Police charge would-be carjacker

A MAN who allegedly tried to carjack a BMW in central Sydney before hitting a bouncer outside a bar has been charged.

In the early hours of Saturday the 39-year-old allegedly pushed the driver of a BMW, parked on the corner of Sussex and Slips streets, into the passenger seat and tried to start the car, police say.

Security guards from a nearby hotel pulled the would-be carjacker from the BMW but he ran off to a bar on Lime Street.

Leaving the venue, the man allegedly assaulted a bouncer in what police say was an "unprovoked attack."

He tried to run again but was chased by doorman's colleagues, caught and restrained.

Police took the man, who had suffered a head injury, to St Vincent's Hospital.

He was released on Saturday afternoon and charged with carjacking, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.

Bail was granted and he's due before Central Local Court on Monday.

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Honduran candidate calls for protest

Honduras' opposition leader says she will refuse to recognise the results of the country's election. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION candidate Xiomara Castro has announced that she won't recognise the result of Honduras' presidential election because of alleged voter fraud and called on her supporters to protest the win by the ruling party candidate.

Castro, whose husband Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a 2009 coup, told a news conference that she would demand a vote-by-vote recount of Sunday's balloting, which she described as "a disgusting monstrosity that has robbed me of the presidency."

Honduras' electoral court declared conservative Juan Orlando Hernandez the winner. The court says he received 36.5 per cent of the votes compared to 28.8 per cent for Castro, with 93 per cent of the votes counted. Six other candidates shared the remaining votes.

Claiming her campaign had found "innumerable examples" of voting irregularities, Castro said "we are not going to accept the results released by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and we will not recognise the legitimacy of the government that is the product of this shameful assault."

Castro, 54, presented what she described as evidence of fraud and provided a document detailing alleged irregularities. She called on her supporters to hold massive and peaceful street protests against the result.

Castro led for months in the polls until Hernandez, 45, erased her lead by presenting himself as the law and order candidate in an impoverished country with the world's highest homicide rate and much of the cocaine travelling from South America to the US.

The European Union and the Organisation of American States observer missions have released reports calling Honduras' election process transparent despite some irregularities.

The electoral court has acknowledged that there were delays in the vote count because 20 per cent of the vote tallies from the polling stations couldn't be fed into the scanner and needed to be counted by hand. Former President Zelaya said Wednesday that the fraud occurred in that 20 per cent.

But Jose Antonio de Gabriel, deputy head of the European Union's team of election observers, said the irregular votes came from all over the country and not from areas that heavily favoured Castro.

The US State Department issued a statement after the election congratulating "the people of Honduras for their strong participation" in the vote.

"We note that Organisation of American States and European Union electoral observation mission reports reflect a transparent process," it said earlier in the week.

Castro's campaign was considered an attempt at a political comeback by Zelaya, whose ouster left Honduras politically unstable. Poverty and violence have worsened over the last four years under outgoing President Porfirio Lobo.

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Peaches sorry for tweeting names

PEACHES Geldof has taken to Twitter to apologise for tweeting the names of the two mothers whose babies were involved in abuse by disgraced British rock star Ian Watkins.

The daughter of Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof posted a series of tweets on Friday morning explaining that she had assumed the names were already "public knowledge".

Her comments come after UK detectives confirmed on Thursday night that they were investigating reports of what she had done and were in talks with prosecutors.

"I deleted my tweets, however, and apologise for any offence caused as at the time of tweeting had only seen everyone tweeting the names at me so had assumed as they were also up on news websites and the crown courts public file that they had been released for public knowledge," she explained.

"Will check my facts before tweeting next time. Apologies and lesson learned."

The celebrity posted the names of the two women on Twitter after reportedly reading them on a US-based website.

Lostprophets singer Watkins was branded a "determined and committed paedophile" after he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a string of sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby.

The 36-year-old Welshman plotted the abuse with the two mothers in a series of text and internet messages.

Geldof on Friday gave a full account of how she came to tweet the names of the two mothers involved.

"For all of those out there tweeting me about naming the paedophile mothers involved in the Ian Watkins case, the names have been in the public domain since December 12th when the court named them and put them up on their website for all to see," she begins by explaining.

"Half of Twitter had tweeted out the names also aside from my (now deleted) tweet.

"The babies will most probably be given new identities to protect them from future abuse from other paedos who know who they are / their names from the videos Watkins uploaded to paedo websites.

"The question of whether or not to give anonymity to criminals in cases like this will go on forever. However these women and Watkins will be getting three meals a day, a double bed, cable TV etc all funded by the tax payer alongside not being named apparently. It makes me sad."

She then moves on to explain that she had deleted her postings and apologises "for any offence caused".

Geldof, 24, has more than 160,000 followers on Twitter, and has worked as a journalist, writing columns for the Daily Telegraph and Elle Girl, and articles for the Guardian.

Police on Thursday said they were "currently in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the matter and will take action if appropriate".

A spokeswoman for the attorney-general's office said it was aware of the online posting and the fact that it had been deleted.

She warned that sex offence victims have automatic lifetime anonymity and publishing details that can lead to their identification is a criminal offence.

Watkins pleaded guilty to a string of offences on Tuesday that he had previously "furiously" denied.

The charges included sexually touching a one-year-old and encouraging a groupie to abuse her own child during a webcam chat.

Watkins also admitted possessing and making child porn as well as launching the plot to rape a baby.

He will be sentenced with the two unnamed women at Cardiff Crown Court on December 18.

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$375,000 supercar gets Lister treatment

Street artist Anthony Lister has been let loose on a Lamborghini to help raise money for a charity. Source: AAP

TAKE note Justin Bieber - THIS is how you do street art.

As the king of brat pop continues to cop flak for his attempts at graffiti on the Gold Coast, experienced Queensland street artist Anthony Lister has unveiled his latest work - a world-first restyling of a $375,000 Lamborghini Gallardo.

The LP 550-2 was transformed into a massive, moving piece of Lister artwork to raise funds for ToyBox International, a charity dedicated to raising funds to benefit sick and disadvantaged children.

The work was unveiled at the Barbagallo showroom in Perth on Friday, with Lister saying he wanted to make an impression both on the car, and the charity.

"Street art is all about expression, and being able to leave a lasting imprint on such an iconic car is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Lister said.

The mural, inspired by the luxury car, features a brooding dark background interspersed with trademark Lister flecks of colour making a unique version of the 320 km/h supercar.

Lister, one of Australia's most renowned contemporary artists, is showing his latest exhibition Still Life Crisis in Perth. The exhibition's run has been extended until the end of December.

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Traditions endure in Clipper yacht race

SALTY sea dog rituals were observed during the gruelling and at times frightening Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, including paying tribute to Neptune, the race's only Australian skipper says.

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ADM ups Graincorp spending promises

US food giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has enhanced its takeover offer for GrainCorp with extra commitments to the Australian agriculture sector.

ADM is promising an extra $200 million investment in GrainCorp's grain storage and handling network, including improvements to rail infrastructure, and caps on grain handling and storage charges at silos and ports.

ADM also says it is committed to providing access to grain infrastructure for growers and third parties, and will ensure an "open access" regime for port services.

Treasurer Joe Hockey is due to make a decision on ADM's proposed takeover of GrainCorp on December 17.

ADM's $3.4 billion offer has been opposed by the Nationals and some rural Liberals.

ADM grain president Ian Pinner said the company had held substantive talks with growers, policymakers and other stakeholders during its efforts to secure approval for its acquisition.

"Taking into account the feedback we received, we are committing to a further package of investments and initiatives to help ensure that Australian agriculture is able to serve a key role in meeting growing global demand," he said.

"These commitments are in addition to the existing capital expenditure and other commitments we have set out in our bidder's statement, which included a $50 million enhancement to GrainCorp's planned capital expenditure over the next few years."

ADM said GrainCorp's port services would be operated according to the current "open access" regime and the mandatory industry code of conduct when it is finished.

Current access arrangements will be continued for GrainCorp's up-country silos.

ADM said increases in GrainCorp's overall grain handling and storage charges would be capped to inflation for three years.

GrainCorp chairman Don Taylor said ADM's new commitments were a compelling opportunity for the grain industry in eastern Australia.

"While our industry has a range of views on many issues, there is general agreement that Australian agriculture needs significant and ongoing capital investment to ensure we are able to respond to rapidly growing global demand for food," Mr Taylor said.

"Clearly new investment of the scale outlined by ADM today will benefit growers and our industry by improving the efficiency and international competitiveness of our network."

Shares in GrainCorp were 58 cents higher at $11.76 at 1328 AEDT.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, who worked as an export operations manager at Grainco Australia before GrainCorp acquired the company in 2003, said he supported the idea of ADM buying Australia's biggest grain handler with conditions.

"I'm totally supportive of that takeover ... but very clearly there's an opportunity to put some conditions in place that should have been put in place a decade ago," he told a business lunch in Brisbane.

"We need competition."

But Mr Newman suggested that GrainCorp be forced to sell two port terminals before the sale to ADM could proceed.

"It could be say Brisbane, it could be say Port Kembla," he said.

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Hot and dry summer in store for east

SUMMER is set to be drier and hotter than usual on Australia's east coast, cooler in the far southwest and wetter in Tasmania and parts of WA's mining country.

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Bega weighs options in Warrnambool fight

BEGA Cheese is considering whether it will join legal efforts to stall Canadian firm Saputo's takeover offer for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter.

Dairy cooperative Murray Goulburn on Wednesday sought to stop Saputo acquiring shares in Warrnambool, via a Takeovers Panel application alleging a recent change in the Saputo offer means some Warrnambool shareholders were misinformed.

In an escalation of the three-way bidding war that began in September, Murray Goulburn sought interim orders from the panel to stop Saputo processing acceptances of its offer, and from acquiring Warrnambool shares on-market.

Murray Goulburn also wants to have Warrnambool ordered to reinstate special dividends and have Saputo blocked from varying the conditions of its bid.

Bega Cheese is expected to announce by Thursday whether it will join Murray Goulburn's application or launch its own application to the panel.

Bega Cheese adviser David Williams said Bega supported Murray Goulburn's actions and that Bega considered the latest changes to Saputo's offer to be a "substantial reduction" in value.

"We are considering our position," Mr Williams told AAP.

Saputo is leading the bidding war for Warrnambool with a $9.20-a-share offer that has the support of the Warrnambool board.

Saputo lifted its offer from $9 a share on November 25 and in the process Warrnambool scrapped conditions that would have paid accepting shareholders special dividends of 46 cents and 85 cents a share.

Franking credits worth 56 cents a share were associated with the dividends, valuing the deal at a maximum $9.56.

In a statement, the Takeovers Panel said Murray Goulburn had submitted that removing the special dividends meant Saputo's bid would not conform with previous announcements, contrary to truth in takeovers policy.

Murray Goulburn also alleged that shares traded before November 25 were traded "on the basis of misinformation" that franking credits would be available.

Bega Cheese and Murray Goulburn are both major shareholders in Warrnambool, holding 18 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

While both are still bidding for Warrnambool, a variation in the Saputo offer affects the value they stand to receive as shareholders.

Bega has made a final offer of 1.5 Bega shares and $2 cash, worth $8.975 on current pricing, while Murray Goulburn has offered $9 a share.

The Takeovers Panel said no decision had been made on whether to conduct proceedings over Murray Goulburn's complaint.

In a statement, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter said it disagreed with the basis of Murray Goulburn's complaint and would respond in accordance with panel procedures.

Saputo also announced it has built its stake in Warrnambool to 4.799 per cent.

Warrnambool shares dropped one cent to $9.25 while Bega shares were unchanged at $4.65.

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Courts can cancel licence for any crime

Victorian courts can now cancel the licence of any person convicted or found guilty of any offence. Source: AAP

NEW laws give Victorian courts the power to cancel licences even if the offence has nothing to do with driving.

Changes introduced on September 30 allow courts to suspend or cancel the licence of any person convicted or found guilty of any offence.

Sergeant Sherril Handley said about 50,000 offenders could potentially be penalised.

"A court or a magistrate can suspend or disqualify a person's driver's licence for any offence under any act," she said on Tuesday.

Sgt Handley said drivers who returned to court to be relicensed could be forced to use a vehicle interlock device if drugs or alcohol were found to be a factor.

"This is just another option provided to magistrates for those occasions that don't fall under those current road safety offences," she said.

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SA hit by federal cuts: premier

SOUTH Australia is feeling the brunt of the new federal government's fiscal conservatism, with funding cuts to various projects worth $2 billion, Premier Jay Weatherill says.

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