A TODDLER has been hospitalised after she fell from her bunk bed in the NSW Southern Highlands and hit a cooling fan.
The two-year-old girl was flown from her Berrima home to the Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney on Thursday night.
The girl suffered the injury when she fell from her bed and hit the fan's blades, a spokesman for CareFlight said in a statement.
A CROWN of thorns plague is eating its way through the Great Barrier Reef, almost wiping out at least one reef between Cooktown and Cairns.
It is the fourth major outbreak since 1960s and is yet to reach its peak.
Starting in Lizard Island in 2010, starfish numbers are believed to have reached at least one million.
Professor Morgan Pratchett from the Coral Reef Studies research centre at James Cook University says the plague will expand towards Townsville and Mackay in the coming years.
A series of cyclones and increased port development have already resulted in low coral cover, compounding the affects of the outbreak.
"It couldn't have come at a worse time," Professor Pratchett told AAP.
"We're starting from a very low base, it will cause an almost complete loss of coral on some reefs."
Emily Reef, between Cairns and Cooktown, was saved from the brink when almost 11,000 crown of thorns starfish were removed.
According to Professor Pratchett there is only one boat, with a crew of 12, removing the starfish from the reef.
Armed with a new single-shot poison, they are making quicker progress than previous years and can kill up to 50 of the native species a day.
"Each starfish killed will save ten square metres of coral each year," Professor Pratchett said.
"There needs to be a significant increase of investment if we're going to put a dent in the population."
Although scientists are yet to pinpoint the cause of outbreaks, it is widely accepted that plagues are boosted because of a decrease in predators and an increase in fertiliser run-off.
A UGANDAN military official says at least 1700 Congolese M23 rebels, including the top commander, have surrendered to Ugandan authorities.
The official said on Thursday that M23's General Sultani Makenga and his fighters were being held by the Ugandan military in Mgahinga, near the Congo border.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to give this information, said the rebels had been disarmed and were being registered by Ugandan officials.
This week the rebels lost control of all the territory they once held following an intensified offensive by Congolese troops who are backed by United Nations forces in eastern Congo.
Uganda had been hosting peace talks between the rebels and Congo's government. The rebels say their rebellion is over. A peace accord has not been signed.
A court was told the Australian woman found on a Dublin street has a history of psychiatric issues. Source: AAP
A 25-YEAR-OLD Australian woman found in Dublin a month ago is free to leave state care after a psychiatrist found she wasn't suffering from a mental disorder that would enable her to be detained.
But Samantha Azzopardi can stay in hospital in Ireland voluntarily after a court heard she was suffering from a condition that made her "vulnerable".
An order from Ireland's High Court which meant Ms Azzopardi couldn't be removed from care has now lapsed, but a lawyer acting for the Irish health authorities, Tim O'Leary, said on Thursday "if she's happy to stay where she is that's no problem".
Since being identified earlier this week it's been revealed Ms Azzopardi is known to Australian police, has used false identities and previously been convicted on deception charges.
It was initially feared she was a teenage victim of human trafficking.
The High Court on Thursday heard the Australian would now be cared for by adult health services and would be offered support if she chose to move back out into the community.
Justice George Birmingham said the twists in the case had come "as a shock to everybody and as a surprise".
"But the case has now run its course," he said.
A lawyer for the guardian appointed when it was thought Ms Azzopardi was a teenager, Gerard O'Brien, told reporters outside court: "She is not detainable under the Mental Health Act ... the legal proceedings are at an end."
Local media have turned on the young Australian in the past 24 hours.
The Irish Independent on Thursday said authorities had been "taken in by a Walter Mitty-like con artist".
The newspaper reported the gardai (Ireland's police) were considering charging her with wasting police time.
But a police spokesman refused to comment on that prospect when contacted by AAP.
It's also been reported it cost the state more than 250,000 euros ($A357,450) to identify Ms Azzopardi.
Psychiatrist Brendan Kelly assessed Ms Azzopardi on Wednesday evening and prepared a "fulsome report", the court heard on Thursday morning Dublin time (Thursday night AEDT).
It was Dr Kelly's view that Ms Azzopardi was not suffering from a disorder that would allow her to be detained against her will.
It's been reported her family are travelling from Australia to Ireland.
A relative who Ms Azzopardi had been staying with in Tipperary before she was found on a Dublin street in a distressed state on October 10 has appealed for privacy.
"He requests that the media respect his privacy and that of his family," lawyers acting on his behalf said in a statement.
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) will make her first visit to Australia this month. Source: AAP
AUNG San Suu Kyi will make her first visit to Australia in late November.
The Burmese opposition leader will attend public events in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne and meet members of the Burmese community from November 27 to December 2.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop first met Ms Suu Kyi in 1995 and said she was delighted to be able to welcome her to Australia.
"Australia has long been a staunch supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi's efforts to bring democracy to the Burmese people," she said in a statement on Tuesday.
Australia and other nations have been gradually easing their sanctions against Myanmar (Burma) as the country has allowed greater political and media freedoms in past few of years.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate accepted the invitation from former foreign minister Bob Carr back in June and remarked that she fondly remember growing up with the song Kookaburra Sat In The Old Gum Tree.
The former political prisoner won a parliamentary seat in April 2012 and she became opposition leader of the National League for Democracy.
After getting a doctor's certificate, a 100-year-old man in the US has skydived for the first time. Source: AAP
WHEN Vernon Maynard's friends asked him what he wished he had done in his 100 years of life, the US man said he had always wanted to jump from a plane with a parachute.
The retired car dealer from southern California got the chance to mark his centenarian birthday on Monday by doing just that.
Jean Walcher of the US Parachute Association says Maynard and his two great nephews made their first skydive along with trained instructors from 13,000 feet (3,900 metres) southeast of Los Angeles.
Skydive Perris manager Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld says Maynard obtained a doctor's note before making the jump.
Maynard's daughter Linda Hironimus says her father's friends made arrangements for him to skydive after he said he always wanted to try it.
Maynard, who hails from Nebraska, lives in Palm Desert.
CSG projects in NSW could face fewer regulatory hurdles with a new plan for environmental approvals. Source: AAP
MINING companies wanting to develop coal seam gas (CSG) projects in NSW could soon face fewer regulatory hurdles, after the O'Farrell government signed up to a new federal plan for environmental approvals.
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) said the NSW government had helped overcome one of the barriers to CSG projects in the state by signing up to the Abbott government's approvals overhaul.
NSW on Tuesday followed Queensland's lead by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the federal government to create a "one-stop-shop" for environmental approvals.
The proposal promises to deliver faster approvals and eliminate regulatory duplication, but opponents claim it will erode crucial environmental protections by handing federal powers to the states.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the "same strict environmental standards" would apply, but businesses would only need to obtain one approval for projects instead of two.
"The federal government is on track to sign-on all states and territories within 12 months and fast-track the eradication of red and green tape for environmental approvals," Mr Abbott said in a statement.
BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the NSW government, which imports 95 per cent of its gas from interstate, had taken a critical step to securing its own gas supply.
"Today's MOU helps overcome one of the barriers to developing coal seam gas projects that would enable New South Wales to develop its own gas supply," Ms Westacott said in a statement.
NSW has been under pressure from the federal government to expand gas mining, including CSG operations, as they search for a solution to energy price spikes and a crisis in natural gas supply.
CSG has proved a powder keg in NSW, with the government the target of frequent protests from farmer and conservationists who warn expanding gas operations threatens agricultural land and water supply.
The NSW Minerals Council praised the O'Farrell government for supporting the plan they claim will address the "overly bureaucratic and cumbersome" approvals process in the state.
"We look forward to seeing fast progress on delivery of these promised reforms, so that the words expressed in the MOU are matched by real action," chief executive Stephen Galilee said in a statement.
The Minerals Council of Australia said the one-stop-shop would eradicate unnecessary green tape without compromising environmental standards.
But Greens senator Larissa Waters said the plan would "gut" environmental protections, and blasted the duplication argument being put forward by Mr Abbott and "his big business buddies" as a furphy.
"Tony Abbott is laying the groundwork to hand federal environmental approval powers to NSW, giving his conservative state cronies open slather over our nationally significant environmental assets," she said in a statement.
The family of a teenage girl who was shot in her western Sydney home are now talking to police.
A schoolgirl has been shot at a home in Sydney's west, in what police say is a targeted attack. Source: AAP
AFTER a day of being condemned for their silence, the family of a teenage girl who was shot in her western Sydney home are talking to police.
On Tuesday morning, as the girl lay injured in hospital, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and the state's top officers vented their frustration at the family of the 13-year-old, who was shot by gunmen at her Blacktown home late on Monday night.
The men were reportedly looking to settle a score with the girl's brother, who is suspected of having links to the notorious Brothers 4 Life gang.
After having the door slammed in their faces, the men allegedly opened fire, hitting the girl in the back.
On Tuesday morning, Mr O'Farrell expressed outrage at the parents' lack of co-operation.
"What sort of parents, whose daughter's been injured in an attack like this, will not co-operate with police?" he asked.
Deputy Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas called on the family to take responsibility.
"This poor girl had nothing to do with anything, but someone in her family did," he said.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, it appeared the family's silence had been broken, with the premier issuing a statement saying family members were talking to police.
The girl's father told media on Tuesday his daughter was "settled", adding he was disappointed by the gunmen's actions.
"Everyone's disappointed in the community; they do the wrong thing," he said.
Inspector Dave Lagats said what police feared had become a reality after a string of recent shootings.
"Our greatest fears have now been reached ... an innocent person, a 13-year-old girl, has now become the victim of this type of senseless activity," he said.
Neighbours woken by the fracas thought they were hearing thunder or fireworks until the screaming began.
Father-of-three Sarn Pulefele lives two doors away on Sunnyholt Road and said he was woken by a loud bang.
"At first I thought it was thunder because I'd never heard guns before," Mr Pulefele told AAP.
"Then I got up and I could hear screaming. And then I realised someone's been shot."
A neighbour said police had been to the house before.
The latest incident comes after one man was killed and two were injured in shootings linked to Brothers 4 Life.
On Sunday, a 27-year-old man, named by media as suspected Brothers 4 Life gang member Michael Odisho, was found with multiple gunshot wounds at Winston Hills.
A man, believed to be the cousin of Brothers 4 Life boss Bassam Hamzy, was shot dead in Revesby a week ago and another man, Omar Ajaj, suffered multiple bullet wounds in the attack.
Police said it was too early to tell whether Monday's shooting was a revenge attack.
Mr Kaldas would not rule out that Hamzy might have influenced recent shootings from jail. He also refused to say whether the intended shooting target had been interviewed, or whether he was even at home during the attack.
However, Mr O'Farrell said a man had "fled out the back door" seconds before the shooting began.
The NSW opposition accused Mr O'Farrell of allowing gun crime to spiral out of control.
A northern brown bandicoot which survived the NSW bushfires is being treated at Taronga Zoo. Source: AAP
A TINY survivor of the NSW bushfires has staff at Taronga Zoo gushing.
The northern brown bandicoot was recently handed into the RSPCA in the Hunter Valley with severe burns to his feet.
When staff realised he needed ongoing care the furry fellow was transferred to the city.
On Monday, Taronga Wildlife Hospital staff applied bandages to all four of the bandicoot's legs from tip to toe.
Taronga Zoo's senior veterinarian Larry Vogelnest works with animals every day but even he thinks the bandicoot sure looks cute with his bandages on.
He says the bandicoot was extremely lucky to have such minor injuries because trapped animals usually die in bushfires.
"Most people think we'd be absolutely inundated with hundreds and hundreds of burnt wildlife but we don't actually tend to get that many," he told AAP.
"All that's burnt is his feet and the tip of his tail so he must have had to run over some hot coals."
It will be several weeks before the deep burns on the bandicoot's feet have healed enough for him to be released.
Until then, Mr Vogelnest says the gentle but confident bandicoot is busy showing off to his carers.
"He does show his teeth, he'll open his mouth and look ferocious but that's about where it stops," he told AAP.
"Generally the bandicoots aren't particularly aggressive ... they're lovely little animals."
A MOTHER driving her daughter to have her hair done on her 16th birthday died of multiple injuries when a police vehicle chasing a stolen car slammed into her at high speed, a court has been told.
The first class constable who was driving the police car, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has gone on trial in a Perth court charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Sharon D'Ercole.
The 50-year-old was in her Toyota Corolla, driving her daughter Lashay to a hair appointment in the Perth CBD, when her car was smashed into by the Ford Territory at the intersection in Dianella in April 2012.
Perth District Court heard the Ford had gone through two sets of red lights when it smashed into Ms D'Ercole's car, causing her horrific injuries.
The mother-of-three died less than an hour later in hospital.
Prosecutor Bernard Standish told the jury they would have to decide just one major issue - whether the constable's driving was dangerous to the public.
"The lives of Sharon D'Ercole and this officer intersected with tragic consequences," Mr Standish said.
The court heard the 28-year-old officer was trained to the highest level of pursuit driving. He had set off after the stolen Audi after police database checks indicated it had been stolen just hours before.
The car's lights and sirens were deployed as the pursuit progressed, the court was told.
The trial, which is scheduled to last three weeks, will hear from several eye witnesses, as well specialists who will estimate what speed the cars were doing when they collided.
Ms D'Ercole's daughter however, will not be giving evidence, as she was knocked unconscious in the crash and has no memory of the moments leading up to her mother's death.
