Case of burned woman baffles NSW cops

A severely burnt woman discovered in Sydney bushland claimed she was a victim of a chemical attack. Source: AAP

POLICE are mystified as to how a woman who was critically burned in an apparent chemical attack survived for days on the streets of western Sydney with little more than basic first aid.

A resident on Ferraro Crescent at West Hoxton heard cries from nearby bushland on Friday night and called triple zero.

When police arrived they found Monika "Nikki" Chetty, who has reportedly been sleeping rough in the area for months, with extensive burns to her face and body.

The 39-year-old told police she was attacked about a week ago in a Liverpool park but she did not seek help at hospital.

"In my 41 years in the police, this is most baffling - I cannot fathom the circumstances leading up to this," Green Valley Police Detective Superintendent James Johnson told reporters on Saturday.

"She is covered in black marks. It's full-thickness burns.

"She would have been in absolute agony, in my opinion, and to survive this long is amazing."

Ferraro Crescent resident Gavin O'Brien reportedly found Ms Chetty washing her wounds around the side of his house on Boxing Day.

"I couldn't tell it was a woman, the person was that disfigured," he told Network Ten.

"Had bandages on their head, didn't look too well. I asked if they were OK, they didn't want to talk, they were quite distressed."

It has been reported the woman is a mother of three who occasionally slept in bushland near where she was found by emergency services.

"She's been hanging up bedsheets and clothes along the park fence," neighbour Frank Ravese told the Seven Network.

Ms Chetty is in the Concord hospital burns unit in critical condition and police have asked for anyone with information to come forward.

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Chinese man gets death for child deaths

A CHINESE man who hacked three children to death and injured 13 others at a daycare centre in southern China has been sentenced to death.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday that Wu Yechang was convicted of intentional homicide in the Guigang Intermediate People's Court in China's Guangxi region for the September 2012 attack that horrified the country.

It was one of several violent attacks on children in China in recent years that have resulted in tighter security at schools and kindergartens.

The attacks also have led to calls for more attention to mental illnesses and prompted concern over rising stress in Chinese society.

Wu suffered from illness and loneliness when he targeted the children at the Red Apple daycare centre in Guangxi's Pingnan county, Xinhua said.

He told police in 2012 he initially wanted to kill himself but decided to do something bigger.

Reports say the jobless man bought an axe and was wandering when he saw the daycare centre.

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Emergency alert for Stradbroke Island fire

A watch and act alert has been issued for a bushfire on Queensland's North Stradbroke Island. Source: AAP

AN emergency bushfire alert has been issued for a blaze on Queensland's North Stradbroke Island, with warnings that homes may be lost.

Queensland police say the Public Safety Preservation Act has been invoked.

The act was declared at 7.30pm (AEST) and is in force for the area bounded by Trans Island Road - also known as Tazi Road - to the east, north along North Stradbroke Island Track - also known as Tripod Track - to the intersection of Beehive and East Coast roads, then west to the shoreline at Moreton Bay, south to the water taxi jetty in Dunwich and then east along Junner and Mallon streets back to Trans Island Road.

Police have urged those within the boundaries to follow directions from emergency service agencies.

Residents were strongly advised to leave if they were able.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) says the fire is moving quickly and is uncontrolled.

Spot fires are likely to start up to four kilometres ahead of the fire front and embers are also being thrown from the fire.

It's feared some property may be lost, and authorities said power and water supplies as well as mobile phone reception could be lost in the area during the night.

The QFES warned that conditions on the island would be very hot and windy on Saturday night, and as the fire approached people would find it increasingly difficult to breathe.

Officials say well-prepared homes can offer safety during the fire and may be defendable, but residents are advised to call triple zero if their property is threatened.

"Multiple fire crews are working to contain the blaze but firefighters will not be able to protect every affected property and residents should not expect a firefighter at their door," the QFES said in a statement.

Meanwhile, residents on the mainland and Southern Moreton Bay Islands were being asked to conserve water on Saturday morning after a treatment plant was damaged on North Stradbroke Island.

The treatment plant is one of two that service the region.

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Two dead in Vic road tragedy

THE drivers of two cars described to police as racing erratically and side-by-side on a Victorian highway before a fatal crash are aged in their 50s and 60s.

Victorian police say concerned witnesses called them about a high-speed car race on Saturday on the Calder Highway at Glenalbyn, near Bendigo, moments before two of three vehicles involved collided.

Emergency services were called to the crash about 12.40pm (AEDT).

Two of the vehicles, a blue Ford station wagon and a light brown Ford Falcon, crashed and ran off the road.

The station wagon struck a tree, killing two men inside the vehicle.

The 67-year-old male driver of the Falcon was taken to Bendigo Hospital in a serious condition.

His 35-year-old female passenger was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious condition.

Both have serious head injuries and remain in hospital under police guard.

The occupants of all three vehicles are known to each other, police say.

The driver of the third vehicle, a 51-year-old Wedderburn man, is in custody.

Police are investigating the circumstances leading up to the crash.

The highway remains closed while the crash scene is examined.

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NSW nursing home resident found safe

Police are concerned about a 63-year-old man who was last seen at a Sydney aged care home on Sunday. Source: AAP

A 63-YEAR-OLD man who went missing in Sydney's inner west for five days has come home.

Police had appealed for help finding Reginald Bates, last seen leaving an aged care home on Albert Street, Campsie, on Sunday.

But about 8pm (AEDT) on Friday he returned to the nursing home safe and well, police said.

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No quotas on police score cards: top cop

Queensland's top cop says score cards used to rate officer performance won't set quotas for fines. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND'S top cop says ordinary citizens have no reason to fear they'll be targeted by police when score cards are used to rate officer performance.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart says the balanced score cards won't set quotas for officers during the bid to cut crime in the Sunshine State by 10 per cent.

"It is not a quota system and any targets we put in place are always aspirational," he told reporters on Friday.

The score cards, being trialled in several areas including the Gold Coast, log the number and types of jobs completed by police.

Civil libertarians fear they are a return to the controversial kill sheets of the 1970s and '80s, in which quotas for fines were set.

Mr Stewart says that is not the case and refutes suggestions police would be out to get ordinary Queenslanders when the system is rolled out.

"If people are going about their lawful business they have no problem with the police," he said.

"But if I was a criminal in this state ... I'd be worried.

"This is about ensuring our people perform adequately and do their job and earn their pay, just like any other business."

However, Queensland Council for Civil Liberties vice-president Terry O'Gorman says the system could lead to police abusing their powers to reach quotas.

He says there have been complaints about police abusing search powers in the wake of anti-bikie laws.

"Last year senior police indicated RBTs would be used as an opportunity to search cars for evidence of crimes other than drink-driving," Mr O'Gorman said.

"This has led to police unnecessarily searching cars and bullying and blustering innocent citizens into so-called 'consent' searches."

But Mr Stewart says the service has long rated the performance of its officers and the balanced score card system will simply improve how that is done.

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Briton, New Zealander shot dead in Libya

LIBYAN troops have found the bodies of a British man and a New Zealand woman shot dead southwest of Tripoli, a security source says.

"The bodies of a British man and a New Zealand woman who had been killed by bullets were found on the beach in Mellitah on Thursday afternoon," the source told AFP on Friday.

The bodies had been moved to Tripoli, the source added, without giving any details on the circumstances of the deaths.

"We are aware of the tragic death of a British national in Libya and we stand ready to provide consular assistance," a spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office told AFP on Friday.

New Zealand's foreign ministry said it was aware of the report and was "working with the relevant authorities to confirm this".

It added that "the bodies have not yet been formally identified and the next of kin have not yet been informed".

The Mellitah area houses a major gas complex run by Mellitah Oil and Gas, a joint enterprise of Italy's ENI and Libya's state-owned National Oil Company, which exports natural gas to Italy through the Greenstream pipeline.

Libya has seen growing unrest following the overthrow of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The country is awash in weapons looted from the slain dictator's arsenals, and many former rebel brigades have refused to disarm or join the new security forces.

Last month a young American teacher was gunned down while on his morning jog in the restive eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of the 2011 revolt which has since seen scores of attacks on security forces and foreign missions.

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Nurses to join medicare protest in Sydney

Nurses and midwives are to join a protest in Sydney against proposed changes to Medicare. Source: AAP

NURSES and midwives are to join a protest in Sydney against proposed changes to Medicare.

Acting General Secretary of the NSW Nurses' and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA), Judith Kiejda, says nurses will turn out in numbers to a rally in defence of Medicare at the Sydney Town Hall at 1pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

A National Commission of Audit in late December received a proposal for a co-payment scheme for GP consultations.

Doctor groups and political parties have criticised such a move, claiming it would destroy Medicare and limit access to GPs for some community groups.

"Wage and salary earners pay the Medicare levy to make that possible - so anyone can get treatment whether they are rich or poor," Ms Kiejda said in a statement.

"Money should never be a barrier to medical care in Australia."

Ms Kiejda likened the move to the Howard government's unpopular Workchoices legislation.

"That cost them the very next election," she said.

"An attack on Medicare, forcing pensioners and everyone else to pay to see a doctor when they have already paid a levy for years, that will have exactly the same result."

Federal Health Minister Peter Dutton said he would not comment on "speculation around what the Commission of Audit may or may not recommend".

"The commission's work is still being compiled and will be provided to the government in 2014," he said in a statement last week.

"The government will be able to consider any recommendations and respond after that time."

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Vic man shot in car park incident

TWO men who are in hospital after a shooting at a Melbourne shopping centre car park knew each other, police say.

A 45-year-old man, from Dandenong, was shot in the leg at the Keysborough shopping centre in the city's southeast at 12.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

He was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

A short time later, another man turned up in hospital with facial injuries.

Police say the two incidents are linked.

Inspector Bruce Kitchen said the shooting was not related to bikie gangs but police were still trying to figure out why it happened.

"We think it's probably a one-off incident," he told reporters at the scene.

"I'm not sure whether it's self-inflicted or not at this stage."

The shot man's car was searched and armed crime detectives discovered a shotgun and several shotgun shells inside.

Police do not believe there is anyone else involved in the incident.

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X-Cross star to undergo surgery

MOTOCROSS star Jackson Strong is to undergo surgery to his left leg after a New Year's Eve explosion left him injured.

The two-time X-games gold medallist is in Sydney's St George Hospital due to undergo surgery on Friday following a gas explosion at his family home in southwestern NSW, his family said in a statement on Thursday.

"Jackson is expected to make a full recovery and once recovered has reaffirmed his commitment to pushing the boundaries of freestyle motocross," the statement said.

"Whilst it is expected there will be no long-term affects from the incident, doctors did praise the quick thinking actions of Jackson's girlfriend Ash Wing for applying first aid, and confirmed the outcome could have been far worse."

The Strong family have requested privacy until the 22-year-old is released from hospital.

Media reports on New Years Day said Strong was hurt in an explosion on his family property at Lockhart in the Riverina region of NSW.

"His left leg around his thigh is the worst part," Strong's father Lynton told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday.

"He will pull through, no worries at all."

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