victorian Taxi Directorate Customer Satisfaction Monitor is a quarterly survey of 425 cab users.

Victorian Taxi Association (VTA) Deputy CEO David Samuel attributed the results to an improved booking app, driver codes of conduct and the wider use of GPS.

"Over the past 12 months the taxi industry has been taking the initiative and implementing new ideas that are producing results," Mr Samuel said in a statement.

"It's clear that this is paying off and that customers are receiving a better service."

Customers indicated they were pleased with the level of personal security in cabs, the taxi booking service and the fares and payment system.

They were least pleased with the process of finding a taxi on the street.

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Another Rudd supporter bites the dust

Former government minister Robert McClelland will retire from politics at the next federal election. Source: AAP

TWO supporters of Kevin Rudd are set to end their careers with federal Labor as the government prepares for an election later this year.

Former federal attorney-general Robert McClelland, who has decided not to seek preselection for his Sydney seat of Barton, has joined Senator Trish Crossin in bowing out of federal politics.

"After almost 17 years in federal parliament my decision has not been taken lightly," Mr McClelland said in a statement on Tuesday.

The MP for the southern Sydney seat of Barton was dumped from the frontbench by Prime Minister Julia Gillard after he supported Mr Rudd in a 2012 leadership challenge.

News of his retirement came just hours after the ALP national executive had endorsed Aboriginal Olympian Nova Peris as its top pick on the NT Senate ticket.

That decision ousts Senator Crossin from the winnable spot and follows a "captain's pick" by Ms Gillard last week to install Ms Peris as Labor's first indigenous woman in parliament.

Senator Crossin is disappointed but ruled out standing as an independent after 30 years' membership of the ALP and trade unions.

She said on Tuesday she may have announced her retirement if she had been told earlier she was to be cast aside.

Mr McClelland was attorney-general in Mr Rudd's government but was moved into emergency management when Ms Gillard took over before being dumped.

As a backbencher in June last year, he called for a crackdown on corruption in the union movement, while making references to Ms Gillard's work as a union lawyer in the 1990s.

Speaking on the government's bill in response to the Health Services Union affair, he said under parliamentary privilege: "I never want to see a dollar that a worker gives a union used for any purpose other than the proper purposes of representing that union member's best interests.

"Indeed, I know the prime minister is quite familiar with this area of the law; as lawyers in the mid-1990s, we were involved in a matter representing opposing clients."

His comments allowed the opposition to put more question marks around Ms Gillard's role in the establishment of a slush fund set up by her former boyfriend, union boss Bruce Wilson.

His retirement has sparked renewed speculation he could be replaced by former NSW Labor premier Morris Iemma.

Last year, amid talk Mr Iemma was being promoted as a Labor pre-selection candidate for Barton, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said that if Mr McClelland were to retire he could not think of a better candidate than Mr Iemma.

Despite an 8.1 per cent swing against Labor in 2010, Barton is considered fairly safe.

Mr Iemma isn't the only former NSW premier who's been mentioned as a possible federal candidate. Kristina Keneally's name has also surfaced along with her husband, Botany Bay mayor Ben Keneally.

Mr McClelland did not offer any reasons for his departure.

"I wish my successor all the very best in the important and tremendously satisfying role that lies ahead for him or her and I look forward to continuing to make a contribution to the Australian community in the next stage of my professional career," he said in his statement.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott said the Liberal Party was eager to contest Barton, vowing to campaign with Kogarah mayor Nick Varvaris for the seat.

Ms Gillard said Mr McClelland had served Labor well and been a loyal and faithful MP to his constituents.

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Two critically injured after car crash

A CAR crash at Beerwah, north of Brisbane, has left two people critically injured.

Early investigations suggest two vehicles collided at the intersection of Steve Irwin Way and Beerwah-Kilcoy Road around 1pm.

The 28-year-old female driver of one vehicle sustained life-threatening injuries. Her 28-year-old male passenger suffered severe injuries. Both are being treated in Nambour General Hospital.

The driver of the second vehicle suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.

Investigations into the incident are continuing.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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UK grandmother appeals Bali death sentence

A BRITISH grandmother has filed an appeal against her death sentence by firing squad for smuggling cocaine to Bali.

Lindsay Sandiford, 56, officially submitted a statement to the prison saying she would file an appeal, Denpasar district court registrar Gede Ketut Rantam told AFP on Monday.

"She filed the statement on her own and so far she has not appointed a lawyer," he added.

In a copy of the statement seen by AFP, Sandiford said she was filing an appeal against the decision of the Denpasar district court on January 22, without giving other details.

A detainee at the Kerobokan prison in Denpasar said Sandiford "was stressed and always crying. We understand her feelings so we leave her alone. She sleeps on the mattress and spends her time knitting," said the female Indonesian prisoner, who shares a cell with her.

The appeals process in Indonesia typically takes several years to complete. The last resort is presidential clemency.

Authorities had claimed Sandiford was at the centre of a drugs ring, which had been described as "a huge international syndicate".

She was found guilty of carrying the cocaine into the country in a suitcase, on a flight from Bangkok, but argued that she was coerced and that her children had been threatened.

After Sandiford's arrest three other Britons were detained in connection with the same ring but two of them were cleared of trafficking charges and received light sentences.

A third, Julian Ponder, will be sentenced on Tuesday. He was also cleared of smuggling charges and now faces a lesser charge of drug possession, which is punishable by life imprisonment.

Prosecutors have recommended a seven-year sentence.

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Boeing probe moves on from battery maker

THE joint US and Japanese investigation into the Boeing 787's battery problems has shifted from the battery maker to the manufacturer of a monitoring system.

Japan transport ministry official Shigeru Takano said on Monday the probe into battery maker GS Yuasa was over for now as no evidence was found it was the source of the problems.

Ministry officials said they would inspect Kanto Aircraft Instrument Co on Monday as part of the ongoing investigation. It makes a system that monitors voltage, charging and temperature of the lithium-ion batteries.

All 50 of the Boeing 787s in use around the world are grounded after one of the jets operated by All Nippon Airways made an emergency landing in Japan earlier this month when its main battery overheated. Earlier in January, a battery in a Japan Airlines 787 caught fire while parked at Boston's Logan International Airport.

GS Yuasa shares jumped on the news it was no longer being investigated.

Last week, US federal investigators said the JAL battery that caught fire showed evidence of short-circuiting and a chemical reaction known as "thermal runaway," in which an increase in temperature causes progressively hotter temperatures. It's not clear to investigators which came first, the short-circuiting or the thermal runaway.

Deliveries of the jet dubbed the Dreamliner were three years behind schedule because of manufacturing delays. Much of the aircraft is made by outside manufacturers, many of them major Japanese companies.

It is the first jet to make wide use of lithium-ion batteries, the kind usually found in laptops and other gadgets. They are prone to overheating and require additional systems to avoid fires.

The 787 is the first airliner made mostly from lightweight composite materials that boost fuel efficiency. It also relies on electronic systems rather than hydraulic or mechanical systems to a greater degree than any other airliner.

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Seven die in Turkey soccer landslide

AT least seven people have been killed by a landslide that hit an amateur football game in southeastern Turkey.

Players and spectators were engulfed by mud on Sunday after a retaining wall failed following heavy rain.

Three people were injured and a fourth was missing.

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Top UN team in Yemen to push peace

A UN Security Council delegation has begun a brief visit to Yemen in a clear boost to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi aimed at helping to iron out problems hampering national reconciliation talks.

Thousands, meanwhile, took to the streets on the occasion of the visit on Sunday, demanding an end to the immunity given to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who was eased out of office in February 2012 after three decades of rule following a UN-backed and Gulf-brokered deal.

The Security Council delegation, which includes the head and members of the top body, held talks with Hadi, state television said, adding that the team later went on to meet members of the government.

It termed the visit as "international support for Yemen to push political reconciliation as per the Gulf initiative" which ended Saleh's rule and nearly a year of bloodshed.

The trip comes as Sanaa struggles to organise a national dialogue conference that would result in a new constitution and presidential and parliamentary elections in February 2014, thereby ending the current two-year transition period.

The conference, originally set for mid-November, has been repeatedly delayed as some factions of the Southern Movement, which has campaigned for autonomy or secession for the formerly independent south, have refused to join the talks.

After North and South Yemen unified in 1994, a short-lived secession bid was crushed by Sanaa troops and since then the citizens of the south have complained of discrimination.

The United Nations special envoy Jamal Benomar said the team's visit "reflects the UN Security Council's interest in pushing reconciliation and removing obstacles that are hindering the implementation of the points of the Gulf initiative."

He told state television that the "process is difficult," and urged all Yemeni parties to "realise that there is a historic opportunity and join the national dialogue without preconditions to solve all Yemeni issues, including the question of the south."

On Sunday, demonstrators poured into the streets of Sanaa amid tight security calling for moves to bring Saleh to justice and to "return the funds stolen by the former president and his family," an AFP correspondent reported.

The Youth of the Revolution, a group that was the main engine of the year-long protests, also called for an international probe into violations and crimes committed by Saleh's regime.

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Afghan bombs kill 23 policemen in 24 hours

INSURGENTS killed a total of 23 policemen across Afghanistan within 24 hours, officials said, reflecting the increasing police role in the war before the withdrawal of NATO troops.

Thirteen died in roadside bomb blasts on Sunday, while 10 were killed in a suicide attack.

A powerful bomb killed eight police officers along with three suspected bombers they had detained on the outskirts of the troubled southern city of Kandahar, provincial spokesman Jawed Faisal told AFP.

"Our police had an operation in Pero Qalacha area last night. They detained several suspected insurgents," Faisal said.

"On the way back to the city (centre), their vehicle struck an IED (improvised explosive device). Eight police were killed and three suspects that they had detained during the operation were killed," Faisal said.

Six other officers and one suspect on board a second vehicle were wounded in the blast, he said.

Police spokesman Ghorzang Afridi described the bomb as "very, very powerful", saying it was an artillery shell attached to a detonator and possibly set off remotely.

The officials blamed the bombing on the "armed opposition", a reference to the Taliban who have waged an insurgency against the Western-backed government since being ousted from power by a US-led invasion in late 2001.

Three other policemen were killed in another roadside bombing in neighbouring Helmand on Sunday and two died in a similar attack in Farah in western Afghanistan overnight, police spokesmen said.

The incidents followed a suicide bombing in the northern city of Kunduz on Saturday that killed 10 policemen including two senior officers.

Afghan security forces are increasingly targeted by the Taliban as they take greater responsibility for security before the pullout of US-led NATO combat troops next year.

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Mali crisis to dominate African summit

EFFORTS to end conflict across Africa, especially in Mali, dominated the African Union summit opening on Sunday, with the 54-member bloc's chief saying greater efforts are needed to build peace.

"Much still needs to be done to resolve ongoing, renewed, and new conflict situations in a number of countries," AU Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in her opening speech.

"We cannot overemphasise the need for peace and security -- without peace and security no country or region can expect to achieve prosperity for all its citizens," she told the bi-annual summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The 20th ordinary summit, which continues on Monday, opened with a minute's silence in memory of the late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, who died last year.

The meeting is expected to focus on the war against Islamist militants in northern Mali, including the scaling-up of African troops to support the weak Malian army.

Mali's army, boosted by the recent French military intervention, is battling Islamist insurgents, who seized swathes of Mali's desert north following a coup last year.

Dlamini-Zuma told leaders that the AU "must remain firm on its stance of no unconstitutional change" of leadership and that it must boost its "capacity to defend democratically-elected governments."

Following a security meeting on Friday, the AU resolved to bolster the strength of the African-led force in Mali, or AFISMA, and gave member states one week to commit troops to the mission.

"The force size will have to be significantly augmented," AU peace and security commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told reporters after the security meeting.

Lamamra said AFISMA's strength should be increased "to better respond to the needs on the ground," but declined to give numbers.

The AU will also seek urgent "temporary" logistical support from the United Nations to enable the AFISMA force to "speedily deploy and effectively implement its mandate," according to an AU statement.

The logistical support should include transportation, medicine and field hospitals.

Also high on the summit agenda is the slow progress between the rival leaders of Sudan and South Sudan to implement stalled oil, security and border deals.

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India wheels out new long-range missile

INDIA has wheeled out a new long-range nuclear missile that can hit anywhere in China and warned rival Pakistan not to take its friendship "for granted" as it celebrated its Republic Day with a big parade.

India successfully tested last April the Agni V missile, which has a range of 5000km and can strike across the Chinese mainland and even hit targets as far away as Europe.

The first appearance in Saturday's annual parade of the Agni V - seen as marking a significant upgrade of India's nuclear deterrent - came along with the display of other expensive military hardware.

India's shorter-range Agni I and II were developed with rival Pakistan in mind, while later versions reflect India's focus on China.

India and China have prickly ties and a legacy of mistrust stemming from a brief border war in 1962.

On the eve of Republic Day, marking proclamation of India's constitution in 1947, President Pranab Mukherjee told Pakistan in his annual nationwide televised address that New Delhi's hand of friendship should "not be taken for granted".

His speech came amid a ceasefire which took hold last week in disputed Kashmir after the nations agreed to halt cross-border firing that has threatened to unravel a fragile peace process.

"We believe in peace on the border and are always ready to offer a hand in the hope of friendship... but this hand should not be taken for granted," he said.

Before the ceasefire, Pakistan said three of its soldiers died in firing by Indian troops along a de facto border dividing Kashmir between the two nations.

India, in turn, accused Pakistani troops of killing two of its soldiers, one of whom was beheaded, and the Himalayan region remains on edge.

In his speech, president Mukherjee also said it was time for India to "reset its moral compass" following the gang-rape and murder of a student last month that ignited nationwide demonstrations to press for better safety for women.

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