Ex-Credit Suisse exec pleads guilty in US

A FORMER Credit Suisse executive has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in New York City after his extradition from the United Kingdom.

US citizen and London resident Kareem Serageldin entered the plea on Friday in federal court.

Serageldin was accused of distorting the value of mortgage securities in 2007.

Prosecutors said he and others took actions that contributed to a $US2.7 billion ($A2.57 billion) write-down in Credit Suisse's 2007 year-end financial results.

Last year, a grand jury indicted him on charges of conspiracy, false record-keeping and wire fraud.

He pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to falsify books and records.

Sentencing was set for August 2.

Two other people in the case have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and agreed to co-operate.

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Court goes heavy on light-fingered crook

A MAGISTRATE has overruled a police decision not to oppose the granting of bail to a woman who went of a one-day crime spree targeting Darling Downs retail stores.

Tianna Marlene Willis appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Saturday facing more than 40 charges - most of them committed in Toowoomba on January 31.

The court was the told offences included Willis illegally taking property from "almost every shop in town" and included attacking a car with a knife.

Police did not oppose an application for bail made by Willis's lawyers, but magistrate Stuart Shearer was having none of that.

Prosecutor Sergeant Sharon Carruthers said police were happy for Willis to be released on bail despite the fact she already had an appalling "eight-pages" of criminal history.

However, Mr Shearer said the public could have no confidence that Willis would not re-offend if released on bail.

"I cannot see anything to suggest ... I could be confident of her (Willis) not committing further offences (if released)," Mr Shearer said.

"The extent of the crime spree (is of great concern).

"I am satisfied if released on bail she (Willis) is an unacceptable risk of re-offending."

Mr Shearer said he based his bail refusal on Willis's extensive criminal history and the fact she was facing four outstanding charges for failing to appear in court in accordance with bail requirements.

Willis is charged with 42 offences for a range of crimes including stealing, receiving stolen property, receiving stolen property, uttering or forging a document, public nuisance and going armed to cause fear.

Solicitor Cameron Young, for Willis, said his client only travelled to Toowoomba on the day of the spree at the behest of a now former boyfriend.

Mr Shearer ordered Willis be remanded in custody to reappear in court next week (April 17).

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Funding cuts will hurt unis: peak body

UNIVERSITIES say they will suffer "severe" financial strain after the federal government announced it would strip $2.3 billion from the tertiary education sector.

The Gillard government announced on Saturday more than $2 billion worth of savings, which include scrapping discounts to students who pay university fees upfront and the imposition of an efficiency dividend on universities.

The government says the measures will free up funds to pay for its "once in a generation" Gonski school reforms.

But Universities Australia, the peak body representing the sector, said the funding cut was the largest since 1996.

"We acknowledge the government is confronting difficult economic circumstances but we are concerned at the long-term impact these cuts will have on university research and education," Universities Australia chair Glyn Davis said in a statement.

"The application of this efficiency dividend, while limited to two years, will nonetheless place severe strain on a sector that has been encouraged to expand enrolments to enable greater access to higher education."

Professor Davis said the magnitude of the cuts made to the sector over the past six months would challenge the ability of universities to continue to meet the high standards of educational quality expected of them.

It also comes at a time when Australia sits a "disturbingly" 25th out of 29 advanced economies for public investment in universities as a percentage of GDP.

"Today's announcement will be condemned by those who understand that Australia's university sector is crucial to national productivity growth, industrial diversification and long-term economic transformation," Prof Davis said.

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Woodside confident Browse will go ahead

Woodside boss Peter Coleman is confident the $45 billion Browse LNG gas project will go ahead. Source: AAP

WOODSIDE boss Peter Coleman is confident the $45 billion Browse LNG gas project will go ahead, despite the energy giant scrapping plans for a controversial onshore processing plant in Western Australia.

Woodside has scratched plans to build a processing plant at James Price Point in West Australia's north, saying it would not deliver the returns the company needed.

Woodside will now begin talks with its joint venture partners, which include Shell Australia, about alternatives.

Possibilities include using floating technologies to process the gas or building a pipeline to existing LNG facilities in WA's Pilbara region.

Another alternative is building a smaller onshore plant at proposed Browse LNG precinct near James Price Point.

Mr Coleman said the decision to dump the plan for James Price Point was a tough one, saying the project was subject to cost pressures.

"We do believe that Browse will get developed," he told reporters.

He said Woodside had been looking at other options to a processing plant at James Price Point, but said they were not nearly as mature as the original plan for the facility there.

However some of the alternatives that would be considered did have the potential for the early development of Browse.

"We've already come out and said things like floating technology, for example, is a technology that Woodside supports ... whether that's appropriate for a Browse development will need to be determined by the joint venture over time," Mr Coleman said.

He said Woodside did not have an alternative preference at this stage and needed to talk to its joint venture partners in the next few weeks to map out a plan.

Shell's Australian boss Ann Pickard reiterated that it believed its floating technology would be the fastest, most economic and best technical solution for processing gas from the Browse project.

"Floating LNG can bring significant long term, sustainable jobs to Western Australia, Australia, and the Kimberley, as well as providing employment and business opportunities for Kimberley indigenous people," Ms Pickard said in a statement.

Ms Pickard said Shell would work closely with the Browse joint venture and government to keep the Browse project on track.

But WA Premier Colin Barnett said it would be a tragedy and a missed opportunity if Browse gas project didn't wind up onshore at James Price Point.

Mr Barnett has long been adamant the gas should be processed onshore as this would ensure local jobs.

But he softened his tone on Friday, saying an offshore project would still bring benefits to WA.

"If the project goes ahead offshore ... it would still bring some benefits to WA," he said.

"It would be a tragedy and a missed opportunity if that gas did not come onshore."

Green groups and shareholders have applauded Woodside's decision to dump plans for the costly onshore liquefied natural gas plant.

Woodside shares were 90 cents, or 2.5 per cent, higher at $36.18 at 1135 AEST.

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Holden to keep promised SA funds

HOLDEN appears set to keep a promised $50 million in South Australian government funding despite a decision to axe jobs at its local assembly plant.

Premier Jay Weatherill held talks with Holden boss Mike Devereux on Friday after the company this week said 400 jobs would go by August in response to falling demand for locally built vehicles and high costs.

Mr Weatherill said the government would review its support for Holden but maintained both parties were determined to ensure the company had a future in South Australia.

Mr Devereux said he believed the government's $50 million was still on the table, as part of a $275 million joint state-federal funding package to help the company develop two new cars from 2016 to 2022.

The state and the company will meet in the coming weeks to thrash out a new agreement.

"There's no doubt that we will be revisiting the nature of our contribution, just as we will be asking for the company to revisit the nature of its contribution to the people of South Australia," the premier said.

"We've never walked away from our agreement. We've, in all respects, honoured our side of this bargain.

"But the events of this week have materially changed those circumstances and we have to revisit that agreement."

Ahead of Friday's meeting, Mr Devereux likened the global auto industry to a team sport and said he played on "team Australia".

"My focus for today is to figure out what we need to make sure that team Australia plays the game to win," he said.

The meeting also came after former Ford boss Jac Nasser, now the chairman of BHP Billiton, said the end of vehicle manufacturing in Australia might be inevitable.

He said if one of the three remaining producers decided to quit the country, the loss of scale could result in a domino effect.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she didn't believe Australia's car industry was on its last legs, even though the future wasn't assured.

"The skills and innovation that come from the car industry matter to the one million Australians employed in manufacturing," she told reporters in Sydney.

"There's nothing we value more highly as a government than creating jobs."

Opposition industry spokeswoman Sophie Mirabella said the future prosperity of the automotive sector would not rest on what subsidies were provided but on how they were used.

She said the industry had a viable future that wouldn't be determined on the basis of handouts.

"I don't think it's about providing a greater dollar figure for subsidies," she told ABC radio.

"I think it's about using the existing funding in a much better way."

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Barnett shrugs off Johnson spray

A SPRAY from his former police minister on the first day of parliament doesn't worry West Australian Premier Colin Barnett one whit.

Former Liberal minister-turned backbencher Rob Johnson launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Barnett on Thursday after being pipped by fellow Liberal Michael Sutherland for the Speaker's role.

Mr Sutherland won 33 votes to 26 - which meant at least four Liberal or National members voted against party lines and the premier's chosen candidate.

Mr Johnson said during the recent state election campaign Mr Barnett had endorsed him for the Speaker's position.

So he let rip after losing out, saying his supporters had been "got to" and that the Liberal leader was dictatorial.

Despite starting off the political year on a controversial note, Mr Barnett said on Friday he was completely unfazed by the comments.

"How high do you think that rates on the stress level?" he asked journalists with a smile.

Mr Barnett admitted he was disappointed some people had voted for Mr Johnson.

"But I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it," he said.

"What it did demonstrate, even if some people voted against the government nomination, the vote was still easily won."

Asked if Mr Johnson's criticism was just sour grapes or if there was truth in what he had said - including the premier being angry "a lot of the time" - Mr Barnett said: "I don't really know and I don't really care".

But Mr Johnson "absolutely" remained welcome in the party, he said.

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NSW police seize guns and $1m of drugs

A POLICE search of a ute on the NSW mid-north coast has led to the seizure of almost $1 million worth of cannabis.

Guns and amphetamines were also found by officers who executed search warrants on two homes following the vehicle stop.

Police first found two large hessian bags containing 57 kilograms of cannabis when they stopped and searched a Toyota Hilux in Lorne on Tuesday evening.

The drugs had an estimated street value of $320,000.

Officers then raided a home in Lake Cathie on Wednesday, where they allegedly found 79 kilograms of cannabis, 96 grams of cannabis resin, 23 grams of amphetamine and four firearms.

The drugs have a combined street value of $600,000.

Another search warrant was executed on a home in Kempsey on Wednesday afternoon where 11kg of cannabis and eight cannabis plants were allegedly uncovered, with an estimated street value of $70,000.

Three men - aged 42, 53 and 67 - were arrested over the seizures and charged with numerous drug and weapons offences.

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NZ schoolgirl killed then house set alight

A CHRISTCHURCH schoolgirl had socks stuffed in her mouth and was strangled with a cord before her home was set alight, a New Zealand court has been told.

The trial of two men charged following the death of 13-year-old schoolgirl Jade Bayliss got under way in the High Court at Christchurch on Thursday.

Jeremy George Edward McLaughlin, 35, is accused of murdering Jade, burgling her family's Somerfield home, and then setting fire to the house on November 10, 2011.

McLaughlin's flatmate, Jolon Sweeney, 42, is charged with being an accessory after the fact to the burglary and arson.

Prosecutor Kathy Bell told the court that the Cashmere High School girl was strangled with a cord and had socks stuffed in her mouth, the Christchurch Court News website reports.

Her bedroom was largely untouched by fire and she hadn't inhaled smoke or carbon monoxide.

DNA taken from her fingernails strongly corresponded to McLaughlin's DNA, she said.

Jade's mother Patricia had earlier ended her relationship with McLaughlin.

However, Jade was home sick from school when McLaughlin returned to burgle the house.

Miss Bell said McLaughlin killed Jade and returned later with petrol to set fire to the house.

McLaughlin's lawyer, April Kelland, said he did not murder Jade, and that timing would be critical in the case. McLaughlin admits the burglary and arson charges.

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Tokyo stocks close 1.96% higher

TOKYO stocks have rallied further, with exporters the main beneficiaries as the dollar approaches the 100 yen mark.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended up 1.96 per cent, or 261.03 points, at 13,549.16. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished up 2.34 per cent, or 26.25 points, at 1,147.29.

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Probe says North Korea behind cyber attack

AN investigation into a major cyber attack on South Korean banks and broadcasters last month says North Korea's military intelligence agency was responsible, officials say.

The probe into access records and the malicious codes used in the attack pointed to the North's military Reconnaissance General Bureau as the source, the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) said on Wednesday.

"It was a premeditated, well-planned cyber attack by North Korea", a KISA spokesman said.

"We've collected a lot of evidence to determine the North's Reconnaissance General Bureau led the attack, which had been prepared for at least eight months," he said.

A joint team of civilian and government experts traced the origin to six personal computers used in North Korea.

In order to spread malware in target computers, the hackers went through 49 different places in 10 countries including South Korea, the investigation found. The North had used 22 of the places in past attacks.

The March 20 attack completely shut down the networks of TV broadcasters KBS, MBC and YTN, and halted financial services and crippled operations at three banks - Shinhan, NongHyup and Jeju.

It employed malware that can wipe the contents of a computer's hard disk as well as drives connected to the infected computer.

About 48,700 machines including PCs, automatic teller machines and server computers were damaged, KISA said.

The attack came days after North Korea had accused South Korea and the United States of being behind a "persistent and intensive" hacking assault that temporarily took a number of its official websites offline.

It also coincided with heightened military tensions on the Korean peninsula, following Pyongyang's nuclear test in February.

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