Dozens suspended in Harvard cheat scandal

Around 60 students at Harvard University have been suspended in a mass cheating scandal. Source: AAP

AROUND 60 students at Harvard University have been suspended and others disciplined in a mass cheating scandal at the elite college, the campus newspaper reports.

The Harvard Crimson quoted an email from Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean Michael Smith that said more than half of the cases heard by administrators in the scandal, which erupted last year, had resulted in suspension orders.

About half of the other students under investigation were disciplined in some other, unspecified fashion, the Crimson reported. Officials at Harvard could not be immediately reached for confirmation.

The scandal first became public in August when Harvard said that as many as 125 students were suspected of helping each other in a final exam.

The university said a large number of undergraduates "may have inappropriately collaborated on answers, or plagiarized classmates' responses, on the final exam for the course."

Harvard, a college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston, is one of the most exclusive universities in the world, with students paying about $US63,000 ($A60,702.41) per year to attend.

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Brake failure ruled out in Qld train crash

QUEENSLAND Transport Minister Scott Emerson says Fair Work Australia has debunked union claims that a passenger train crash was caused by brake failure.

Queensland Rail and police are investigating how a Brisbane train left the tracks and smashed into a toilet block at Cleveland station on Thursday.

The Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said its members would not drive the model of train involved over safety concerns, but was ordered to cease the ban by Fair Work Australia.

Mr Emerson said Fair Work Australia had informed him there was no evidence to support brake failure being an issue.

He said the RTBU should allow the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to complete investigations.

"Fair Work Australia has ordered the union to cease their bans to allow the investigation into the cause of the Cleveland incident to take place," Mr Emerson said in a statement.

"I welcome the decision by Fair Work Australia, and I urge the union to let Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) get on with their investigation."

Mr Emerson said the train underwent a full inspection on January 9 and it was not the first train to travel on that line that day.

The RTBU has been sought for comment.

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Woman nabbed for salary sacrifice fraud

A BRISBANE woman has been charged with stealing salary-sacrifice money from government and other workers.

Police refused to say how much money was involved but it's believed it could run into millions of dollars.

The 58-year-old allegedly misappropriated the money while she was working for a finance company managing salary sacrifice contracts for government and non-government employees.

She is facing two counts of fraud and two counts of fraudulently falsifying records.

She was arrested after investigations by the Fraud and Corporate Crime Group.

She's due to face the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

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Gallery celebrates nation's leading ladies

THEY'RE Australia's "First Ladies".

Not to be mistaken for prime minister's wives - they're more the pioneering kind.

The National Portrait Gallery's latest exhibition illustrates the accomplishments of Australian women in medicine, politics, academia, arts, sports, science and business.

Curator Joanna Gilmour says her exhibit First Ladies: Significant Australian Women 1913-2013 provides a visual display of just how far women have progressed in society over the past 100 years.

"It starts off with portraits of two women who were very much engaged in the suffragette movement just before the first world war," she said.

"As you go around the gallery you get a chronological walkthrough of women's achievements in the 20th century.

"By the time you finish you end up at the portrait of the current Prime Minister (Julia Gillard)."

Olympian Cathy Freeman, Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn and aviatrix Nancy Bird Walton are just a few of the faces proudly displayed on the walls.

However, the main feature of the gallery is businesswoman Imelda Roche AO.

Ms Roche co-founded Nutrimetics International (Australia) Pty Ltd in 1968 before acquiring the world-wide interest of the company 23 years later.

In 1997 she sold the group to the Sara Lee Corporation.

She told AAP her granddaughter had asked her on Thursday why she was chosen as the main feature.

"I said I have absolutely no idea, but I'm going to ask the question and by the time I come back tomorrow I will have an intelligent answer," Ms Roche said.

And has she found it?

"It's an enormous honour, I don't understand quite why. But at the end of the day I hope to," she said.

Ms Roche's portrait, by artist Paul Newton, will be on display until June 16.

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Tattoo industry revamp to stamp out bikies

TATTOO artists and parlour owners in NSW will have to apply for new licences in a move aimed at cleaning up an industry that has become "a feeding ground" for bikie gangs.

Police Minister Michael Gallacher says parlour owners will undergo stringent police checks and will need new licences from February 1.

Under the new requirements, anyone found to have criminal associations or a criminal history related to bikie gangs will be deemed ineligible for the licence, and therefore unable to operate.

All licences will be regulated by the Fair Trading department before being signed off by the police commissioner.

"For far too long the tattoo industry has been a feeding ground for outlaw motorcycle gangs," Mr Gallacher told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

"And it's not just about licensing ... operators will be required to keep extensive records. A number of these organisations are a front for money laundering," he said.

"The record keeping, as well as the ability of police to walk onto premises without a warrant, is a significant advancement in terms of the police ability to address the concerns in relation to organised crime".

Businesses caught operating without a licence after October 1 this year face an $11,000 fine, plus a further $11,000 for each day they continue to operate. Tattoo artists will also be fined $5,500.

Acting NSW Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas said police would be on the lookout for tattoo parlours operated by "cleanskins" - people with no criminal record - but run by those associated with outlaw motorcycle gangs.

"If they continue to do this business, they're going to find it very hard. They will struggle to get a licence under this regime and they're going to have to get out of business," Mr Kaldas said.

The Fair Trading department has welcomed the move and says the licensing will support legitimate operators by removing criminal elements from the industry.

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Tony Windsor opens social media accounts

MP Tony Windsor has launched new social media accounts but denies it is the start of his campaign. Source: AAP

FEDERAL independent MP Tony Windsor has launched two new social media accounts, but denies the move is the start of his re-election campaign.

The 62-year-old member for New England, in northern NSW, published his tonywindsormp Twitter and Facebook sites on Thursday.

The independent held the seat in 2010 with a thumping 61.88 per cent of the vote but faces a voter backlash over his support for the minority Labor government.

Mr Windsor said he'd been reluctant to join social media sites because he was "more focused on getting things done, rather than telling people about it".

But a young supporter at a recent meeting in Tamworth persuaded him to take the plunge.

Mr Windsor denied the move was the start of his election campaign, despite the accounts being published a day after Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the September 14 poll.

"I'm glad the Prime Minister has announced the date of the election so far in advance, as I believe it gives people and businesses certainty," Mr Windsor said.

"But that doesn't mean I'm going to start campaigning for the next parliament."

Mr Windsor confirmed last year he would run again for New England.

By 1pm (AEST) on Thursday the MP had not sent a tweet but had attracted more than 1000 followers.

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Mali rebels may move to Libya: UN official

THE UN's special representative for Libya has warned the Security Council that France's military offensive in northern Mali may drive Islamic insurgents out and across the porous borders with Algeria and into Libya.

UN officials including peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous have said that the Islamist occupation of northern Mali was partly triggered by the downfall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, as well-trained militiamen fled into Mali with looted heavy weapons, driving back the Malian army.

UN special representative for Libya Tarek Mitri told the Security Council that "the opposition of armed radical groups to the military intervention in Mali may exacerbate the situation (in Libya) given ideological and/or ethnic affiliations as well as porous borders in Libya".

Mitri said that he was also concerned about the continued detention of several thousand people as a result of the Libyan conflict.

He told reporters that some 7000 detainees are held in Libya, most of them in cells run by the anti-Gaddafi revolutionary brigades.

"There have been cases of torture in the past," but conditions are improving as more prisoners are transferred to state-controlled prisons.

"There are still a few cases of torture, but only a few," Mitri added.

Although about 20,000 revolutionary brigade members have joined the new Libyan army or police forces, about 200,000 armed men "are not ready to get absorbed" into the new Libyan institutions, adding to the instability, Mitri told reporters.

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