Roadside bombs kill five in Afghanistan

PROVINCIAL officials say two separate roadside bomb attacks have killed five Afghan civilians in the eastern and southern parts of the country.

Shafiqullah Nang, who is spokesman for the eastern province of Ghazni, said three civilians died Saturday when their minivan was struck by a roadside bomb as they were driving from Dayak district to Ghazni city.

He says that another eight people were wounded, including two women and two children.

In a second explosion, Fared Ayal, a spokesman for the police chief of southern Uruzgan province, said two men died when their car ran over a bomb on Saturday.

Roadside bombs are the number one cause of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, and casualties have risen as insurgents step up attacks as foreign troops withdraw.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two ships crash off Japan

Two cargo ships have collided off Tokyo leaving five crew members injured, and another missing. Source: AAP

TWO cargo ships have collided off Tokyo leaving five Japanese crew members critically injured, and another missing.

The five sailors rescued on Friday evening from the Japanese-flagged Eifuku Maru No 18 were found in a state of cardiorespiratory arrest, the Japan Coast Guard said.

The coast guard was searching for the sixth crew member, the Kyodo News Agency reported.

The 498-tonne ship and the 2,962-tonne Jia Hui, registered in Sierra Leone, collided at about 1.25am on Friday near Izu Oshima island, 100km south of Tokyo.

The Japanese vessel, found capsized with all its crew missing, was heading for Chiba, east of Tokyo, from Nagoya, central Japan.

The 13 Chinese and Myanmar nationals that made up the Sierra Leone freighter's crew were rescued from waters nearby, Kyodo said.

The Jia Hui was on its way to Busan, South Korea, from Kawasaki, south of Tokyo.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two die on Vic roads in two hours

TWO women have been killed within two hours in separate Victorian crashes.

The first died after a head-on collision at Brucknell in Victoria's southwest.

Police say the woman's car collided with a van about 45km from Warrnambool, at about 3pm (AEST) on Saturday.

She died at the scene.

Police say another woman died in the Geelong suburb of Leopold, when a utility lost control and struck her car at about 5pm.

The woman, who was the only occupant in the car, died at the scene.

The deaths take Victoria's road toll to 172, compared with 197 at the same time last year.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Asylum seekers 'abandoned' at sea

The Abbott government has been criticised for its tight-lipped stance on an asylum-seeker tragedy.

SURVIVORS from an asylum-seeker boat that sank off Indonesia claim their desperate pleas to Australian authorities for help were ignored as their vessel foundered in heavy seas.

The death toll from the tragedy was on Saturday expected to surpass 50, with 30 or so people still missing.

Indonesian authorities say that at least 21 people, including seven children, drowned when the boat, which was believed to be carrying about 80 passengers, sank on Friday off the coast of Java.

A decision on whether to resume the search would be made on Sunday morning, Indonesian officials said late Saturday.

Authorities fear for up to 70 asylum seekers still missing after their boat sank off Java.

The Australian government issued a statement on Saturday evening expressing its sympathies and saying that it would provide assistance to Indonesian authorities.

Immigration and Border Protection minister Scott Morrison said Australian authorities received a call about the vessel on Friday morning that placed the stricken boat about 25 nautical miles of Indonesia.

Mr Morrison said Rescue Coordination Centre Australia maintained co-ordination of the search and notified the Indonesian rescue agency.

An all-ships broadcast was issued by Australian authorities, but a merchant ship and a border protection aircraft were both unable to find the vessel.

The dead, wrapped in yellow bodybags, some stacked on top of each other, could be seen on Saturday, exposed to the sun and heat in an open storage room of a clinic in the village of Agrabinta, near where they had washed ashore the previous day.

Many were children.

One of the survivors, Lebanese man Hussein Khodr, had reportedly lost his pregnant wife and eight children in the disaster.

But some of the survivors say that more lives could have been saved, claiming that as many as 10 calls to Australian authorities were either eventually ignored or treated as a low priority.

"We called them and we told them we're sinking, we need anybody to help us," 28-year-old Abdullah al Qisi said, according to The Australian newspaper.

"And they were telling us 'we're coming, we're coming' and they didn't come," he said.

Initial reports suggested the boat first got into trouble about 10 hours into its journey and efforts were made to return to Indonesia before it sank.

There were also claims on Saturday that the crew had abandoned ship shortly after setting off, and that the passengers had been left to fend for themselves for five days, drifting around with no engine, before calamity finally struck on Friday.

A spokesman for the Indonesian search and rescue agency, BASARNAS, said his office was not advised of an incident involving an asylum-seeker boat until 8am local time on Friday.

He said the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority had contacted BASARNAS about the boat.

However, a police official from the district of Cianjur near where the boat sank said authorities were only alerted to the incident after bodies were discovered floating in an estuary on Friday morning.

Strong waves had limited search and rescue efforts on Saturday, although three more people were found alive, taking the number of confirmed survivors to 28.

It's the first known fatal attempted asylum-seeker crossing under the coalition government, which promised that it would stop boats reaching Australia after it won this month's federal election.

The sinking comes after another group of 44 asylum seekers were rescued by an Australian navy vessel in the Sunda Strait on Thursday.

It also emerged on Saturday that a third group of 31 asylum seekers had been rescued by an Australian navy vessel, and were set to be returned to Indonesia - the second "hand-back" in as many days.

The latest tragedy in waters between Indonesia and Australia comes amid an increase in tensions between Canberra and Jakarta over the asylum-seeker issue, and days ahead of talks in Jakarta between Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Mr Abbott and President Yudhoyno will meet on Monday, with asylum-seeker policy expected to be at the top of the agenda.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Australia on the verge of a gas boom

Australian domestic gas supplies and exports are expected to grow rapidly by the end of the decade. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA is in the midst of a gas boom.

Domestic gas supplies and exports are expected to grow rapidly by the end of the decade, enticing more major international oil and gas players to set up shop.

While iron ore, coal and gold have traditionally been the nation's big earners, analysts say Asia's insatiable demand for energy will lead to strong growth in gas production, as more than $200 billion in projects come online.

The industry is talking about an imminent boom in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, with four-fold growth projected by 2020 as China and Japan soak up Australia's supply.

But some analysts question whether the heady projections are realistic, given the risks that demand will not materialise.

Still, the federal government forecasts Australia will become the second biggest LNG exporter in just over two years.

Seven major projects are being built across the country, with three in WA, three in Queensland and one in the Northern Territory.

WA Premier Colin Barnett is certainly excited by the prospect of a gas boom in his state, predicting China's rapid growth will continue and as Japan acknowledges it will need more gas post-Fukushima.

As well as trumpeting WA's prized offshore conventional gas fields, Mr Barnett would love to the current shale gas boom in the US replicated in his home state.

"As some of the shale gas in the Canning Basin is developed I think you'll see the same phenomenon," Mr Barnett has said.

However, a recent HSBC report found a lack of roads and pipelines could hinder the industry's development.

It hasn't deterred junior explorer Buru Energy, and majors Mitsubishi and ConocoPhillips, from having a good look.

Meanwhile, new offshore projects are starting to produce gas, alongside the North West Shelf and Woodside's Pluto project in WA.

Last week BHP Billiton flew in executives from Houston to open its $1.5 billion Macedon gas plant, which will supply 20 per cent of WA's gas.

The modest-sized plant is set to be dwarfed by its gigantic Onslow neighbours including Gorgon, valued at $53 billion, and the $29 billion Wheatstone.

BHP's head of conventional gas Steve Pastor said the company liked WA because of its decades-long experience in oil and gas, and its proximity to the export market.

"The advantage Western Australia has is it's got fantastic resources," Mr Pastor said.

Less than six months after Woodside canned its onshore gas plant near Broome, floating gas processing is now all the rage.

Proposed floating LNG vessels in the Browse Basin and Scarborough Basin are in the early development stages, while multinational Shell presses ahead with building its world first Prelude floating LNG vessel in Korea.

Such is the popularity of the model that Shell plans to build more floating LNG plants.

Energy giant Exxon Exxon and its equal partner BHP Billiton will soon decide whether to pursue a floating option for Scarborough this year.

"Floating LNG is considered the best option," ExxonMobil says.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Agreement ends Vic power lockout

Workers at a Victorian power station will return to work after being locked out for 100 days. Source: AAP

SEVENTY-FIVE Victorian power workers will return to the job on Monday, ending a year of negotiations plagued by protests and a record 100-day lockout.

Workers at the Yallourn Power Station, which provides about 20 per cent of the state's power, voted on Friday to accept an in-principle workplace agreement that the union says addresses concerns about job security and staffing levels.

The agreement follows more than a year of negotiations, including a protest march in August and picket lines at the Latrobe Valley site, east of Melbourne, after 75 workers were locked out in June.

Energy Australia managing director Richard McIndoe said the agreement reached the right balance.

"While it has been a long and difficult path, it is important that we focus on working together to secure the future of Yallourn and support all the jobs on site," Mr McIndoe said on Friday.

It had been agreed key decisions at the power station would benefit from wider consultation, but management needed to retain the right to make business decisions, he said.

CFMEU national president Tony Maher said workers were pleased the dispute was resolved, following the longest lockout in the power industry.

"It should never have come to this," Mr Maher said.

He added the agreement was a great outcome.

Workers will formally vote on the new four-year agreement in the next two weeks.

Energy Australia brought in workers from other sites to keep the power station operating during the lockout, however only two of its four units remained online during that period.

Energy Australia in August estimated the industrial action, including rolling strikes, had cost the company about $15 million since it started in March.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK urged to follow Australia on cig packs

A LEADING cancer charity is calling on the British government to follow Australia's lead and introduce plain cigarette packs.

The calls come after a Cancer Research UK-funded study found youngsters preferred novelty packaging from leading cigarette manufacturers to plain packs.

The research also suggests glamorous cigarette packaging tempts young people who have never smoked to take up the habit.

"The UK must follow the lead of Australia and introduce plain, standardised packs as soon as possible," said Professor Gerard Hastings, Cancer Research UK's social marketing expert at the University of Stirling.

"This research continues to build the case to protect vulnerable children from the might of the tobacco industry's marketing," he added.

The new research, published in the journal BMJ Open, examined the reactions of 1025 UK children aged 11 to 16 who had never tried smoking.

They were given three different types of cigarette packs: regular, novelty and plain, standardised packs.

Novelty packs included those with an unusual shape, colour or system of opening, while standardised packs were brown with all branding removed apart from a brand name.

Researchers found that children preferred the colourful and novelty packs from leading manufacturers.

They included Silk Cut Superslim's slim pack shape, the Marlborough Bright Leaf pack which opens at the side in the style of a Zippo lighter, and Pall Mall's bright pink pack.

Children who liked these packs were the same children who said they were more tempted to smoke, the study also found.

In contrast, plain, standardised packaging reduced the appeal of smoking to the youngsters.

"The urge the Government to introduce plain, standardised tobacco packaging to reduce the number of young people who take up smoking," said Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive.

In July, the UK Government denied claims it had caved in to the tobacco industry after it put plans to introduce plain cigarette packaging on hold.

A decision has been delayed so more time could be spent examining how similar plans were working in Australia.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Coles recalls nappies across Australia

COLES supermarkets has recalled its self-branded dry fit nappies due to potential safety risks.

In a statement issued on Friday, Coles advised customers not to use Coles Dry Fit Nappies and to return the product to the nearest Coles or Bi-Lo store for a full refund.

"The product is being recalled as a precaution due to a significant bobbling of the exterior of the nappy which could pose a potential safety risk," the statement read.

"No other nappies are affected."

According to News Corp Australia, the experience of a Brisbane mother, who had to pull fluff from a nappy out of her infant's mouth, prompted to the voluntary recall.

Alexandra Mayock told News Corp fluff from a nappy clogged her daughter's throat as she slept.

"I had to stick two fingers down her throat to pull the fluff out," she said.

Ms Mayock posted a status on Facebook on Thursday warning all parents about her experience.

The status has been shared more than 42,000 times.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Put your phone away and enjoy your holiday

Queensland's Sunshine Coast is taking action to help phone addicts make the most of their holiday. Source: AAP

WE use them on the toilet and let them interrupt our sex lives - our obsession with smartphones is so shameless one Aussie tourist destination is taking unprecedented action to curb it.

In a world first, Queensland's Sunshine Coast is introducing a 'smartphone code of conduct' to help phone-addicted visitors make the most of their holiday.

Tourism operators are also backing the code, which encourages holidaymakers to kiss their mobiles goodnight, remove phones from restaurant tables and enjoy their food before uploading photos of it.

Sunshine Coast Destination Limited (SCDL) CEO Simon Ambrose says the region's tourism operators like the initiative because they are finding it increasingly difficult to communicate with visitors.

"The general feeling you get when talking to business operators is that it can be a bit disconcerting when people are constantly talking on their phones," Mr Ambrose told AAP.

"What we are saying is you need technology - it's just what you do with it."

Tourism and Events Queensland uncovered disturbing trends from research they commissioned into our mobile habits.

Almost half of Australians (48 per cent) have been interrupted by their phones during sex, while 53 per cent admitted to using their phones on the toilet.

Etiquette expert Anna Musson says Australians are so hung up on their smartphones that they can't even put them down while on holiday.

"We are going away on holidays and we are still checking emails, responding to calls and taking photos of food before we've even eaten it," Mrs Musson told AAP.

"Australians have a severe case of FOMO - a Fear Of Missing Out - if they don't check their phone every 10 minutes."

The 'smarter smartphone code of conduct' will be plastered on everything from coasters to taxi interiors across the Sunshine Coast.

All major tourism attractions and a number of hotel and restaurants in the region are also introducing 'unplugged zones' that urge holidaymakers to be smart about phone use.

Mrs Musson applauded the Sunshine Coast for introducing mobile behaviour guidelines and hoped other destinations would follow suit.

"If it went national we'd be a nicer country," she said.

"We are losing the art of conversation because rather than making small talk with someone we are playing on our smartphones."

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Feds try to ramp up CSG drilling in NSW

Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane will form a committee to solve "the NSW gas challenge". Source: AAP

THE federal government is intervening in NSW's coal seam gas (CSG) debate in an attempt to ramp up drilling across the state.

But critics say the government and industry has created a "phantom gas crisis" in the rush to export to Asia.

Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane announced on Thursday that he will form a committee of stakeholders, including farmers and gas producers, in a bid to solve "the NSW gas challenge".

"We have got to get the drill rigs going where the farmers want them going ... where the environment is safe, we have got to get them before Christmas if we can," he told reporters outside NSW's Energy Security Summit.

Mr Macfarlane said they wanted to create a gas supply strategy for the East Coast market to 2020.

"Other states are benefiting from record levels of committed investment ... our challenge now is to make sure the same opportunities are extended in NSW."

Unless the industry is kick-started, Mr Macfarlane warned thousands of jobs in the industrial sector would be lost between Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong.

But NSW Energy Minister Chris Hartcher denied the state was suffering from a gas shortage.

"The issue is getting it out of the ground and making sure it is affordable," he said outside the summit.

While he was keen to work with the federal government, he said the state's regulatory framework wouldn't change.

NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said Mr Macfarlane's "chest beating" was counter-productive.

"We have a phantom gas crisis, created entirely by the gas industry's rush to export LNG to Asia," he said in a statement.

"The Abbott government should work with the states to implement an east coast domestic gas reservation policy."

Pepe Clarke, CEO of the Nature Conservation of NSW, said the state and federal governments weren't trying to ensure gas supply for NSW.

"This is about accelerating the development of an export industry," he said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell was doing an excellent job, but there was "little doubt" that efforts to expand gas projects had been better handled by his Liberal counterparts in Queensland.

"The Newman government seems to have been very good at ensuring that landholders are reasonably content with the arrangements that have been entered into for gas extraction on their property," he said.

State opposition leader John Robertson will table legislation next month which would see the banning of all CSG activity in Sydney's core water catchments.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Russian court detains Greenpeace activists

A RUSSIAN court has ordered two Greenpeace activists to be detained for two months over a protest on an Arctic oil platform, as the Netherlands called for the activists' immediate release and threatened legal action against Moscow.

The first group from the 26 foreign and four Russian activists, including an Australian, accused by Russian investigators of piracy over their September 18 protest on a Gazprom oil rig were led into the courtroom in handcuffs after being transported in prison vans.

The Lenin district court in the northern city of Murmansk ruled that Denis Sinyakov, a Russian photographer who works for Greenpeace and Greenpeace expert Roman Dolgov, also a Russian citizen, should be detained until November 24, the Interfax news agency reported.

Sinyakov, a former AFP and Reuters staff photographer, was the first of 30 detained crew members from Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise protest ship to receive a court decision.

The court was holding several simultaneous hearings into the activists' cases in different rooms of the building.

None of the activists has so far been charged.

The Netherlands on Wednesday asked Russia for the immediate release of the activists and said it is considering legal action, the Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans wrote in a letter to the Dutch parliament.

Russian border guards took control of the Greenpeace ship and locked up the activists after they last week attempted to scale state energy giant Gazprom's Prirazlomnaya oil platform in protest at oil exploration in the Barents Sea.

The border guards, who had seized the vessel after descending on it on ropes from helicopters, then towed the ship to Murmansk, where the activists were held for questioning.

They have been held in detention in Murmansk since late Tuesday.

An Russian investigator told the court that Greenpeace was suspected of committing "piracy with the aim of seizing property by threatening violence as part of an organised group," Greenpeace Russia wrote on Twitter.

Sinyakov said in court that "all the accusations are baseless" and that "My weapon was my camera," cited by Greenpeace Russia on Twitter.

Greenpeace said that the court justified the decision because Sinyakov does not live in Murmansk and travels abroad frequently.

Dolgov was also ruled held for two months, Greenpeace Russia wrote on Twitter, which was confirmed by RIA Novosti news agency.

The Investigative Committee said that all the activists, who come from 18 different countries including Britain and the United States, had cited their right to remain silent under the Russian Constitution.

Russia has opened a case into piracy, although President Vladimir Putin took a milder stance on Wednesday, telling an international Arctic forum that "of course they are not pirates."

This has raised hopes that even if they are eventually charged, it will be under a less grave article than piracy.

But Putin said the activists had broken international law by approaching dangerously close to the oil platform.

Greenpeace denies that the activists committed piracy, saying that this only applies to ships and that they held a peaceful protest.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

John Garnaut wins Lowy Media Award

FORMER Fairfax China correspondent John Garnaut has won the inaugural Lowy Institute Media Award.

The judging panel, which included former foreign minister Alexander Downer and journalist Jana Wendt, chose Garnaut for his deep reporting, great writing and impact.

"It's an enormous privilege, in fact my whole job was an enormous privilege," Garnaut said at the awards dinner in Sydney on Thursday night.

Garnaut returned to Australia three months ago after six years based in Beijing.

He wins a cash prize, return airfares to Asia and a trophy.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Community pool opens in shadow of Uluru

An Aboriginal community has saved up its rent money from the Uluru park to fund a community pool. Source: AAP

IT gets hot and dusty in the Aboriginal desert community of Mutitjulu and for seven years the kids near Uluru have had nowhere to cool down.

That has changed with a community investment of $1.6 million of rent money from the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to partly fund a swimming pool.

Opened on Tuesday, the pool should help improve both the health and welfare of the children.

"There's a number of sites around (neighbouring) Yulara with swimming pools but the kids weren't necessarily welcome there and were moved on, on many, many occasions," director of the Central Land Council David Ross tells AAP.

"There's all sorts of reasons: tourists, paying guests, maybe they didn't like the behaviour of the kids. Kids are pretty noisy, and people are there for their vacation."

Not everyone has access to a car in that southwestern corner of the Northern Territory, and it is hard for the children to get around.

"The kids were looking for something to do in the community, and were swimming and playing in muddy sewer water," Mr Ross says.

So in 2006, the traditional owners put $100,000 of the national park's annual rent toward the construction of the Mutitjulu Tjurpinytjaku Centre pool, with a $3 million grant coming from the Aboriginals Benefit Account.

The traditional owners also added another $1.5 million to ensure the pool operates until 2017.

Mr Ross says it will benefit the community in innumerable ways, by providing employment and lifting social, health and educational standard.

"We hear all sorts of anecdotal evidence that, if you have a pool, it'll improve long-term health and welfare for children with breathing problems, eye problems, ear, nose, throat, all those issues," he says.

"People are in water, so they're going to be much cleaner and they're physically doing something in that water rather than breathing in dust all the time."

A 'no school, no pool' policy will keep kids attending classes, he says.

"It's an improvement not just to the Commonwealth but the Northern Territory government's bottom line in terms of how much they spend on health and welfare and whatnot in communities," Mr Ross says.

After 2017, the community will need additional funding, so Mr Ross hopes the economic argument will sway the government to invest in an area.

However, he knows of three other community pools at Areyonga, Kintore and Santa Teresa in Central Australia that have had to close because they aren't receiving any funding.

Mr Ross said that costs would ideally be shared so traditional owners can invest their rent money in other community projects.

The Labor party promised to fund them all if re-elected, but Mr Ross says the CLC is still waiting on word from the new coalition government on whether it will support what he says is a great asset to the community.

"If you'd seen these kids jumping in the pool, they don't need to tell you (how happy they are)," he says.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Indian floods force 15,000 to evacuate

MASSIVE flooding has forced 15,000 people to evacuate villages in the west Indian state of Gujarat, where heavy rains and swollen rivers have inundated cities and closed off roads and railway lines.

Officials say two people have died in flood-related incidents.

Schools across the districts of Bharuch, Vadodara and Surat remained closed Wednesday, while fire brigades, police and disaster response teams were working to rescue people.

People waded through thigh-deep water on the streets of the state's main city of Ahmedabad, where waterlogged cars and buses became stranded.

In the city of Vadodara, animal activists say at least four crocodiles have been recovered from roads and courtyards.

The floods followed heavy rains that caused rivers including the Vishwamitri and the Narmada to swell above levels considered safe.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Council worker asked to cover up asbestos

A FORMER northwestern NSW council worker claims he was asked to cover up dumped asbestos with green waste and garbage.

Mark Sankey said he worked at landfill sites for Gwydir Shire Council from 2008 until March this year.

On numerous occasions he alleges he was asked to cover dumped asbestos with garbage, green waste, push it into walls and sometimes burn it.

"When I was first in that job I was exposed to asbestos many, many times," he told AAP on Wednesday.

"They would ask me to just push the asbestos under the garbage so people couldn't see it."

He said only two landfills in the shire were locked, allowing dumping to occur overnight.

It was only after he began receiving training on how asbestos was to be properly disposed of that he began questioning the requests.

"When I asked questions they threatened me with my job."

In March, Mr Sankey said he was made redundant after being told his skills were no longer required.

Gwydir Shire Council was not immediately available to comment on Mr Sankey's claims, which come after the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia (ADFA) accused the council of unsafe work practices and illegal dumping, which is potentially putting the residents at risk.

ADFA president Barry Robson said worried Warialda locals had reported council workers cutting asbestos cement pipes in a residential street without safety equipment or warnings.

He also said there were reports asbestos was being illegally dumped or "simply being tossed over the fence of local tips".

But Gwydir Shire Mayor John Coulton dismissed the reports as "unfair and misleading", saying safety concerns had been fully investigated.

"The council is confident that no staff member or member of the public has been endangered during the water pipe replacement program in Warialda," he said in a statement.

He also rubbished allegations workers in the small town were told to misclassify asbestos waste to minimise disposal costs.

WorkCover NSW and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) have both confirmed they were looking into the claims.

The EPA said it received a report from Gwydir Shire Council on September 19 saying the council had inadvertently deposited about 10 cubic metres of soil with bonded asbestos pipe on council-owned lands at Warialda.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Victim named in WA desert rally crash

A MAN killed in a long-distance off-road rally in Western Australia's north west has been named as Ivan Erceg.

The moto competitor had an accident at stage one of the Australasian Safari, about 50km east of Minilya near Carnarvon, on Wednesday at 9.30am (WST).

Emergency services were quick to assist the man, who was believed to be in his early 40s, but he died at the scene.

An Australasian Safari spokeswoman said the remainder of the leg had been cancelled.

The event will resume tomorrow, she said.

The event organisers extended sympathies to Mr Erceg's family, team members and friends.

"Ivan was one of life's huge characters and was loved by the entire Safari family," they said on their Facebook page.

"He was a true competitor who loved his motorbikes and the mateship of competition. He will be sorely missed."

Police have seized the bike and a full investigation of the circumstances surrounding Mr Erceg's death has commenced.

Organisers have also arranged for a pastor and counsellors to be available at the race site.

Tributes flowed on the Australasian Safari's Facebook page.

Kevin O'Bryan wrote: "One of the most respected desert racers Australia wide."

James Arnold posted: "Condolences... R.I.P. you mad man, will be missed."

Karlie Conner wrote: "A safari legend who will be missed by all."

The WA government sponsors the Australasian Safari through Eventscorp, a division of Tourism WA.

It is an annual off-road rally for four-wheel drives, side by sides, motorbikes and quad bikes.

Considered Australia's toughest motorsport challenge, the event began on September 19 and runs until September 29.

It covers 3000km including Geraldton, the Gascoyne region, the Kennedy Ranges, Carnarvon and Kalbarri.

The extreme motorsport event attracts competitors from countries including China, France, Sweden, Britain, Thailand, South Africa, Botswana, the US, Italy and Germany.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Assets seized in Mafia-linked case

ITALIAN authorities have seized assets worth more than 700 million euros ($A1.01 billion) belonging to a Sicilian businessman known as the "king of supermarkets," who has been convicted for his links to a fugitive senior mafia boss.

A court in Trapani approved on Tuesday the confiscation of 12 firms, 220 real estate properties and 133 plots of land, which 64-year-old Giuseppe Grigoli was said to have acquired through criminal activities, including money laundering.

Grigoli, who used to own most supermarkets in western Sicily, was arrested in 2007 and jailed for 12 years by an appeals court in July 2012. Judges established that he acted as a front man for Matteo Messina Denaro, one of the leaders of the Sicilian mafia.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Shorten kicks off Labor leadership debate

Voters support Anthony Albanese (pic) over Bill Shorten as Labor leader, a new poll shows. Source: AAP

BILL Shorten has kicked off the Labor leadership debate, saying the big question is how Labor will remain relevant to the lives of Australians in the future.

He and Anthony Albanese are debating each other in Sydney as part of their nationwide campaign to sway rank and file members who will take part in an historic vote for Labor's parliamentary party leader under new Labor guidelines.

Mr Shorten said the party had to move on from the disappointing election loss and focus on its list of achievements and great history.

"It comes to a question of how will we help make Labor relevant to the lives of Australians in the future," he said.

"Not just in the next 24 hours or next week or next month. How does our Labor, as it has in the past and it should do in future, how do we make sure that our values and our ideas speak to the future lives of Australians?" he said.

In line with the pair's stated mission of keeping their campaigns civil, Mr Shorten said his rival would make a good Labor leader who would serve the party well.

Mr Shorten said Labor needed to be brave for people who needed a champion, such as victims of domestic violence.

Mr Albanese also praised his rival for the leadership before saying his objective was to lead a movement committed to a better Australia.

Mr Albanese said his vision for the party would simply be based upon what people were talking about around the kitchen table.

"They talk about simple things. How to get a better education for their kids. Is there good health care if someone in their family gets sick? Do they have adequate access to child care? Are their jobs secure with decent working conditions?" he said.

He added another priority if elected Labor leader would be sustainability.

"That is why the price on carbon is critical. Climate change didn't end when Tony Abbott became prime minister," he said.

"So that means enhancing our natural environment and it means clean energy and future jobs. It also means engagement in our cities."

A man in the audience received rousing applause after asking whether both leadership contenders were prepared to lose an election on a more humane refugee policy.

Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese both defended Labor's tough-love approach and spoke about the complexity of the issue.

"We do want an orderly migration program, but we also want to treat people with compassion and with respect and as people," Mr Albanese said.

"And that's something that during the last term the former government stopped doing."

Mr Shorten supports lifting the refugee intake and is pro-refugees, but is also concerned about lives lost at sea.

On the future of aged care, Mr Shorten flagged the need to look at financial instruments including Paul Keating's idea about a sovereign wealth fund for people to draw down on in their 80s or 90s.

"It's time for big thinking in aged care," he said.

When asked about the importance of Labor's legacy setting up the national disability insurance scheme, Mr Albanese shared a personal story about his single mum who suffered rheumatoid arthritis and was on an "invalid pension".

"My mum couldn't use a knife or fork... she was pretty crippled up," he said.

Eventually a friend helped arrange a surgeon to reconstruct her hands and feet.

"What that says to me is often in society people do get left behind," Mr Albanese said.

Labor needed to be both a constructive opposition and use its time to develop the next big ideas, such as the NBN, Mr Albanese said.

He said they needed to ensure sustainability was factored into Labor's big ideas and defended issues like carbon pricing.

Mr Shorten said the process of campaigning for leadership was strengthening for the party and if he won the vote the party would stand up for injustice and work as a team.

"The era of the messiah is over. No more messiahs," he roared to widespread applause.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Govt to temporarily continue NBN rollout

The federal government has set new targets and ground rules for NBN Co. Source: AAP

MORE than 600,000 homes, businesses and schools across the country still have a chance of being connected to fibre-to-the-premises broadband despite the coalition's vow to abandon the former government's plan.

Many of them will probably miss out, but another 300,000 are guaranteed the service thanks to contracts signed under Labor.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday directed NBN Co to continue rolling out fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) across the nation under existing contracts "as rapidly and cost-effectively as possible" while a strategic review of Australia's biggest infrastructure project is conducted.

The internal review will be completed by a new board of directors - following Mr Turnbull's request for the resignations of the current board - within 60 days of their appointment.

Construction is due to commence in more than 1.8 million premises within the next year, with each effectively given a categorisation of a green light, amber light or red light under the FTTP model.

Under an interim statement of expectations sent to NBN Co, the green light has been given to 300,000 premises in areas where construction contracts have been signed.

Detailed network design is under way in amber-light areas containing 645,000 premises where FTTP construction work might begin in time, however it's expected many will miss out.

The remaining 900,000 home and business owners will have to wait for the outcome of the internal review as only preliminary network design is underway in their areas.

The premises that miss out on FTTP will likely have to settle for the coalition's fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) plan, where it is expected slower copper lines will journey the final leg to the premises.

Meanwhile, Mr Turnbull said forecasts for the number of premises passed by fibre cable have again been revised down with it expected to be 729,000 by June 30, 2014, 1.74 million by June 20, 2015, and 3.115 million by June 30, 2016.

A 2010 plan forecast 5.65 million premises would be passed by mid-2016.

Mr Turnbull said while they were aiming to set more realistic targets, NBN Co's rollout process would actually be assisted by the use of a wider range of technologies to connect businesses and homes to the network.

"For example, this will allow NBN Co to trial the latest VDSL technology to deliver superfast broadband to homes and businesses in multi-dwelling units such as apartment blocks," Mr Turnbull said.

Mr Turnbull said he intended no criticism when he asked NBN Co board members to offer their resignations last week. All but one have done so.

"That request should not be regarded as any criticism of any of the directors, least of all the chairman Siobhan McKenna," he said.

Federal cabinet will decide the new board, which is expected to include former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski.

Opposition broadband and communications spokesman Anthony Albanese said the owners of the 645,000 premises who miss out on the FTTP network would be right to feel betrayed.

"This includes people living in Tasmania, who were assured before the election that the coalition would complete the full fibre rollout in that state," he said.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Improve urban life: Bloomberg

New York's mayor is offering cities in Europe millions for plans to improve urban life. Source: AAP

NEW York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is offering European cities millions to come up with plans to improve urban life, tapping his personal fortune to extend his cities-as-civic-laboratories campaign outside America, as the end of his own tenure nears.

The billionaire businessman-turned-politician invited about 600 sizeable European cities Tuesday to compete for nine million euros ($A12.98 million) from his personal foundation.

The competition could signal how Bloomberg aims to maintain and broaden his impact on government after his 12-year tenure ends in December.

"I am a big believer in the power of cities to shape the future," Bloomberg said in a statement ahead of a news conference at London City Hall. He said the contest would spotlight "bold ideas which can take root in Europe and spread around the world."

Modelled on a Bloomberg Philanthropies contest that awarded $US9 million ($A9.60 million) to five US cities this year, the European competition seeks ideas that solve problems or make government more efficient or citizen-friendly.

It's open to cities with 100,000 or more residents in 40 countries. Winners of a five million euro grand prize and four one million euro awards will be announced next northern autumn.

In the recent US version of the Mayors Challenge, the $US5 million top prize went in March to Providence, Rhode Island. Its project aims to improve poor children's vocabulary by outfitting them with recording devices if their parents agree to it, counting the words the children hear and coaching parents.

Four other cities that won $US1 million apiece - Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Santa Monica, California - also are gearing up their projects.

As mayor, Bloomberg isn't shy about encouraging others to follow New York's lead on such new initiatives as trying to ban many eateries from selling super-size, sugary drinks. Meanwhile, he's borrowed bicycle-sharing and some other ideas from elsewhere.

The organisation also supports environmental, education, health and arts projects. It gave away a total of $US370 million last year.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fifteen charged following raids in Sydney

FIFTEEN people have been charged following Sydney raids on an Assyrian syndicate allegedly involved in murders, drugs and shootings.

About 340 police officers swooped on homes and businesses across the city on Monday, seizing drugs, a pill press, luxury items and cash.

Police allege those arrested are members or associates of the criminal gang DLAST HR, which may have overseas links.

They say the 15 are accused of a variety of offences.

A 34-year-old is charged with knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group and recruiting others to assist in carrying out criminal activities.

The youngest to be nabbed was a 21-year-old man, charged with participating in a criminal group and other matters, while the eldest was a 63-year-old Fairfield man charged with possessing a prohibited drug.

Two women, aged 22 and 24, also face charges.

During the raids 22 properties, including a real-estate and car dealership, were targeted in several suburbs, including Fairfield, Campbelltown and Rossmore.

South West Metro Region Commander Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli said the searches followed two years of hard work.

He said those targeted had been involved in public shootings and murders.

"Some of the information relates to cannabis but what we are talking about is an enterprise, a criminal group that have made thousands upon thousands of dollars through their criminal activities," he said.

The NSW Crime Commission was also been involved in the Strike Force Evesson investigation.

Items seized included eight kilograms of cannabis, almost $25,000 in cash, four jet skis, a boat and a Lotus sports car.

Fairfield Local Area Commander Superintendent Peter Lennon did not rule out links with a wider crime network outside Australia.

"They are domestic although we are aware of some other links that they have got," he said.

"I wouldn't call it international but ... it's a little bit more than just domestic."

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said police would not rest until every criminal was behind bars.

"It's one that we will be continuing to pay particular attention to and certainly from my perspective you can be assured the NSW police will do all we can to break up this and other similar groups," he said.

Strike Force Evesson will continue over the coming months.

Those charged will face courts across Sydney over the coming weeks and months.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tributes flow for couple killed in Kenya

A YOUNG Australian architect who gave his expertise and time helping the disadvantaged people of Eastern Africa has been killed along with his pregnant partner during a militant massacre at a Kenyan shopping centre.

Tasmanian-born Ross Langdon and his wife Elif Yavuz were expecting their first child in weeks when they were gunned down by Islamist attackers at Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre on Saturday.

The director of an architectural firm with offices in both Melbourne and London, Mr Langdon spent much of his time working on projects in East Africa, including offering his pro bono services for an HIV-Aids hospital and launching a "rusty roof exchange" program aiming to improve domestic housing.

Mr Langdon, who was much-decorated in his field, was about to start work on a $35 million museum.

"Besides a personal loss for myself, this is a major global loss," Tasmanian-based friend and sculptor Peter Adams wrote on his personal website.

"This cannot be underestimated or glossed over by the political pundits who will label Ross and Elif and their unborn child as unfortunate casualties in the war on terror."

Meanwhile, tributes have flowed around the world for Mr Langdon - who held dual British citizenship - and his Dutch wife.

"They didn't want to know if the baby was a boy or a girl, so they had chose names for both sexes," wrote friend Lisa, saying she had met with them in Nairobi in the past week.

"I have no words right now."

Ms Yavuz held a PhD in public health policy at Harvard University and was a specialist on malaria, working for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Kenya.

"Both had dedicated their lives to working for a peaceful world. Both had so much to offer," Mr Adams wrote of Mr Langdon and Ms Yavuz.

The pair are believed to have been aged in their early 30s.

An Australian lawyer in the shopping mall at the time it was attacked said there was confusion about what was going on during the incident.

"It sounded like scaffolding falling at first, I wasn't that concerned," Heidi Edwards, who works in the city for the Kenya Human Rights Commission, told the ABC.

"Then there was some panic going on and then another one (noise) in quick succession and then some gunshots."

She recalled how she and others found an unlocked staff access and hid in a stairwell until the gunfire stopped.

"There was no sirens which, for a Westerner was quite surprising - if that happened in Australia there would be sirens everywhere," she said.

"It was just confusion more than anything else."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott condemned the attack, which killed at least 69 and injured almost 200 others.

"That an Australian was among those killed in the attack is a terrible reminder that Australia is not immune from acts of terrorism around the world and that Al Qaeda-linked groups continue to present a serious global threat," he said in a statement.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kidman supports 'China Hollywood' bid

NICOLE Kidman attended a star-studded event that has seen China's richest man announce plans to spend 50 billion yuan ($A8.79 billion) to build the country's version of Hollywood in the northeastern city of Qingdao.

Wang Jianlin's red carpet event in Qingdao on Sunday underlined his outsized ambitions for China's entertainment industry. Kidman, Ewan McGregor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Travolta and Leonardo DiCaprio rubbed elbows with Chinese stars including Zhang Ziyi, Jet Li and Tony Leung at the event in Qingdao, best known for Tsingtao Brewery founded when Germany colonised the city a century ago.

Wang's success in attracting the A-list actors to his launch, held the same day as the Emmy entertainment awards show in Los Angeles, also highlights how the centre of gravity in the global film industry is shifting to the east.

The tycoon said his company, Dalian Wanda Group, will build a state-of-the-art film studio complex in a bid to dominate China's rapidly growing movie market.

The Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis's 20 studios will include a permanent underwater studio and a 10,000 square-metre stage that Wang said would be the world's biggest. The facility will also include an Imax research and development centre, cinemas and China's biggest film and celebrity wax museums. The first phase is planned to open in June 2016 and it will be fully operational by June 2017.

A yacht marina, eight hotels and a theme park will be built to attract tourists.

The company has signed a preliminary deal with "a number of global film and television giants and talent agencies" to shoot about 30 foreign films a year. It did not name the companies.

Wang also hopes to attract more than 50 Chinese production companies to make at least 100 domestic films and TV shows a year at the studios, where sets will simulate locations from Europe, the Middle East and China's Ming and Qing dynasties.

He predicted China's film market would become the world's biggest in five years, and compared it to a big cake that foreign studios would love to share.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Former KAP candidate facing army sacking

AN Iraq War veteran and former Senate candidate is fighting attempts by the Australian Defence Force to sack him.

Bernard Gaynor is facing a "notice to show cause for termination" from Chief of the Defence Force David Hurley.

Mr Gaynor has come under fire for controversial comments on social media about Islam, women and homosexuality.

The former Katter's Australian Party Queensland Senate candidate had his preselection revoked earlier this year after saying he did not want his children taught by gay teachers.

Mr Gaynor claims he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice and breach of procedural fairness.

"If my commission is terminated, it will be because I have defended Catholic beliefs from public attack," Mr Gaynor said in a statement.

"It will be an unjust punishment that will become a badge of honour. I will proudly take it to my grave and fearlessly wear it when I face my God and Eternal King."

The Army Reserve intelligence officer and father-of-five claimed he had been cleared of wrongdoing by two military investigations but remained concerned about the fate of his career.

In a leaked minute dated August 22, General Hurley questioned Mr Gaynor's ability to uphold the values of the Australian Army.

"Your public comments demonstrate attitudes that are demeaning and demonstrate intolerance of homosexual persons, transgender persons and women and are contrary to the ... cultural change currently being undertaken within the Army," he said.

A Defence spokeswoman said General Hurley had yet to consider Mr Gaynor's response to correspondence.

"During the decision making process, Defence will not publicly discuss deliberations concerning an individual's service in the Australian Defence Force," she said in a statement.

She said Mr Gaynor would be advised of the outcomes in due course.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic man dead in highway crash

A man has died after his vehicle veered into the path of an oncoming car north-east of Melbourne. Source: AAP

A MAN is dead after his vehicle veered into the path of an oncoming car north-east of Melbourne.

The driver of a sedan, who died at the scene, was heading west on the Warburton Highway at Seville East when he veered into the path of a Nissan Navara heading east around 9.30am (AEST) on Sunday.

Police say three occupants of the Nissan were treated for minor injuries.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

The death brings the state's provisional road toll to 164 compared to 193 this time last year.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man terrorising Qld women drivers: police

Police have released an image of a man who is terrorising women in north Queensland. Source: AAP

POLICE have released an image of a man who is terrorising women in north Queensland.

A woman driving along Flying Fishing Point Road at Innisfail, south of Cairns, was assaulted after stopping for a man on the side of the road around 10pm (AEST) on September 19.

He approached the car and after a brief conversation, grabbed her hair before fleeing, police say.

Innisfail officers say a similar incident occurred two weeks ago on the same road where a man ran in front of a car and then tried to put his arm through the driver's window.

The woman escaped by driving off.

Police are encouraging other women who have experienced such incidents to come forward.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic woman survives Kenyan mall massacre

No Australians are believed to have been injured in the deadly mall shooting in Kenya. Source: AAP

A MELBOURNE woman has reportedly survived the Nairobi mall terrorist attack by huddling in a phone store for six hours.

At least 59 people were killed when Somali militants stormed an upmarket shopping centre in the Kenyan capital, according to the country's government.

Eltham woman Sarah Williamson was in the mall with her father, who works for the UN, when she heard the first explosions, Fairfax Radio Network reports.

"She heard the first grenade go off and said, 'What was that, dad?'," mum Linda has told the network.

"Then he heard the guns firing and he knew exactly what it was and he said, 'We're under attack, everybody to the back of the room.'"

The 23-year-old spent six hours trapped in the store before she could run to safety.

Between 10 and 15 gunmen are believed to be holed up in the building with an unknown number of hostages, 24 hours after the carnage began.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott was briefed on the ongoing crisis earlier on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has condemned the terrorist attack and expressed her sympathy to Kenyans and President Uhuru Kenyatta who has lost family members in the incident.

"The thoughts of all Australians are with the victims and their families," she said in a statement.

People with concerns about family or friends in Kenya should try to contact them directly or if unsuccessful phone the DFAT consular emergency centre on (02) 6261 3305.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

More than 60 killed at Pakistan church

Two suicide bombers have killed at least 53 people attending a church service in Pakistan. Source: AAP

A DOUBLE suicide bombing has killed more than 60 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan, officials said, believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the troubled country.

Pakistan's small and largely impoverished Christian community suffers discrimination in overwhelmingly Muslim-majority Pakistan but bombings against them are extremely rare.

The two bombers struck at the end of a service at All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency in recent years.

Doctor Mohammad Iqbal of Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital said 61 people had been killed and 120 wounded.

Sahibzada Anees, one of Peshawar's most senior officials, told reporters the bombers struck when the service had just ended.

"Most of the wounded are in critical condition," Anees said.

"We are in an area which is a target of terrorism and within that area there was a special security arrangement for the church. We are in a rescue phase and once it is over we will investigate what went wrong."

Former minister for inter-faith harmony Paul Bhatti and provincial lawmaker Fredrich Azeem Ghauri both said the attack was the deadliest ever targeting Christians in Pakistan.

School teacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service had just ended and at least 400 worshippers were greeting each other when there was a big explosion.

"A huge blast threw me on the floor and as soon as I regained my senses. A second blast took place and I saw wounded people everywhere," Khan said

Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand Trunk road highway with bodies of the victims to protest against the killings.

Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shi'ite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan and Sunday's attack will fuel fears the already beleaguered Christian community could be increasingly targeted.

Islamist militants have carried out hundreds of bombings targeting security forces and minority Muslim groups they regard as heretical, but attacks on Christians have previously largely been confined to grenade attacks and occasional riots.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a deeply conservative province bordering the tribal districts along the Afghan frontier, which are home to Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

Provincial lawmaker Ghauri said there were about 200,000 Christians in the province, of whom 70,000 lived in Peshawar.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the bombings.

Only around two per cent of Pakistan's population of 180 million are Christian. The community is largely poor and complains of growing discrimination.

Christians have a precarious existence in Pakistan, often living in slum-like "colonies" cheek-by-jowl with Muslims and fearful of allegations of blasphemy, a sensitive subject that can provoke sudden outbursts of public violence.

In the town of Gojra, in Punjab province, in 2009, a mob burned 77 houses and killed seven people after rumours that a copy of the Islamic holy book the Koran had been desecrated during a Christian marriage ceremony.

18.59 | 0 komentar | Read More