On-the-run terror suspect suing Britain

A TERRORISM suspect who escaped British surveillance by disguising himself in a burka is suing the government over alleged torture, it's been revealed.

Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed evaded police surveillance last week by changing his Western-style clothes for a burka while he was visiting a mosque in London.

British counterterrorism police and secret services have launched a major search for the 27-year-old, who is believed to have fought abroad for al-Shabaab, the militant Somali rebel group.

His case for damages from the British government emerged at the High Court on Thursday, when a judge handed down an interim ruling in his case and his anonymity was lifted due to his disappearance.

Before he went on the run, Mohamed and another man had filed a claim against the Foreign Office, Home Office, Ministry of Defence and the Attorney General, alleging they had consented or acquiesced to their detention and torture by Somaliland authorities in January 2011.

British "officers and agents ... by their acts and omissions, procured, induced, encouraged or directly caused, or were otherwise complicit in" the detention of Mohamed and his co-claimant, the court papers said.

The judge in the case said that both were British citizens of Somali descent.

Mohamed had travelled to Somaliland in 2007 and was returned to Britain in March 2011, after his arrest and alleged torture.

British Home Secretary Theresa May had applied for a control order against him prior to his detention in Somaliland, Mohamed said, showing that May knew he was about to be detained.

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Huntsman spider found at UK warehouse

A FEARSOME-LOOKING giant spider common in Australia has given workers at a British warehouse a fright after travelling over from Asia.

The 17-centimetre-long huntsman spider came over to East Sussex after stowing away in a shipping container packed with BMX parts in Taiwan.

It is believed to have been locked up for six weeks as the container made its way thousands of miles across the oceans before reaching the UK.

Shocked staff at Seventies BMX Distribution in St Leonards-on-Sea discovered the arachnid lurking in their delivery while unpacking the boxes.

Warehouse manager Joe Woodburn said he thought the spider was plastic at first as it wasn't moving.

"My mate saw it on the box I was holding. He froze and couldn't get his words out fast enough," Woodburn said.

"...the minute it was in the sunlight it started to warm up and it was running around and jumping up the side of the box."

RSPCA inspector Zoe Ballard was called out to deal with the animal, but admitted she was not the biggest fan of eight-legged creepy-crawlies.

"I got the call through as collection of a tarantula, but as soon as I saw it I knew it wasn't a tarantula," Ms Ballard said, adding she's been called out to collect a scorpion in the past, but has never come across a spider like it before.

"I managed to secure the spider in the container and took it to the RSPCA's wildlife centre nearby, but I must admit I was worried all the way that it would get out and escape in my van."

The spider has now been housed at Drusillas Zoo Park in Alfriston, near Eastbourne, but RSPCA inspector Tony Woodley said it does not generally pose a big threat.

"Huntsman spiders can give you a nasty bite, but they aren't likely to cause too much harm unless you suffer an allergic reaction," he said.

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Controversial health website launched

PRIVATE health fund nib has launched a controversial website that allows patients to rate the cost and service levels of health practitioners.

The searchable Whitecoat website is open to all Australians and lists 30,000 "extras" providers such as optometrists, dentists and chiropractors.

"Whitecoat represents a new way of connecting consumers and providers," says the fund's Rhod McKensey.

It is particularly useful for people who have moved to a new area or need a treatment for the first time.

The 13,000 comments featured so far have been collected from clients over the past 12 months and are 90 per cent positive, he says.

The fund says it has consulted widely to overcome issues and providers will be able to opt out of the ratings and comments.

But some health organisations are concerned the ratings system will be unfair and that the site breaks advertising guidelines.

The Australian Dental Association has advised members not to participate at all.

"We can't see the benefit," says vice president Dr Carmelo Bonanno.

Cost comparisons are difficult because treatments might appear the same but might involve different materials and different degrees of difficulty, he says.

"We also have concerns about breaching advertising guidelines for dentists."

The Dietitians Association of Australia is advising its members to opt out of the rating and comments section.

"A directory showing people what's available in their area is fantastic," says spokesperson Kate Di Prima, and accredited practising dietician.

But she is concerned the ratings system will reflect the subjective view of a single person and there are too many variables for valid price comparisons.

"A consumer-driven health profession that embraces choices is the future," says Chiropractors' Association of Australia CEO Andrew McNamara.

He is concerned, however, that the site complies with health profession guidelines.

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Australian bulls mistreated in Mauritius

MORE video of apparent cruelty to Australian animals has emerged, this time of bulls being mistreated in Mauritius.

After releasing footage of sheep being treated cruelly in Jordan in October, Animals Australia is claiming breaches of live export regulations have been committed in Mauritius after bringing it to the attention of the Department of Agriculture.

The animal welfare group's investigators filmed Australian bulls being dragged on and off trucks by ropes, falling onto concrete, collapsing in exhaustion and distress, and being restrained and slaughtered during the Festival of Sacrifice.

Animals Australia also said it had gathered evidence of Australian cattle being loaded on trucks and transported out of the approved feedlot for private and backyard slaughter, breaching the federal government's Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme (ESCAS) brought in after the Indonesian abattoir scandal in 2011.

The department said it had started investigating the claims.

Animals Australia said the exporter involved, International Livestock Exports - under investigation for ESCAS breaches in Kuwait in January - had reported the breaches to the department, but the animal welfare group dismissed that as an attempt to mitigate penalties.

The company was being sought for comment.

Animals Australia's legal counsel Shatha Hamade said the cruelty endured by the bulls was horrendous.

"Without strong regulatory sanctions, exporters will not take their legal responsibility seriously," Ms Hamade said.

"The only way that this will not be repeated is fear of consequences ... loss of export licence by exporters or the associated loss of the supply of animals for importers."

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who described last month's Jordan revelations as sickening, said Animals Australia's latest footage was further proof that ESCAS had failed and that the live export trade should be stopped.

"The live export trade is systemically cruel, not in Australia's economic interests and contrary to the vast majority of public opinion," Mr Wilkie told AAP.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the footage from Jordan was disturbing but added the government would not make policy "on the basis of one or two media reports", while Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said halting trade to that market would only harm farmers.

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US unemployment benefit applications fall

THE number of people seeking US unemployment benefits fell 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 336,000 last week, bringing applications to pre-recession levels.

The Labor Department said on Thursday that the less volatile four-week average dropped 9,250 to 348,250.

The average was elevated by the 16-day partial government shutdown and backlogs in California that occurred because of computer upgrades.

Weekly applications have fallen for four straight weeks. Applications are a proxy for layoffs.

The decline suggests companies are cutting very few workers.

Still, they are not hiring many new ones.

Falling applications are typically followed by more job gains, but hiring has slowed in recent months, rather than accelerated.

The economy added an average 143,000 jobs a month from July through September. That's down from an average of 182,000 in April through June, and 207,000 during the first three months of the year.

October's jobs report, to be released on Friday, likely will look even weaker.

Economists expect that employers added just 122,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 per cent, according to FactSet.

But much of the weakness in October's jobs report will likely reflect the temporary impact of the shutdown.

Most economists expect any spike in the jobless rate will be reversed in November.

The economy was strengthening ahead of the shutdown, the government said on Thursday in a separate report.

Growth accelerated at a 2.8 per cent annual rate in the July-September quarter, up from a 2.5 per cent rate in the April-June quarter.

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Bank of England keeps rates unchanged

THE Bank of England has decided to keep its key interest rate at a record low of 0.5 per cent as it monitors the economy's strengthening recovery.

The Monetary Policy Committee also voted on Thursday to refrain from pumping more money into the economy. The bank has so far pumped STG375 billion ($A636.83 billion) into the economy since January 2009.

The decision had been widely expected because of the bank's new "forward guidance" policy, which new Governor Mark Carney introduced this summer.

The guidance offers markets, individuals and businesses a clear steer on where interest rates will be in coming months.

Carney has indicated rates will remain low until unemployment - currently at 7.7 per cent - drops significantly to a 7 per cent threshold.

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Sven lover 'sold story for STG300,000'

FORMER England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's mistress received STG300,000 ($A509,000) to sell her story to two Sunday newspapers, a UK jury has been told.

Faria Alam, 47, began an affair with Eriksson while working as a secretary at the FA and the Old Bailey has heard "first details" emerged when the News of the World hacked their phones.

After she was fired because of the relationship in September 2004, publicist Max Clifford cut a deal for the News of the World (NotW) and Mail on Sunday to give her STG150,000 each for her side of the story, the court heard.

In a statement read out in court, Alam said Eriksson started pursuing her shortly after she joined the FA in April 2003.

The affair began after he took her on dinner dates and then lunch in a private dining room in London, the court heard on Thursday.

"I was impressed - I would say in the office I was going for longer lunches. I'm not sure if they knew I was going with Sven," she said.

The court heard that Alam's phone was hacked by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire on behalf of the NotW in June 2004.

After returning that month from Euro 2004 with the England team, Eriksson told his lover that there were reporters who knew about the relationship and Alam "freaked out".

In an attempt to avoid publicity, the pair flew out to Eriksson's native Sweden, but when they arrived at his home there were reporters waiting, forcing them to stay indoors all weekend.

The story of their relationship appeared in the NotW on July 18, 2004, but Ms Alam was not named and a picture of her outside her flat in south east London did not show her face.

When the news broke, Eriksson asked her "How do you want to deal with the situation?" and she said: "I will deny it."

Despite her denials, she was fired from her job as PA to then-chief executive of the FA David Davies in September 2004 but remained in contact with Eriksson for months afterwards.

Mulcaire has already admitted phone hacking.

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