Italian teacher jailed for killing rabbits

AN Italian teacher has been sentenced to eight months in prison for killing two rabbits with a hammer in front of his pupils in an anatomy class, the animal protection association LAV said on Wednesday.

Carlo Rando, a trained surgeon, had ordered a delivery of four dead rabbits to be dissected for his class, the association said in a statement.

Two were dead when they arrived but the two were alive and escaped into the classroom before being captured by the teacher.

He first tried to strangle them, then punched them and finally finished them off with a hammer in front of terrified teens, LAV said.

"Horrific scenes worthy of an abattoir were played out in front of minors," the group said, hailing "the courage of other teachers and pupils who wanted to denounce the terrible actions of their teacher".

Michela Kuan, a biologist working for LAV, said: "Such barbaric methods are unacceptable not just from an ethical standpoint but also because they are completely useless since anatomy is no longer taught by dissecting animals."

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BP banned from US government contracts

BRITISH oil giant BP has been temporarily banned by the US Environmental Protection Agency from US government contracts due to its behaviour in the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

"EPA is taking this action due to BP's lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company's conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response," the agency said.

The EPA cited BP's admission of guilt two weeks ago to Justice Department charges in the disaster, which left 11 people dead and spewed some 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and blackened beaches in five states.

On November 15, BP signed a plea agreement acknowledging guilt on 11 counts of manslaughter, one count of felony obstruction of Congress and two environmental violations.

The EPA said the ban on BP and affiliates from receiving government contracts applied "until the company can provide sufficient evidence to EPA demonstrating that it meets federal business standards."

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British team hunts for WWII Spitfires

A BRITISH team preparing to dig for a rumoured hoard of World War II Spitfire planes in Myanmar (Burma) says it would be one of the most fascinating discoveries in aviation archaeology if they were found.

The team believe there could be 36 of the iconic single-seat British fighter aircraft buried in sealed crates up to 10 metres beneath Yangon International Airport, a wartime airfield, with more at two other sites in Myanmar.

Britain, the former colonial power in what was then Burma, is thought to have buried the brand new planes in 1945 as they were surplus by the time they arrived by sea.

The dig, set to start in early January, has excited military history and aviation enthusiasts around the world.

There are thought to be fewer than 50 airworthy Spitfires left in the world and the digs could potentially double their number if they remain in pristine condition.

"Eyewitnesses talk about 36 being buried in this particular spot, though we do have evidence that there might be more," project leader David Cundall told a pre-dig briefing at the Imperial War Museum in London.

"They are buried at eight to 10 metres. There's no oxygen down there so we don't think they've corroded.

"It's like opening a can of beans at 67 years old: it's not going to be at its best but if you're hungry, you're going to eat it."

The leaders of the expedition admit that the entire project could end up being a wild goose chase, with no physical evidence that the rare Mark XIV Spitfires exist.

Belarus-based strategy game developer Wargaming.net is underwriting the cost of the project, estimated at STG1 million ($A1.54 million) at present.

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Red Square bomb plotter gets 15 years

A MAN whose plot to cause carnage on Moscow's iconic Red Square was thwarted by a spam phone message has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Ilyas Saidov, a member of an underground Islamist group, brought explosives-laden belts disguised as heaters for two female suicide bombers on a bus from his native Dagestan, a southern province in the Caucasus region plagued by almost daily clashes between Islamists and federal forces.

But just hours before they were to detonate the bombs on New Year's Eve, 2010, a belt attached to a mobile phone exploded after the detonator was activated by a spam message, killing one of the women and prompting the arrest of the other. She was sentenced to 10 years in jail in May.

Spam is a daily nuisance for many Russians buying new SIM cards but this time the message saved thousands from being in harm's way. Red Square is a popular gathering point for Muskovites to see in the new year.

The Moscow City Court also found Saidov guilty of gunning down two police officers and three civilians in Dagestan.

Saidov pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators, giving up the leader and several members of an underground Islamist group he was part of. His testimony led to the killing of several Islamists.

Four members of the group have been convicted, and six more are currently standing trial, investigators said.

Since 2000, at least two dozen female suicide bombers, most of them from the Caucasus, have carried out terrorist attacks on security officers and civilians in Russian cities and aboard trains and planes.

The bombers are often called "black widows" in Russia because many of them are the wives, or other relatives, of militants killed by security forces.

Islamic militants are believed to convince "black widows" that a suicide bombing will reunite them with their dead relatives beyond the grave.

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Egypt panel poised to finish constitution

THE text of Egypt's new constitution was set to be completed later today, the drafting committee said, with the controversial document at the heart of a legal and ideological battle to be put to a subsequent vote.

"The discussions over the draft of the constitution will be finished today, to be followed by voting," Ahmed Darrag, the secretary general of the constituent assembly said in remarks carried by the official MENA news agency.

The head of the Islamist-dominated panel, Hossam al-Gheriani, urged the liberal, leftist and Coptic members who walked out to "come back and finish the discussion on Thursay."

"Tomorrow will be a great day," Mr Gheriani said.

The surprise move comes as the country is deeply divided over the constituent assembly which critics have slammed for failing to represent all Egyptians.

Anger over the document was exacerbated following a decree by President Mohamed Morsi granting himself sweeping powers and barring the courts from dissolving the panel.

The Supreme Constitutional Court had been due to review the legality of the drafting committee on Sunday, but its fate hangs in the balance amid the constitutional vacuum.

Human rights groups have criticised the move to rush through the constitution.

"This is not a healthy moment to be pushing through a constitution because this is an extremely divisive moment," Human Rights Watch Egypt director Heba Morayef told AFP.

"Human rights groups have very serious concerns about some of the rights protections in the latest drafts we've seen," she said.

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Cameron mum on press regulation

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron failed to offer any clues on whether he will support new more stringent regulation of Britain's press following the conclusion of a yearlong inquiry into the country's unruly tabloids.

Mr Cameron got a sneak preview of Lord Justice Peter Leveson's report, which is set for public release later today.

But in carefully crafted remarks that shielded how he would respond to the judge's recommendations, Mr Cameron told lawmakers he wanted all of the major parties agree on the next step.

"I would agree that a free press is absolutely vital to democracy. We should recognise all the press has done and should continue doing to uncover wrong doing, to stand up to the powerful," Mr Cameron said.

"Whatever the changes we make, we want a robust and free press in our country."

The inquiry was launched after revelations of widespread illegal behavior at the News of the World, the top-selling Sunday publication that was eventually closed down by its owner, News International.

The scandal rocked Britain's establishment with evidence of media misdeeds, police corruption and too-cozy links between the press and politicians.

And News International, which is part of New York listed News Corp., has been hit with dozens of lawsuits over the interception of telephone voicemails. Reporters and media executives have been arrested - and the entire media supervision system has been called into question. News Corp is the parent company of News International and of the publisher of this report.

The essential issue swirling around the report is whether the government will pass new laws to curb the press, possibly involving the creation of a new regulatory body, or whether some modifications can be made to the current system.

Mr Cameron declined to respond to members of his own Conservative Party, who are pressuring the government to pass new laws. Instead, he said he would meet with opposition leaders about the report's contents in a quest for cross-party support.

"What matters most I believe is that we end up with an independent regulatory system that can deliver, and in which the public have confidence," he said.

Mr Cameron is already being besieged with advice about how to respond to the still-secret recommendations. It is not clear yet if Lord Justice Leveson will recommend that the government legislate to regulate newspapers, or give newspapers another chance at monitoring themselves, so-called self-regulation.

More than 80 politicians from all three main parties have signed a letter warning Mr Cameron against legislating, while 42 members of his Conservative Party, the dominant partner in the coalition government, have urged tough new laws.

Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour opposition, said she agreed with Mr Cameron's comments, telling the BBC the present system had failed.

"Yes, it has to be independent of government and politics and Parliament. We don't want to have anything to do with regulating the press," she said.

"But it's also got to be independent of newspapers. You can't have the editors marking their own homework in the way they have been doing in the past."

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UN vote on Palestinian status: likely yes

A LARGE majority of the 193 member states of the United Nations are expected to vote in favour of an upgraded status for the Palestinians at the world body's General Assembly on Thursday.

Among the 'no' votes will figure those of Israel, and its key Western ally the United States, which is one of the five powerful permanent members of the UN Security Council. Germany has also said it will vote against the new status.

Russia and China, which also have permanent seats on the Security Council, have long stated that they will vote in favour of granting the Palestinian Authority the status of a 'non-member state'.

However attention is likely to focus on a handful of Western states, such as France, who have said they will favour the motion.

The other permanent Security Council member, Britain, said on Wednesday that it would abstain in the vote unless certain conditions, including the return of the Palestinians to peace talks and a promise by them to refrain from taking Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC), were fulfilled.

Australia will also abstain from voting.

Among other Western countries which have said recently that they will support the General Assembly motion are Austria, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said on Wednesday that a number of governments were seeking guarantees that if the Palestinians gained the new status, they would refrain from taking Israel before the ICC in the Hague.

Despite Britain's expected abstention, and opposition to the bid from nations including the United States and Germany, the Palestinians are expected to easily win approval at the 193-member General Assembly.

"We're going to have a vast majority, a vast majority, more than two-thirds," Ashrawi said.

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Obama, Romney to have lunch

US President Barack Obama will host his former political rival Mitt Romney for a private lunch at the White House today, their first meeting since the election.

Mr Obama promised in his victory speech earlier this month to engage with Mr Romney following their bitter campaign and consider the Republican's ideas.

"In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Gov. Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward," Mr Obama said at the time.

Obama aides said they reached out to Mr Romney's team shortly before Thanksgiving last week to start working on a date for the meeting. The two men will meet in the White House's private dining room, with no press coverage expected.

While in Washington, Mr Romney will also meet with his former running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, according to a Romney campaign aide. Mr Ryan is back on Capitol Hill, where he's involved in negotiations to avert a series of automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts that have come to be known as the "fiscal cliff."

Much of that debate centres on expiring tax cuts first passed by former US president George W. Bush.

Mr Obama and Mr Romney differed sharply during the campaign over what to do with the cuts, with the Republican pushing for them to be extended for all income earners and the president running on a pledge to let the cuts expire for families making more than $US250,000 ($239,000) a year.

The White House sees Mr Obama's victory as a signal that Americans support his tax proposals.

Mr Obama and Mr Romney's sit-down today will likely be their most extensive private meeting ever. The two men had only a handful of brief exchanges before the 2012 election.

Even after their political fates became intertwined, their interactions were largely confined to the three presidential debates.

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