Pamplona bull run hospitalises 21

Bull-runners were crushed in a pile-up in Pamplona on the seventh day of Spain's famed festival. Source: AAP

DAREDEVIL bull-runners have been crushed in a pile-up in the Spanish city of Pamplona during its famed San Fermin festival, with at least 21 people hospitalised.

Television pictures showed a pile of runners, in traditional white shirts and red neckerchiefs, blocking the entrance to a bullring, the end point of the frantic dash through the town's cobbled streets.

The pile-up blocked several of the animals from charging into the arena, with panicked runners scrambling over the heads of those in front of them and others trying to pull the fallen free.

Two of the beasts - of the six bulls and the six steers that ran - leapt over the pile, crushing runners under their hooves. The others were herded to the arena through a side passage.

Several people were also trampled under the bulls' hooves during the crowded 850-metre dash through the city's narrow streets, which took four minutes and 15 seconds.

It was the sixth day of the fiesta in this northern town, which draws festival-goers and daredevils from around the world for a week of drinking and perilous bull-runs.

Javier Sesma, a doctor from the emergency unit of the local Navarra Hospital, told reporters that 21 people were injured in the run and the pile-up overall.

These included a 19-year-old man from the Spanish town of Vitoria who was in serious condition with a chest injury, and an Irish man with a less severe injury, also to his chest.

The 19-year-old was "in an especially serious condition with a chest trauma causing breathing problems, and is requiring breathing apparatus," Sesma said. "He is in a stable but serious condition."

He added that a further two people were being treated for gore wounds.

Spanish media said it was the worst stampede in decades at the festival.

Live television pictures showed one man being carried away unconscious, his face bleeding.

Saturday's chaotic run nearly doubled the overall toll of those hospitalised in the previous six days of runs.

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Texas abortion law passes despite protests

The Texas senate approved a bill setting some of the strictest limits on abortion despite protests. Source: AAP

THE Texas senate has approved a bill setting some of the strictest limits on abortion in the United States, just weeks after a filibuster by opposition Democrats dramatically thwarted the measure.

The bill - similar to the one that state Senator Wendy Davis helped block in a 13-hour filibuster on June 25 - was approved 19-11 late on Friday, with one Democrat joining the Republican majority, local media reported.

Davis became a national hero for Democrats and supporters of abortion. Pro-choice advocates filled the spectator gallery Friday and held rallies outside the state senate, but were unable to stop the measure from being approved.

Republican Governor Rick Perry has vowed to sign the bill into law.

The bill includes a ban on abortions starting at 20 weeks after conception, unless the woman's health is imminently endangered; sets strict requirements for doctors performing abortions; and mandates that a doctor must be present when a woman takes a pill to induce an abortion.

Texas media reported that police tussled with noisy protesters who resisted eviction from the spectator gallery. Some protesters even chained themselves to the railing to avoid being dragged out.

During the June 25 session a raucous gallery crowd was key in preventing the vote from being held on time. There were too many activists for police to control - a mistake not repeated on Friday, when the capitol was swarming with state troopers.

Police also checked bags and took out items that could be thrown, including bottles suspected of containing excrement and urine, the Houston Chronicle reported.

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Syria's famed Crusader fort hit in raid

Footage shot by activists was posted online showing an air raid on Syria's famed Crusader castle. Source: AAP

AN air raid on Syria's famed Krak des Chevaliers castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has damaged one of the fortress's towers, footage shot by activists shows.

Several videos posted online on Saturday showed at least one air strike on Friday against the castle in central Homs province, where fighting is raging between government troops and rebel forces.

The footage shows a huge blast as a tower of the Crusader castle, which is built on a hill, appears to take a direct hit, throwing up large clouds of smoke and scattering debris in the air.

A separate video filmed inside the fortress purports to show some of the damage caused by the air strike, including a gaping hole in the ceiling and a pile of rubble below.

"God is great. This is the destruction caused by MiG air strike on the Krak des Chevaliers," says the activist filming the damage.

"Look at the this, oh world. This is Bashar al-Assad bombing the Krak des Chevaliers," he adds of Syria's embattled president whom rebel forces are trying to topple.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a watchdog group, could not confirm direct hits on the castle, but said there were reports of three air strikes in the area on Friday.

The raids came after rebels apparently using the Krak des Chevaliers as a base attacked an Alawite village called Qumayri, killing several people, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Fighting in and around the fortress has been reported throughout the conflict, which began with anti-government protests in March 2011 and evolved into an armed uprising after crackdowns on demonstrations.

The Krak des Chevaliers was built between 1142 and 1271, according to UNESCO, and along with the adjoining Qalat Salah el-Din fortress, is considered one of the best preserved Crusader castles in existence.

It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2006, and is one of six sites in Syria designated as such.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, according to the Observatory.

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Faulty switch blamed for French derailment

The train derailment near Paris that left six people dead was likely caused by a faulty switch. Source: AAP

THE derailment near Paris that left six people dead and dozens injured was likely caused by a faulty part in the switch that allows trains to change tracks, the SNCF national rail company says.

"This bond", a kind of steel clip that links two rails on a switch, "broke away, it became detached and came out of its housing," Pierre Izard, SNCF's general manager for infrastructure said on Saturday.

The company added that it had ordered checks of some 5000 similar devices on the network.

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European stocks extend gains

EUROPEAN stock markets have risen further, building on recent gains on the back of a prolonged US stimulus program, traders say.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares on Friday climbed 0.53 per cent to stand at 6,578.34 points approaching midday in the British capital.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 advanced 0.98 per cent to 8,238.46 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.39 per cent in value to 3,884.24.

Indices had also risen on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve indicated that it was in no rush to end its huge program for stimulating the US economy.

Fed head Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday that the US central bank's stimulus drive would be kept in place "for the foreseeable future".

The news poured cold water on market expectations that the Fed would start to pull back on massive bond-buying later this year, which has sent global equity indices reeling in recent weeks.

"Markets are again nicely in green, still feeling the effects of Bernanke's dovish comments from Wednesday, even though caution over Chinese growth - the world's second-largest economy - has returned to the fore," Gekko Markets trader Anita Paluch said on Friday.

The euro fell to $US1.3042 from $US1.3092 in New York late on Thursday. The US dollar grew to Y99.06 from Y98.90.

The price of gold dropped to $US1,276.16 an ounce from $US1,285 on Thursday on the London Bullion Market.

"A few soothing words on monetary policy by Fed chairman Bernanke was all it took to revive market interest in equity markets," said Derek Halpenny, European head of global markets research at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

Asian stock markets closed mixed on Friday, with a record-breaking close on Wall Street offset by profit-taking after the previous day's broad gains.

Japan's Nikkei edged higher as traders bought back into the US dollar following Bernanke's comments and after the Dow and S&P 500 surged overnight to new highs on Wall Street.

The Dow rallied 1.11 per cent and the S&P 500 jumped by 1.36 per cent in value on Thursday, while the Nasdaq added 1.63 per cent to end at its highest level since September 2000.

Bernanke's comments came as a surprise, with most economists expecting the bank to begin winding down the easy-money scheme that was introduced in September and has fuelled a rally in global markets.

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Sydney's Central Station set for makeover

The NSW government has announced plans for a major development of Sydney's Central Railway Station. Source: AAP

THOUSANDS of jobs and homes could be created in Sydney by taking down the "Berlin Wall" that divides the inner city, and implementing a proposal inspired by New York and Paris.

The initiative, announced by the NSW government on Friday, would develop a large "dead space" in inner Sydney and renew the railway line corridor between Central Station and Eveleigh.

The three kilometre area - from Sydney CBD to Macdonaldtown train station - is made up largely of rail lines, large open park areas and the Australian Technology Park.

Planning Minister Brad Hazzard says the separated space fails to connect a vital part of Sydney.

"What we have is an opportunity for that greater connectedness between the Redfern community side of the railway line and the Surry Hills side," Mr Hazzard told reporters on Friday.

He described the current infrastructure in the area as the "Berlin Wall" of Sydney.

The proposal would provide thousands of jobs and homes while retaining and enhancing key heritage buildings, such as Central Station and Mortuary Station, based on other successful international revamps, he said.

"Similar models have been successfully implemented in New York, Paris and London," he said.

About one million square metres of space had been identified that could provide employment opportunities, retail, housing and more open space, while not disrupting rail services.

International businesses are being called on to come to Sydney and present their ideas on how the vision could come to fruition.

The plan takes into account the Draft Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney to 2031, released in March, that highlights the need for 114,000 news jobs and tens of thousands of new homes in Sydney.

The time frame for development is 15-20 years.

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Broadcaster Alan Whicker dies at 87

How detectives nabbed Malcom Naden

THE two detectives who captured Malcolm Naden -- Australia's most wanted fugitive -- reveal his master bushman skills were nothing short of a myth.

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WITH Agar-mania still in full swing, Australia go in search of crucial early wickets on day three of the first Ashes Test. Follow it live!

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No UK public inquiry into Litvinenko death

THE British government has refused to hold a public inquiry into the poisoning of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, a coroner says, leaving the current proceedings on the verge of collapse.

Coroner Robert Owen had sought a full public inquiry to replace his lower-level inquest into the 2006 murder of the former spy in London as he is not authorised to investigate the possible involvement of the Russian state.

But he told a hearing at London's Royal Courts of Justice on Friday the British government had only about an hour earlier denied his request for a judge-led inquiry into the killing.

Litvinenko, 43, was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 while drinking tea at a London hotel.

His widow Marina has claimed that her husband, a former KGB agent, was working for Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6 at the time of his slow and agonising death, and that he was killed on the orders of the Kremlin.

Her lawyer Ben Emmerson told Friday's hearing the British government had shown an "utter lack of professionalism" in the way it handled the request for a public inquiry.

"The repeated catalogue of broken promises is a sign of something gone awry," Emmerson told the court.

The current inquest into Litvinenko's death was thrown into doubt in May when Owen ruled that he could not hear evidence concerning Russia's alleged role, following an application by the British foreign ministry to keep it secret.

Owen had said he would be failing in his duty "to undertake a full, fair and fearless inquiry into the circumstances of Mr Litvinenko's death" if he was forced to disregard the evidence for national security reasons.

He suggested the death could instead be considered in a public inquiry in which the evidence alleging Russian state involvement "could be taken into account".

Under English law, evidence cannot be heard in secret as part of an inquest, but could be presented behind closed doors as part of a public inquiry.

Inquests, which are held to examine sudden or unexplained deaths, set out to determine the place and time of death as well as how the deceased came by their death, but they do not apportion blame.

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Asian sales boost for Jaguar Land Rover

A SURGE in sales in Asia has helped Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) record a strong first half to the year.

JLR sales worldwide reached 210,190 in the first six months of 2013 - a rise of 14 per cent on the January-June 2012 total.

China sales for Jaguar so far this year have reached almost 8000, surpassing the 2012 full-year total, while Asia Pacific sales for Jaguar and Land Rover combined are up 26 per cent in the first half of 2013.

In the first half of this year, JLR sales in the UK are up 16 per cent, North America has risen 13 per cent and Europe has increased 6 per cent.

JLR group sales operations director Phil Popham said: "It is very encouraging to see both our Jaguar and Land Rover brands delivering strong sales performances across our 178 markets.

New model introductions have been incredibly well received with the all-new Range Rover retailing more than 22,000 units since launch.

"The (Jaguar) F-Type, which received a rapturous reception from media during its global launch last month, is off to an excellent start with new customers and will go on sale in China this month."

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China accuses GSK staff of corruption

Senior managers of drug firm GlaxoSmithKline in China are facing investigation for corruption. Source: AAP

SENIOR managers of British drug firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in China have confessed to bribery, "serious" business offences and tax crimes, police say.

"As a big multinational pharmaceutical company, GSK China in recent years rampantly bribed some government officials, a number of pharmaceutical industry groups and funds, hospitals and doctors," the ministry of public security said in a statement.

The firm did so in order to sell products or raise prices, it said, adding that benefits were provided "via travel agencies and other channels in the form of direct bribery or sponsorship".

GSK China also committed tax-related crimes, the statement said, following police investigations in the financial hub Shanghai and the central cities of Changsha and Zhengzhou.

"The case involves a large number of people, a long period of time, a huge value and its circumstances are vile," it added.

Some senior managers have confessed their wrongdoings in preliminary interrogation, the statement said, without specifying the suspects' nationalities.

The inquiry was continuing.

It is common practice in China for pharmaceutical firms to offer doctors and hospitals bribes to have their products used, industry insiders say.

GSK is one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical companies in China with total investment of more than $US500 million ($A544.72 million), according to its website.

Officials at GSK said they could not immediately comment when contacted by AFP.

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Navy inducts new helicopter into fleet

THE Navy has officially welcomed its new helicopters, which have been described as the most advanced tactical troop transport helicopters of the 21st century.

The first of 46 MRH-90s, also known as Taipans, were formally commissioned in a ceremony attended by the Navy's top brass and the former heads of the squadron which has been re-inducted to fly them.

The Taipan was formally commissioned into the fleet at HMAS Albatross navy base.

808 Squadron, first formed in 1950 and whose personnel fought during the Korean War but were decommissioned in 1958, will fly the new craft.

Australian Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Tim Barrett said the Navy would use the new aircraft in the maritime support role previously performed by now retired Sea King helicopter.

In Army service, the Taipan will replace Black Hawks as a battlefield and special operations support helicopter.

"The commissioning of 808 Squadron is a significant milestone for the Navy," Rear Admiral Barrett said in a statement.

The European-designed helicopter is capable of transporting up to 30 personnel.

But it has encountered problems, with a number of performance shortfalls which are now being addressed. The Taipan was listed as a project of concern in 2011.

Rear Admiral Barrett said bringing a technologically advanced, new generation aircraft into service was no simple task.

"There are several nations around the world introducing variants of the MRH-90 Helicopter but 808 Squadron is leading the world in the level of capability being achieved with this new aircraft, particularly in its operations at sea."

The 808 Squadron will be based at HMAS Albatross and its helicopters will operate from support ships such as HMAS Success, HMAS Tobruk and HMAS Choules.

The Taipan will also operate from the new landing helicopter dock amphibious ships Canberra and Adelaide.

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Labor should govern alone in future: Bowen

Treasurer Chris Bowen believes Labor shouldn't enter into formal agreements with other parties. Source: AAP

LABOR should govern alone or not at all, Treasurer Chris Bowen says in a new book about the party's future.

But he insisted on Thursday that was not a criticism of the past three years of minority government during which Labor held power through written agreements with the Australian Greens and independent MPs.

"This term of office has been one in which we've achieved a lot ... by working with other political parties and independents," Mr Bowen told ABC's 7.30.

But he believed that in the future, when Labor had put its own views during an election campaign, "we should govern alone and that we should not enter into formal agreements with other political parties".

"We have a lot to offer with our policies and we shouldn't need the policies of the Greens," he said.

"We believe in things the Greens party fundamentally disagrees with and we have a separate existence."

Mr Bowen's book, Hearts & Minds: A Blueprint for Modern Labor, will be launched by News Ltd boss Kim Williams on Friday in Sydney.

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Aust expects Japan to accept ICJ rule

AUSTRALIA expects Japan to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean if the International Court of Justice (ICJ) finds against it, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says.

Should the court rule for Japan, Australia would accept the decision but continue to work for an end to whaling through the International Whaling Commission, he says.

Mr Dreyfus, an experienced Queen's Counsel, has been presenting Australia's case against Japan's whaling program before the ICJ in The Hague, arguing that it is commercial whaling dressed up as science.

He says Japan is a good international citizen and will accept the final ICJ ruling.

"We expect that Japan will comply with any ruling of the ICJ just as Australia would comply with any ruling of the ICJ," he told ABC television's 7.30 Report on Wednesday.

"There are enforcement arrangements. I don't think it would come to that."

Mr Dreyfus said Australia would accept a decision for Japan.

"If the ICJ rules against us, that the whaling convention does permit Japan to do what it has been doing for many years, we will keep arguing in the whaling commission with other nations," he said.

"More than 30 other nations directly support the point we are making here in the ICJ."

Mr Dreyfus said Japan's whaling program in the Southern Ocean had killed more than 10,000 whales since the 1988 moratorium.

He said Japan simply continued whaling following the moratorium, using the same whaling company and doing pretty much as they had before.

"They were doing commercial whaling up to the introduction of the moratorium in the Southern Ocean. After the moratorium, they simply re-badged it as a scientific program," he said.

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Koreas end talks without deal

SOUTH Korea says talks with North Korea on reopening a jointly-run industrial estate have ended without agreement, but the two sides agreed to meet again next week.

The South's chief delegate Suh Ho said talks on restarting the Kaesong industrial complex's mothballed factories would continue on July 15, after about four hours of meetings that started on Wednesday morning.

"We both agreed that the complex should be maintained and further developed," Suh told reporters at the site just inside North Korea.

"The North argued that it should be resumed as soon as machinery checkups are finished, while we pointed out that the same situation could be repeated even after the reopening if there is no firm guarantee on preventing a recurrence (of the shutdown).

"So it was decided that this issue would be discussed at the next meeting," he added.

The talks follow months of cross-border friction and threats of war by Pyongyang after its February nuclear test attracted tougher UN sanctions, further squeezing its struggling economy.

Kaesong shut down three months ago as relations between the frosty neighbours hit crisis point.

But at a rare weekend meeting the North and South agreed in principle to reopen Kaesong, the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.

Earlier on Wednesday, a vehicle convoy of about 130 South Korean delegates, support staff and factory owners crossed at Paju over the heavily fortified demilitarised border zone that underscores the ever-present tension between two nations, which remain technically at war. Their 1950-53 conflict ended in a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty.

The vehicles were outfitted with bright red flags, following border rules aimed at preventing an accidental shooting.

Kaesong, which was built in 2004, sits about 10 kilometres inside North Korea. The South Korean-funded site, built as part of a diplomatic bid to improve cross-border relations, was an important source of hard currency for the impoverished North.

In April Pyongyang withdrew its 53,000 workers from the 123 Seoul-owned factories at the complex, citing military tensions and what it called the South's hostility.

Seoul withdrew managers from most of the operations in early May.

The South now wants firm safeguards from the North against shutting Kaesong down unilaterally, to keep the estate insulated from changes in relations.

This would be a bitter pill for the North to swallow as it means it would accept responsibility for the April closure.

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Teen becomes 5th death from Turkey unrest

A 19-YEAR-OLD university student who was hurt during anti-government protests that rocked Turkey last month has died from his injuries, bringing the death toll in the unrest to five.

Ali Ismail Korkmaz, who joined the demos on June 2 in the central Anatolian city of Eskisehir, suffered a brain haemorrhage when unidentified assailants attacked him while he was fleeing from tear gas, the Dogan News Agency reported.

The Turkish Medical Association told AFP it could not confirm the latest casualty.

The deadly wave of protests presented Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government with the most serious challenge to its rule since it came to power more than a decade ago.

The unrest flared when police cracked down on a peaceful sit-in against plans to redevelop a central Istanbul park on May 31, which then snowballed into nationwide protests that saw some 2.5 million take to the streets.

The government's heavy-handed response during nearly three weeks of protests left nearly 8000 injured and earned Turkey a strong rebuke from the United States and its Western allies.

The violence eased after police evicted protesters from Gezi Park on June 15, but police again fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Monday to prevent demonstrators from entering the park after it was re-opened to the public.

On Saturday, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner Nils Muiznieks urged an investigation into the use of excessive police force.

"All instances of excessive use of force by the police must be fully investigated and adequately punished," he said during a visit to the Turkish capital Ankara.

He deplored the fact that only three police officers had been suspended, despite numerous accusations of rights abuses.

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Federal election leaves Gen Y cold

21-YEAR-OLD Dominique Erichsen isn't alone in feeling alienated by politics.

"If it was about me it probably wouldn't be about anything important. But sure, if it was about me I'd be more interested," she says.

The trainee florist from Sydney is enrolled to vote but like many of her generation, doesn't know who her local member is.

It's not that she doesn't care.

"I just have no idea where to start."

A national survey by The Australia Institute conducted in May and released on Wednesday reveals 30 per cent of people aged 17-25 are 'not really interested' in the upcoming federal election.

About 15 per cent are 'disinterested' and 68 per cent don't know who's representing them in parliament.

Executive Director of the Institute, Dr Richard Denniss, said the confusion and disinterest among the country's future leaders is "baffling".

"But I think for the most part it's not their fault. It's up to the politicians to engage them and win them over with policy," Dr Denniss said.

The survey of 806 people also found a significant 47 per cent believe no party best represents the needs of young people.

Associate professor at Sydney University and expert in political participation, Ariadne Vromen, agreed the onus is on politicians to engage with young people in the right spaces.

"So using social media to talk to them. Ninety-five per cent of under-25s are on Facebook so it's the kind of thing you'd think about'," she told AAP.

"I'm a bit disillusioned with this concept of 'let's blame the young people'. A lot of older people are disengaged with politics."

Professor Vromen described a flawed tendency to "homogenise people".

"Young people are talked about as being the same, when they have different social backgrounds, different ethnic backgrounds," she said.

She said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull had mastered the art of using Twitter to engage a younger audience because they interacted and showed a bit of their humanity - something politician don't often do.

"They tell you what they're doing on the weekend or when they're going to the movies, which people can relate to."

Dominique says she would relish the chance to be more engaged with policies that matter to her, such as the environment, the NDIS and education reforms.

"Those policies certainly aren't about me but they are good policies."

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Syria's Baath Party replaces leadership

Syria's Baath party, led by president Bashar al-Assad, says some of its leadership will be replaced. Source: AAP

SYRIA'S ruling Baath party has replaced its top leadership in a surprise move, while UN head Ban Ki-moon has called on all parties in the war to observe a truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile in Turkey, interim Syrian rebel prime minister Ghassan Hitto announced his resignation on Monday on a day of political manoeuvring.

The developments came as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad advanced into the rebel-held Khaldiyeh district of Homs on the 10th day of an assault there.

The Baath party's central committee published the names of 16 members of the new leadership, which included none of the party's old chiefs with the exception of Assad, who will remain secretary general.

The ruling party reshuffle was its first since 2005 and Assad urged the party to "develop" and work more closely with the people to help end the country's 27-month war, state media said.

Among the incoming party leaders are parliament chief Jihad al-Laham and Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi.

"The party must develop in step with reality on the ground, and promote a culture of dialogue and voluntary action by the people," Assad said, cited by state news agency SANA.

He added that the party needed "to put in place new... criteria for the selection of party representatives, in order for them to be able to achieve (society's) objectives".

In New York UN chief Ban was more concerned with the continued bloodshed, calling on all Syrian parties to observe a truce during Ramadan.

"I am calling for every military unit of the regular army and the Free Syrian Army, for every person holding a gun, to stop fighting and offer this month of peace as a collective present to their people," he said in a statement

He added in his "Ramadan appeal" a call for the release of detainees.

Bassam Abu Abdullah, director of the Damascus Centre for Strategic Studies, said the Baath party overhaul was the result of deep-seated party discontent.

"There has been a lot of criticism from within the base towards the leadership, which has been accused of being inflexible, both before and since the crisis.

A second analyst noted the changes presaged a younger leadership that would be "more open to the international community".

The Baath party has been in power since March 8, 1963.

The move comes against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011 with peaceful anti-government protests but has become a bloody civil war estimated to have killed more than 100,000 people.

In Istanbul, Turkey, as the main opposition National Coalition ended a five-day meeting interim rebel premier Hitto announced his resignation, which the Coalition accepted.

Hitto quit nearly four months after his appointment and after failing to form a government.

His decision came two days after secular dissident Ahmad Assi Jarba was chosen to lead the opposition.

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Stingray mates feel the electricity

Female stingrays use electricity to choose potential mates, new research shows. Source: AAP

FEMALE stingrays use electricity to decide whether an approaching male is a potential mate or to be avoided, new research shows.

The study by the University of Western Australia's Oceans Institute researched stingrays' use of electroreception in identifying mates, and has been published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Evolution.

It found female blue spotted stingrays had more electrosensory nerve axons entering their brains than their male counterparts - and used them to their advantage.

It was discovered the nerve axons allowed for improved electrosensitivity and helped females identify suitable mates.

"Because it's the males that usually approach the females for mating, the extra electrosensory clues that females receive may allow them to distinguish mates from predators," author and shark biologist Ryan Kempster said.

"Female stingrays may make a calculated decision about whether they should stay and wait for an approaching mate or make an escape before they're spotted by a would-be predator."

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Families visit Asiana crash victims

Families are arriving in San Francisco to visit relatives in hospital after the Asiana crash. Source: AAP

FAMILIES of the passengers who were on board the crashed Asiana Airlines have started arriving in San Francisco to visit those who have been hospitalised.

More than 180 people aboard the plane went to hospitals with injuries. But remarkably, 305 of 307 passengers and crew survived, and more than a third didn't even require hospitalisation. Only a small number were badly hurt.

The passengers included 141 Chinese, 77 South Koreans, 64 Americans, three Canadians, three Indians, one Japanese, one Vietnamese and one person from France.

Asiana president Yoon Young-doo planned to leave for San Francisco later on Tuesday to visit hospitalised passengers, according to Asiana spokeswoman Lee Hyomin.

Twenty-three South Koreans have so far left for San Francisco to visit their injured family members and relatives since the crash, according to South Korea's ministry of land, infrastructure and transport.

After the crash, three firefighters - and two police officers without safety gear - rushed on to the plane to help evacuate trapped passengers, including one who was trapped under a collapsed bulkhead.

They had gotten everyone off the craft except one elderly man, who was in his seat, moaning and unable to move.

"We were running out of time," San Francisco Fire Department Lt Dave Monteverdi recalled on Monday at a news conference.

"The smoke was starting to get thicker and thicker. So we had no choice. We stood him up and amazingly, he started shuffling his feet. That was a good sign ... we were able to get him out and he was pretty much the last person off the plane."

The two dead passengers were identified as 16-year-old students from China who were scheduled to attend summer camp in California with dozens of classmates.

One of their bodies was found on the tarmac near where the plane's tail broke off when it slammed into the runway, the other was found on the left side of the plane about 10 metres away from where the jetliner came to rest after it skidded down the runway.

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Pakistani officials slammed over bin Laden

A report has lambasted all levels of Pakistan's government for failing to detect Osama bin Laden. Source: AAP

OSAMA bin Laden lived undetected in Pakistan for nearly a decade because of failures and gross negligence by the authorities, according to a new report detailing how he was once stopped for speeding and wore a cowboy hat.

The leaked report from a Pakistani government-appointed commission reveals fascinating details about his life on the run and the US Navy SEALs raid that killed him on May 2, 2011.

The raid near a military academy in the town of Abbottabad was one of the most humiliating episodes in Pakistan's history, exposing the country to allegations of collusion with al-Qaeda.

The government appointed a judicial commission to investigate how bin Laden hid for so long and how the US raid unfolded to fend off fears that a military investigation would not be independent.

The panel interviewed more than 200 people, including government ministers, intelligence chiefs and members of bin Laden's family before they were deported to Saudi Arabia.

But its findings were kept secret until the Al-Jazeera news network published a leaked copy of the report on Monday.

"Culpable negligence and incompetence at almost all levels of government can more or less be conclusively established by the testimonies of witnesses," the report said.

The commission said it had found nothing to support allegations of complicity but neither could it rule out the possibility of "'plausibly deniable' support" from current or former officials.

The 336-page report coined the expression "governance implosion syndrome" to explain the extent of the failures.

It said bin Laden arrived in Pakistan in the spring or summer of 2002 after the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

He stayed in Afghan border areas, spent six to eight months in the northwestern district of Swat, lived in a spacious home in Haripur and then settled in Abbottabad in August 2005.

Maryam, the widow of one of two Pakistani couriers who provided his core support network said they - including bin Laden - were once all stopped for speeding on a visit to a market in Swat.

Her husband "very quickly settled the matter with the policeman and they drove on", the report said.

In Abbottabad, it was an austere life and bin Laden paid the courier brothers just $US90 ($A99) a month.

He was nicknamed Miskeen Kaka, or "poor uncle" by other children in the house after they were told the reason he never went to the market was because he was too poor to buy anything.

All the bin Laden women observed strict purdah, which started for his daughters at the age of three, and extended to not watching men on television.

He oversaw the religious education and play of his children and grandchildren "which included cultivating vegetable plots with simple prizes for best performances".

The report contains dramatic details of the US helicopter raid recounted by the al-Qaeda chief's family.

Bin Laden had retired to his room with the youngest of his three wives, Amal, when they were awakened by what "sounded like a storm" shortly after midnight.

Suddenly Amal saw a US soldier pointing his weapon at the terror chief from the landing outside their bedroom. She rushed at him as the soldier shouted "No! No!" and shot her in the knee.

One of bin Laden's daughters, Sumayya, said she saw her father dead on the floor, his face "clear and recognisable".

The report condemned the US raid as an "American act of war" and said the Pakistani military should have responded much more quickly to an operation 160 kilometres inside its territory.

It was Pakistan's "greatest humiliation" since East Pakistan seceded in 1971, it said.

Pakistani officials have so far declined to comment on the report.

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Pope condemns indifference to refugees

Pope Francis is due to visit the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to pray with new migrants. Source: AAP

POPE Francis has urged an end to "indifference" to the plight of refugees on a visit to an Italian island where tens of thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants first reach Europe.

"We ask forgiveness for the indifference towards so many brothers and sisters," Francis said on Monday at a mass near the port on his first trip outside of Rome since his election in March.

Speaking within sight of dozens of the abandoned boats used by the migrants, he paid tribute to the hundreds who drown every year trying to reach Europe and said he had come to Lampedusa "to reawaken consciences".

"The culture of wellbeing makes us think about ourselves, renders us insensitive to the cries of others," he said, urging "brotherly responsibility" and condemning a "globalisation of indifference".

Later on Monday he also referred to Muslim migrants on the start of their Ramadan period of fasting and prayers and said the Catholic Church was close to them "in your search for a more dignified life".

The Pope celebrated mass with a cross and a chalice made from the wood of rickety fishing boats that migrants typically arrive on, mainly from Libya and Tunisia.

The Catholic leader earlier boarded a coast guard boat and cast a wreath of flowers at sea.

Surrounded by fishing boats and yachts, he solemnly made the sign of the cross over the sea in a spot where one of many drownings occurred.

Francis also met with a group of around 50 recent arrivals, many of them young Eritreans, telling them: "We will pray for those who are no longer with us."

One young man told him: "We suffered a lot reaching this calm place but now we have to stay in Italy. We would like other European countries to help us."

Under European Union rules, asylum seekers have to stay in the country they first arrive in and unaccompanied minors are often stuck on Lampedusa for months at a time awaiting relocation.

Just hours before he touched down, the latest boat carrying 166 migrants landed on Lampedusa, joining waves of others who fled northern Africa in the wake of the Arab Spring revolutions that began in 2011.

The Pope also paid tribute to the local population - a fishing community of 6000 - for the assistance and tolerance they had shown to the boat people.

Since 1999, more than 200,000 people have arrived on Lampedusa - making the island one of biggest gateways for undocumented migration into Europe.

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Bulls knock over runners at Pamplona

An Australian is one of four people injured on the first day of the running of the bulls in Spain. Source: AAP

HALF-TONNE fighting bulls have knocked over thrill-seekers in a fast, adrenaline-charged chase that left four injured during Spain's San Fermin festival.

A firework set off the race on Monday, releasing six black bulls and six steers to thunder through cobbled streets to the bull ring of the northern city of Pamplona.

Thousands of people fled as the large, sharp-horned beasts charged along the winding 848.6-metre course in a quick two minutes and 25 seconds.

"We did not realise how big they would be. They were massive. They once turned round and came back again. Oh my God, it was crazy, indescribable," said 25-year-old Scot Ellis of London, who was with a group of friends.

"We are on vacation. Stupidest vacation we've ever done. But we're on vacation."

Four people were hospitalised - a 41-year-old American and three Spaniards aged 35, 37 and 48 - but none had been skewered by the bulls' horns, regional health authorities said.

It was the second bull run of the San Fermin festival, a heady nine-day mix of partying and adrenaline-chasing which draws hundreds of thousands from around the world.

As tens of thousands of spectators looked on, many peering from overhanging balconies, runners dressed in traditional white with red kerchiefs fled the charging animals.

Some people sought safety by crowding close to the walls of the winding route but others dared to touch the rear of the bulls or to race a few steps in front of the sharp horns.

About a minute into the run, the bulls took a right-hand corner, swerving close to the left-hand wall.

One young man slipped over just as the bulls approached. Then the bulls toppled a group of three or four others, leaping over some of the prostrate runners.

"That was brilliant but scary," said Andrew Scoates, 25, from London.

The festival in this city of 200,000 residents was made famous by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises".

The bull runs are believed to have started when butchers began running ahead of the beasts they were bringing from the countryside to the San Fermin festival.

Last year, 20,700 runners took part in the eight bull runs, an average of 2,587 a day, and some 38 people were taken to hospital including four men who were gored by bulls.

Several hundred more were treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Most of the injuries are not caused by bull horns but by runners falling or getting knocked over or trampled by the animals.

Fifteen people have been killed in the bull runs since records started in 1911.

The most recent death took place four years ago when a bull gored a 27-year-old Spaniard in the neck, heart and lungs.

Squeezed by the Spanish recession, Pamplona city hall has slashed the budget for the fiesta this year by 13.8 per cent to 2.1 million euros ($A3 million).

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Pink 'bomb' tweet not serious: Vic teen

A TEENAGER accused of making a bomb threat at a Pink concert in Melbourne says he was taken far too literally.

The 16-year-old boy was one of more than 10,000 people who packed into Rod Laver Arena on Sunday to see the first of the American pop star's 18 Melbourne concerts.

As Pink walked on stage, the boy tweeted, "@Pink I'm ready with my Bomb. Time to blowup #RodLaverArena Bitch".

Police and security printed a copy of his Twitter profile picture and managed to find him amongst the crowd. He was then arrested.

The boy says he was referring to the Pink song Timebomb.

"It was meant to be about drop the effects, the music, everything - just drop it all." he told Seven News on Monday.

A Rod Laver Arena spokeswoman said the venue took any threat to safety and security very seriously.

"We took swift and appropriate action in conjunction with Victoria Police to ensure the venue was secure and free from risk," she said.

The boy from Warrnambool, in western Victoria, is expected to be charged on summons with uttering threats and public nuisance-related offences.

The tweet has since been deleted.

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We'll make difference to boats: Abbott

The opposition says asylum seekers who try to hurt themselves on the high seas should be stopped. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott insists he'll make a difference to the influx of asylum seeker boats from day one of a coalition government and end it completely in a single term.

Mr Abbott said former prime minister John Howard stopped the boats and so could he.

"We will make a difference from day one. I believe we can stop the boats in a term of government," he told ABC television's 7.30 program on Monday.

"The Howard government did it. What's been done before can be done again."

Central to the coalition plan is the promise to turn back asylum seeker boats, a move Indonesia says it won't accept.

Mr Abbott said Indonesia did not give explicit permission for Australia to return asylum seeker boats under John Howard but that didn't stop it happening.

"Neither did it stop the Howard government from maintaining a good relationship," he said.

"These are Indonesian crewed, Indonesian flagged, Indonesian home-ported vessels that have a right to access Indonesia."

Mr Abbott said he wasn't claiming this would be hazard-free.

"Obviously I will take responsibility for what happens on my watch. But the important thing is to stop the boats. That's what the Australian people expect," he said.

The opposition has also talked tough on asylum seekers who threaten self-harm to force merchant vessels to bring them to Australia.

Mr Abbott says a coalition government would ensure Australia was "not played for mugs by the people smugglers and their customers".

His comment follows an incident at the weekend when the master of a Maltese tanker aborted a plan to return 43 asylum seekers, picked up north of Christmas Island when their boat got into trouble, to Indonesia when they threatened to hurt themselves.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has suggested a coalition government could go so far as to send in Australian soldiers to support merchant vessel crews.

He said it was akin to the 2001 Tampa affair, when then prime minister John Howard dispatched special forces troops to board the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa after it picked up more than 400 Afghan asylum seekers.

"John Howard took a strong stand," Mr Morrison told Sky News.

"And that's the message that was sent to the region and we all know the result of that."

"You've got to be prepared to do this sort of stuff."

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said it was up to people in uniform not politicians to make decisions about operational issues at sea.

"If there was a siege and there were hostages, it wouldn't be right for politicians to tell the police to go in all guns blazing," he told reporters in Canberra.

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