Briefs, September 11, 2012

Romney campaign nets US$111 million in August

BOSTON - US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign is reporting it raised US$111 million last month to fund his challenge of President Barack Obama. It was the third straight month the former Massachusetts governor has raised more than US$100 million. Obama, however, edged out Romney, raising US$114 million towards his re-election campaign - a significant turnaround after trailing badly in previous months. August fund-raising was especially significant as it reflected the public response to Romney's naming of conservative favorite Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential pick. AP

Trial of UBS trader Adoboli pushed back

LONDON - Kweku Adoboli's trial on charges of fraud and false accounting, tied to alleged unauthorised trades that caused losses of US$2.3 billion at Swiss bank UBS, was delayed until Friday. Arguments, which had been scheduled to start yesterday at a London criminal court, were pushed back. The Ghanaian is charged with falsifying records on exchange-traded fund transactions and other documents needed for accounting purposes as early as October 2008. Prosecutors also charged him with fraud for abusing his senior trader position. Bloomberg

UN nuclear chief lashes out at Tehran

VIENNA - The head of the UN atomic agency hit out at Iran's refusal to address allegations of nuclear-weapons research and called on Tehran to allow access to a suspect military site. "This is frustrating because, without Iran's full engagement, we will not be able to start the process to resolve all outstanding issues, including those involving possible military dimensions to its nuclear programme," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said at the start of an IAEA board meeting. AFP

Tribe razes village in Kenya, killing 38

NAIROBI - Fighting between a semi-nomadic tribe of livestock herders and a farming community in southeastern Kenya escalated, with 38 people killed, including nine police officers. Kenya Red Cross secretary general Abbas Gullet said eight children were also among those killed in the dawn attack, in which more than 300 people from the Pokomo tribe raided a village of Orma herders. The raiders torched 167 houses. Gullet said the violence could be politically instigated. AP

Dad shoots family, pays for burial, kills himself

MOSCOW - A father has shot dead his two small sons, his wife and her parents in a Russian village in Siberia before handing US$6,000 for their burial to neighbours and then killing himself. The man killed his sons aged four and nine, his wife, 38, and her elderly parents with a shotgun in the village of Podsinee. "Afterwards he pushed US$5,000 and 40,000 roubles through the fence of the neighbours' house with a note asking that they all be buried," officials said. "Then he went inside and shot himself dead." AFP

Shark expert who helped on 'Jaws' dies

SYDNEY - Ron Taylor, a beloved Australian marine conservationist who helped film some of the terrifying underwater footage used in the classic shark thriller Jaws, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 78. Andrew Fox, who worked with Taylor on shark conservation efforts for decades, said Taylor had mixed feelings about his work on Jaws, which terrified beachgoers but ultimately helped draw attention to the intimidating yet often threatened animals. Taylor and his wife, Valerie, spent years filming great white sharks and trying to persuade a wary public that the much-feared creatures were beautiful animals worthy of respect. AP

Emma Watson tops celebrity Net 'bait' list

NEW YORK - Emma Watson is the favourite celebrity bait for cyber criminals trying to lure internet users. McAfee said the Harry Potter star was the "most dangerous" celebrity to search for online. That's because many sites use Watson to trick users into downloading malicious software or to steal personal information. When searching for Watson, 22, there's a one-in-eight chance of landing on a malicious site. This is the sixth time the Intel-owned security technology company has conducted the study, which last year was led by Heidi Klum. AP