Senado define novo cronograma do processo de impeachment de Dilma

Até o momento, já foi dado prazo de 20 dias, que terminam no dia 31 de maio, para que a presidente afastada apresente uma nova defesa por escrito

A segunda etapa do processo contra a presidente afastada Dilma Rousseff no Senado começa nesta terça-feira, 24, com a apresentação do plano de trabalho do relator da Comissão Especial do Impeachment, senador Antonio Anastasia (PSDB-MG).

Até agora, já foi dado prazo de 20 dias, que terminam no dia 31 de maio, para que a presidente afastada apresente uma nova defesa por escrito. Chamada de pronúncia, é nesta fase que também são juntadas ao processo todas as provas consideradas importantes por acusação e defesa. Pode haver ainda audiência de testemunhas, diligências e debates entre a acusação e a defesa.

A partir daí, um novo relatório será elaborado por Anastasia, votado na comissão e depois no plenário da Casa. Assim como na fase de admissibilidade, de novo, em ambas as votações (na comissão e no plenário), será exigida maioria simples, ou seja, metade mais um dos senadores presentes a sessão. Se aprovado o relatório no plenário, após 48 horas, será marcado o último julgamento que pode tirar definitivamente a presidente Dilma do cargo.

A Comissão Especial do Impeachment continua a ser presidida pelo senador Raimundo Lira (PMDB-PB), mas caberá ao presidente do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), Ricardo Lewandowski, atuar como presidente dos dois julgamentos que ainda podem ocorrer no plenário do Senado sobre o caso. Lewandowski também dará a palavra final sobre questões de ordem apresentadas na comissão, mas que forem objeto de recurso no plenário da Casa.

Lewandowski já tem uma sala de apoio para trabalhar na 1º vice-presidência do Senado, porém deve continuar despachando do Supremo. Ao assumir essa função no Senado, em 12 de maio, mesmo dia em que o plenário da Casa aceitou a admissibilidade do processo que resultou no afastamento temporário de Dilma, o ministro afirmou que os juízes são os senadores e que ele atuará como um órgão recursal. O presidente do STF disse ainda que os procedimentos a serem seguidos são baseados no processo de impeachment do presidente Fernando Collor, em 1992.

 

Jornal O POVO – 23 de maio de 2016

Diário do Nordeste satiriza os esqueletos que Michel Temer herdou de Dilma Rousseff

Diário do Nordeste – 23 de maio de 2016

New Zealand flat on list of world’s worst rentals

By Gemma Hartley

11:40 AM Monday May 23, 2016

A sofa for $480 a month has been named and shamed on a list of the world’s worst rooms to rent. Photo / Worstroom.com

A New Zealand apartment has made it on to a list of the world’s worst rooms to rent.

The Auckland listing offers potential renters nothing more than a spot on the sofa – for $480 a month.

The owner made sure to include the warning: “Please read carefully I would like to rent my couch in my living room.” Adding that the offer is “for one person only who doesn’t mind sleeping in (sic) the couch”.

A picture accompanying the listing shows a dark red, three-seater sofa with five brown cushions and a white throw.

The listing appears on the Tumblr site The Worst Room, which showcases the most awful flats, rooms and even couches available for rent in some of the world’s biggest cities.

It was posted last year, and is definitely up there with the worst.

Multi-task in this Sydney apartment where the toilet is in the kitchen and there’s no door. Photo / Worstroom.com

The list also includes a Sydney apartment where the toilet is in the kitchen and there’s no door.

Owners listed the apartment, in the elite eastern suburb of Darlinghurst, for A$350 a week. Claiming it is “perfect for the keen multi-tasker”, the toliet and shower recess sits adjacent to the kitchen.

The Darlinghurst Art Deco apartment was even referred to as “city living at its best” but some other less-than-flattering descriptions popped up on the blog site.

In London, a tiny storage cabinet metres above the ground doubles as a home away from home if you have a ladder. The site stated that the room in the suburb of Paddington “would suit someone with no history of claustrophobia”.

In London, a tiny storage cabinet metres above the ground doubles as a Harry Potter home. Photo / Worstroom.com

With the average weekly rent in London at $649, the A$78 a week might seem like a bargain.

A cramped bathroom in a Canadian home forces you to sit on the toliet sideways with your feet out of the door.

But the owner was a little bit sheepish when it came to revealing just how much you pay for the cramped privilege.

In a Brooklyn basement there is never any issue with the cold as the folding bed is up against a boiler and furnace, for about A$290 a week.

“A very unique basement opportunity is available immediately,” the description states on worstrooms.com

A unique basement opportunity is ready to be snapped up in Brooklyn. Photo / Worstroom.com

“There is a boiler and furnace in the basement, which does make noise. We’re really flexible about making the place right for you.”

Source : New Zealand Herald

ACCC to appeal $1.7 million fine over misleading Nurofen products

May 23 2016 – 12:43PM

Patrick Hatch

The consumer watchdog will appeal a $1.7 million fine issued to the maker of Nurofen over its misleading “specific pain” range, saying it should be increased to at least $6 million.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says the fine handed down in the Federal Court last month is not severe enough to deter a company as large as Reckitt Benckiser from deceiving customers.

The ACCC says the $1.7 million fine is inadequate.  Photo: Supplied

The court found in December that Reckitt Benckiser engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by falsely claiming that Nurofen specific pain products were formulated to treat particular types of pain.

In reality, each of the products – advertised to treat back pain, period pain, tension headaches or migraines — contained the same active ingredient: 342 milligrams of ibuprofen lysine.

The ACCC said on Monday that a penalty of at least $6 million was required to send a strong message, given the longstanding and widespread nature of Reckitt Benckiser’s conduct and the large profit it made from the products.

“$1.7 million in penalties imposed on a company the size of Reckitt Benckiser does not act as an adequate deterrent and might be viewed as simply a cost of doing business,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

“This is particularly the case when the judge found that Reckitt Benckiser had made many millions in profits from sales of 5.9 million units of these products at around 8500 outlets during the relevant period.”

Reckitt Benckiser argued in court that a $1.1 million fine was appropriate.

Justice James Edelman said the penalty would have been “far greater” if it were not for a few factors, including that the ACCC had not argued that the company’s conduct was intentional or reckless.

He also gave the group a discount for co-operating with the ACCC’s investigation and admitting to its wrongdoing, which led to other allegations falling away.

Reckitt Benckiser said in a statement it was “considering the appeal with its legal advisers”.

The ACCC has filed a notice of appeal against the fine. A directions hearing will follow.

 

Source : The Canberra Times

Dee-Jay Feil enters no plea to grievous bodily harm charge over alleged stabbing

25 minutes ago

PATRICK BILLINGS

The Mercury

A 19-YEAR-OLD man has appeared in court over an alleged stabbing in Pontville early yesterday morning.

Dee-Jay Feil, of Bridgewater, has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm.

It is alleged he stabbed another man in the leg, puncturing the femoral artery.

Mr Feil did not enter a plea and his application for bail was denied.

Magistrate Chris Webster adjourned the case until June 3.

 

Source : The Age

Support grows for missing North East Link

May 23, 2016 – 12:15AM

Josh Gordon

STATE POLITICAL EDITOR FOR THE AGE

A massive $6 billion tollway from the Ring Road at Greensborough to EastLink would cut “significant numbers” of cars from some of Melbourne’s most congested roads, according to a high level report prepared for the state government.

In a boost for the much-touted “missing link” proposal, the report, by economic consultants Deloitte and engineering advisers Aurecon, says the road would carry as many as 10,000 vehicles in each direction during the two-hour morning peak, while boosting the overall efficiency of the state’s freight network.

As a result, Infrastructure Victoria – which commissioned the assessment – suggests the idea warrants further investigation despite the high cost. That potentially places the project on a higher footing than the ill-fated East West Link

In a major report considering hundreds of options to tackle congestion and improve efficiency released this week, Infrastructure Victoria concluded the East West Link would make a “low” contribution towards economic activity in the city, and a “low” contribution towards improving access to middle and outer metropolitan major employment centres.

It found the North East Link – which for years has been the RACV’s top priority – represented a “potential alternative”, concluding the benefits would be even greater if considered alongside a major new rail and road freight terminal in Melbourne’s north, or a new port, particularly at Hastings.

The report follows a decision by the Andrews government to dump the East West Link after the former Napthine government signed a contract and “side-letter” locking in massive compensation just weeks before the November 2014 election.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has pinned his hopes of winning over voters in south eastern marginal electorates by continuing to back the East West Link, repeating an Abbott-era promise to hand over $3 billion to the first state government prepared to build it.

The Deloitte report said the North East Link removed significant numbers of vehicles from congested north-south roads in the inner north such as Plenty Road and St Georges Road, cutting travel time and stopping rat-runs though congested arterial roads in the north-eastern suburbs.

“Northern roads have the slowest travel speeds in the morning and evening peak periods compared to other Melbourne regions, as well as the longest delays in travel time,” the consultant’s report said. “North East Link is a direct orbital link from the Metropolitan Ring Road to EastLink.”

“The new Link will relieve existing Yarra River crossings and it may also encourage east-west cross regional movements via the Metropolitan Ring Road. By 2031, the North-East Link is forecast to carry 10,000 vehicles in both directions during a two-hour peak period …”

The report, which has been publicly released by Infrastructure Victoria, also suggested the link would improve freight productivity by connecting freight centres around Dandenong with the Hume Highway and farming areas in the south-east.

“The North East link will improve access between the potential Beveridge Interstate Rail Terminal and industrial areas in Bayswater, Clayton and Dandenong and between the Melbourne Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable and Flower Market and the productive food areas of the South East of Victoria,” the report said.

Late last month State Treasurer Tim Pallas said he believed the project “innately” made sense. “If you look at the way that most modern cities operate, this idea of an outer suburban high capacity freeway network I think has a lot of merit to it,” he said.

Several options for the road are believed to be under consideration, including a link from the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen through Banyule to Greensborough and the Ring Road, or the road from EastLink at Ringwood around Eltham and connect to Greensborough through a slightly longer route.

Labor strategists believe the proposal would answer critics’ claims that motorists in parts of Melbourne have been badly let down following a decision to cancel the East West Link contract.

Opposition leader Matthew Guy has also signalled plans to offer up the road proposal as part of the Coalition’s 2018 election pitch, recently claiming it was “utterly overdue”.

“Closer to the election I can give you an absolute guarantee you will see some … announcements from the Coalition around road infrastructure in Melbourne and it will feature the North East Link and it will feature the East West Link,” he said.

Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Michel Masson stressed that the hundreds of ideas being examined were “options not recommendations”.

“There is no silver bullet, and no one solution,” he said. “We are also not solely focused on building new infrastructure. We are looking for ways to better manage demand and better utilise existing assets before we building new things.”

Source : The Age

Canberra airport to trial full body scanners-

May 23 2016 – 12:00AM

Christopher Knaus

Full-body scanners will be trialled at Canberra Airport from this week, as preparations continue for international flights from Canberra to Singapore and New Zealand in September.

But the machines are unlikely to raise the kinds of privacy concerns expressed at airports outside of Australia, because they avoid showing the operator actual imagery of the user’s body.

Melbourne Airport trialled full body scanners in 2011. Photo: Craig Abraham

Canberra Airport will begin the trial on Monday, setting up body scanners at the domestic security point temporarily.

The scanners are now required for international airports, and will be in use from the start of Singapore Airlines’ international flights to Wellington and Singapore on September 21.

The scanners show representations of the person. Photo: Craig Abraham

The airport’s trial will offer passengers the opportunity to volunteer to be scanned, to help staff test the machines and fine-tune their use.

The machines require the user to stand on a designated spot, turn around 360 degrees, and wait briefly while being cleared by the operator.

These scanners, produced by Smiths Detection, show the operator only a generic graphical representation of a gender-neutral human body.

They automatically recognise concealed objects, and highlight them on the graphic for the operator.

That differs from other technology used abroad, which produce detailed images of a person’s body and relies on the user searching for signs of concealed objects. That technology has sparked privacy concerns in other countries.

The machines to be used in Canberra, named the eqo body scanner, are new to the Australian market, but are common in Europe, Asia, and New Zealand.

They use millimetre-wave technology, which is used by everyday technology like mobile phones, to detect concealed objects.

Full-body scanners were trialled at Sydney and Melbourne airports in 2011, and introduced in Brisbane in 2012.

The trial in Canberra comes four months ahead of the start of international flights in and out of Canberra for the first time in more than a decade.

A new lounge and international section is planned to accommodate the Singapore Airlines services to Wellington and Singapore, and construction of a new customs and immigration screening facility is also taking place.

Roughly 120 jobs have been created through the construction of the new terminal lounge.

Singapore Airlines began recruiting for 15 jobs at their local office this month, advertising sales, support, and other administrative roles online.

 

Source : The Canberra Times

New South Wales Ambulance holds review over 45-minute delay after fatal Guildford hit-and-run

May 23, 2016 – 12:19PM

Patrick Begley

The NSW Ambulance service has apologised after it took at least 45 minutes to respond to an alleged hit-and-run collision that killed a woman in Sydney’s west.

Shahrazad Rahman, 39, of Merrylands, was struck by a car on Rawson Road in Guildford about 9.15pm on Saturday.

She was given CPR by police and bystanders but died on her way to Westmead Hospital.

Fairfax Media understands the ambulance service received calls to Guilford Road at 9.20pm, 9.43pm and 9.55pm.

 

“NSW Ambulance extends its sincere apologies and condolences to the family of this patient,” it said in a statement.

“NSW Ambulance immediately began a review into its response to the patient following the incident.”

The service would not comment on media claims a dispatch error caused the delay. It would not answer questions about how many calls for help it received about the collision.

Police are appealing for the driver to contact police.

Traffic and Highway chief inspector Phil Brooks has asked the public to look out for cars with damage to their bonnets or windshields.

Police believe Ms Rahman had been trying to cross Rawson Road near Campbell Hill Road.

 

 

Source : Sydney Morning Herald

Rail crossing safety better after Queensland tragedy

May 22 2016 – 4:26PM

Toby Crockford

Nearly eight years after a fatal truck and train collision in north Queensland a coroner’s report has found significant action has been taken to improve rail crossing safety.

On November 27, 2008 the Cairns Tilt Train collided with a truck at Rungoo crossing on the Bruce Highway near Cardwell.

Nearly eight years after a fatal truck and train collision in north Queensland a coroner’s report has found significant action has been taken to improve rail crossing safety. Photo: Louie Douvis

Train drivers, Michael Smithers and Richard Wetherell, died at the scene.

In 2015 the truck driver, Michael Nugent, was found not guilty after being charged with the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.

As a result of the crash, numerous investigations were launched to identify risks that may adversely affect rail and road safety at level crossings.

In March, 2009 Queensland received $42.7 million in funding from the Federal Government as part of a national rail crossing improvement program.

The State Government had already allocated $31 million for level crossing upgrades, meaning that a total of $73 million was available to be spent across the state.

A portion of the funding was allocated towards the elimination of the Rungoo level crossing via a road-over-rail overpass.

In addition, new standards were proposed by the Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board, which focused on greater safety for train engine cabins.

Greater cabin safety improvements were also adopted into a new Cairns Tilt Train power car design.

 

Source : Brisbane Times

Northern Territory Government to slash stamp duty to entice first home buyers

May 22, 2016 6:34am

ZACH HOPE

NT News

Cat Tatam is happy that first home buyers will save as much $10,000 on existing properties in an imminent cut to stamp duty by the government. PICTURE: Helen Orr

FIRST-home buyers will save as much $10,000 on existing properties in an imminent cut to stamp duty, the NT News can reveal.

The Territory Government will forgo an estimated $5.5 million in stamp duty over more than a year as it moves to encourage first-time buyers into the existing home market and stimulate the sluggish property sector.

A 50 per cent discount for first-time buyers will apply to existing homes valued up to $450,000 and be capped at $10,000 for more expensive properties. The measure will be included in Tuesday’s Budget and be available to buyers immediately until June 30 next year, when it will be reviewed for extension.

The $26,000 first home grant on new properties only — criticised by the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory as doing “immense harm” by skewing the market — will remain available.

The announcement means first timers now have incentives to enter both the new and existing home markets. REINT chief executive Quentin Killian said the 50 per cent discount went halfway in addressing the market’s concerns. “It’s a great first step and it’s a fabulous move in the right direction that certainly will start to reinvigorate the market,” Mr Killian said.

“(But) it’s always been out intent that this should be a full removal of stamp duty for first home buyers entering this marketplace.

He said while REINT would continue to lobby government for a full removal of stamp duty, the year-long discount trial represented a good opportunity.

“I think we will start to hopefully see some stimuli into the market place following this because there’s plenty of stock,” Mr Killian said. “I would thoroughly encourage any first homebuyer to take advantage of it right now.”

The government has blamed the market slowdown on the mining industry, increased land releases, new housing supply and the withdrawal of interstate investors. Chief Minister Adam Giles said: “Housing affordability has improved under the Country Liberals, enabling the Government to reintroduce a stamp duty discount without distorting the market.”

“The discount will make housing more affordable for first-home buyers and increase economic activity in the property sector.

“We are getting the cost-of-living balance right.”

Cat Tatam, 27, from Darwin, bought a property in Perth three years ago but believes the new scheme in the Territory would have helped her buying a home here.

“I guess it would definitely have weighed into the consideration no one wants to pay stamp duty when they don’t have to,” she said.

Median prices in Darwin are $570,000 for houses and $455,000 for units.

Source : NT News