Fish and chip shopfront damage in Sydney

POLICE are trying to confirm if a bullet caused damage to a fish and chip shopfront in Sydney's south.

A man opened Hooked on Seafood on the Princes Highway at Sylvania on Sunday morning to find damage to the front window.

Police tape surrounded the shop throughout most of the day and the windows were still intact.

A nearby business told AAP there was one bullet hole in the window.

Police say a crime scene was established but no forensic or ballistic evidence was located.

Investigators are trying to confirm whether a bullet, rock or another projectile caused the damage.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man under police guard after alleged arson

A QUEENSLAND man who allegedly set fire to a house in the state's southeast is now under police guard in hospital.

A 16-year-old girl suffered serious burns in the blaze and has been flown to Brisbane for treatment.

Police say seven people were inside the home at Oakhurst, near Maryborough, when it went up in flames on Sunday morning.

They all managed to flee before the home was gutted by fire.

Police allege a Dunmora man, 53, drove a prime-mover into the home, damaging two vehicles, before setting the house alight.

He is in Maryborough Hospital but is expected to be flown to Brisbane for burns treatment.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hundreds rally over Vic mine fire response

HUNDREDS of residents have rallied in Victoria's Morwell where a coal mine is on fire, demanding a royal commission into what they say is a lack of action by authorities.

Protest leader Nerissa Albon said 1200 people had turned out to the rally, united in frustration over living in the smoke-affected town where a blaze at the Hazelwood open cut coal mine has been burning since February 9.

"Everybody's sick of their eyes stinging, they're sick of sore throats, they're sick of their houses being covered," she told AAP.

Demonstrators want a royal commission into what they say is a delayed government response, real assistance to leave the area and lack of fire safety infrastructure in the disused part of the mine which is ablaze.

Greens Senator Richard Di Natale, who spoke at the rally, said locals were right to be angry over conflicting health messages.

He accused the state government of a lack of leadership on the issue, saying a state of emergency should have been declared within days of the fire starting.

"We knew that the impacts of the smoke from this fire would have serious acute health impacts and quite possibly very serious longer term impacts," he told reporters in Morwell.

"The question is, what sort of exposure are we going to allow the people of Morwell to be exposed to before we act?"

Dr Di Natale, a former GP who last year led a Senate inquiry into health impacts of air pollution, said Premier Denis Napthine needed to ask Prime Minister Tony Abbott for disaster relief assistance.

Mine operator, GDF Suez, had a social responsibility to the residents but was also missing in action, he said.

Health Minister David Davis said the situation was being handled professionally, based on best advice.

"The chief health officer has issued advisories on the basis of the evidence that's available, on the basis of the best possible advice," he told reporters.

Mr Davis said the government will provide whatever assistance is reasonable and health department officers will individually assess each family.

Chief Health Officer Rosemary Lester advised on Friday that people over 65, preschool-age children, pregnant women and those with a pre-existing heart or lung condition should move from Morwell South as the fire will most likely not be extinguished in the next 10 days as first thought.

The state government will hold an independent inquiry into the fires.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

CleanUp Australia back at work

Around 550,000 volunteers will focus on cigarette butts and drink bottles for CleanUp Australia day. Source: AAP

CLEANUP Australia's Ian Kiernan and more than half a million of his mates will spend Sunday applying his newly developed formula, E=1.

Operating out of Tasmania in 2014, Mr Kiernan is leading the 24th annual CleanUp Australia day and more than half a million volunteers will scour the scrub, sand, parks, creeks and bush at 7000 sites across the country.

"I have 550,000 close, personal friends now," he said.

Many other clubs and groups across the country participate but don't register, so the true figure is probably much larger, he said.

Mr Kiernan said the environment is the "absolute, primary issue" and since being awarded an honorary doctorate in science from the UNSW, he's developed a formula to help everyone remember and act with nature in mind.

"E=1, not E=mc2, that's very good, but E=1 comes long before that," he said, clarifying that E was in fact an abbreviation of environment.

The group's focus this year is cigarette butts and drink bottles.

"They're a real problem," Mr Kiernan told AAP from the group's Tasmanian headquarters

"They've got toxic material in them, they've got plastic in them and they just accumulate."

As well as improving the environment, CleanUp Australia day encourages people to live more sustainably and is great for business, Mr Kiernan said.

"Tourists won't return to degraded destinations," he said.

Mr Kiernan also wants to see South Australia's incentive-based recycling scheme replicated nationally.

"The recovery rate on beveridge containers is in excess of 85 per cent. In other cities and towns, less than 30 per cent

"Instead of seeing a bit of rubbish on the beach or beside the road, you'll see money."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man arrested in NSW over New York death

A FUGITIVE accused of beating to death a New York store owner and robbing him of $US32,000 has been captured in Australia after NSW police secretly took samples of his DNA from glasses and cigarettes.

Abakar Gadiyev, 32, was arrested on Thursday after DNA from a mask used in the robbery matched his DNA, the New York Post reported.

Gadiyev and Arsen Bashirov, both citizens of the central Asian nation of Turkmenistan, allegedly robbed Brighton Beach storeowner Vladimir Tolstykh, 34, of a payroll bag containing $US32,000 and then beat him to death on March 14, 2009.

"The defendant robbed and attacked the victim, a store owner, after lying in wait for him in his parking garage," said a Brooklyn District Attorney memo obtained by the newspaper.

"The police conducted a lengthy investigation which led them to Gadiyev who had fled to Australia and Bashirov who had fled to Turkmenistan."

NSW police tailed Gadiyev to gather DNA left behind on items such as glasses and cigarettes so they could send the DNA samples across the Pacific Ocean to the New York Police Department NYPD for analysis.

"The evidence they sent us matched the mask," a police source said.

Gadiyev was applying to become an Australian citizen, police sources said.

US authorities plan to extradite Gadiyev to New York.

15.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic rally seeks end to offshore processing

MORE than 200 people have gathered at a rally in Melbourne, calling for an end to offshore detention.

Refugee activists chanted "Close Manus, close Nauru, let the refugees in" during Saturday's protest at the State Library of Victoria.

The demonstration comes after Iranian man Reza Berati died and 62 others were injured during a February 17 asylum seeker protest at Australia's Manus Island immigration detention centre.

The protesters want the Papua New Guinea facility to be shut down and for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to step down.

Australian Greens Senator Sarah-Hanson Young said Manus Island was untenable and must close.

"We can't be surprised of what happened last week on Manus Island but we can be ashamed that this government has let it happen. A young man's died on the watch of this government," she told the rally.

The senator said politicians on all sides had expressed upset at the recent events on Manus Island.

"They need to start crossing the floor and saying 'not in my name'," she said.

The Greens are expected to get Labor support on Monday to set up a Senate inquiry into the events of February 16-18 on the Papua New Guinea island where Australia operates the facility.

15.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Calls for more Korean family reunions

SOUTH Korea's president has proposed the rival Koreas hold reunions of Korean War-divided families on a regular basis, saying time is running out for the elderly separated by hostilities and politics.

South Korea has made similar proposals in the past, but President Park Geun-hye's latest overture came after the two Koreas last month held their first reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War in more than three years.

"There are separated families in North Korea as well. I believe North Korea should also ease the anguish and pain of its people," she said in a speech marking Korea's 1919 uprising against Japan's colonial rule.

North Korea didn't immediately respond to Park's proposal. Analysts say North Korea has been reluctant to increase family reunions due to worries that doing so could open the country to influence from more affluent South Korea and threaten its grip on power.

The latest six-day family reunions were arranged after North Korea began calling for better ties with South Korea in what outside analysts say is an effort to win foreign aid and investment.

North Korea earlier threatened to cancel the reunions in anger over annual military drills between Seoul and Washington that it calls a preparation for invasion. The North let the reunions proceed after high-level talks with South Korea, though the drills went ahead as scheduled.

15.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic pilot unharmed after plane flips

A PILOT has escaped unharmed after his plane flipped over while he was making an emergency landing in a Victorian paddock.

After encountering difficulties the male pilot of the light plane sought permission to land in a paddock in Lethbridge, near Meredith.

While attempting to land, the aircraft hit a rock which caused the plane to flip onto its roof about 2.15pm (AEDT) on Saturday, police say.

The lone pilot aboard the plane escaped uninjured.

15.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Johnston queries $50b defence budget

Defence Minister David Johnston says claims of a $50 billion defence budget in are not credible. Source: AAP

AS much as he might like it to be true, Defence Minister David Johnston is sceptical about a seeing a $50 billion defence budget in a decade.

That follows a media report in The Australian newspaper pointing to a $50 billion defence budget in 10 years as funding is progressively raised to two per cent of gross domestic product.

At present, the defence budget is $26 billion, which is about 1.6 per cent of GDP.

Senator Johnston said he didn't know where the $50 billion figure came from as the Defence Capability Plan (DCP), which outlines planned spending on new equipment, was in disarray because so much money had been taken away.

"For anybody to put a figure on where we are going and a time frame of where that place will be ... is quite questionable and impossible," he told reporters.

"I think it is wrong because I can't see how those figures can carry any credibility."

Senator Johnston said the government was set to launch a new defence white paper and DCP in 2015, which would establish benchmarks for defence spending.

He said it would be extremely hard to lift defence spending to two per cent of GDP.

"But we are going to do it," he said.

Senator Johnston said 21,000 public servants ran 56,000 uniformed personnel and that was unsustainable.

"My portfolio is just one of very many that is carrying that sort of burden," he said. "We have got to get lean and mean. No one is saying two per cent of GDP for defence in 10 years is gong to be easy."

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Smokey Vic town safe, but no comparison

Victoria is asking holiday home owners to open their homes to Morwell residents affected by smoke. Source: AAP

THE coalmine fire that's been blanketing Morwell in thick smoke for three weeks has no comparison, Victoria's top health officer says.

As firefighters prepare for forecast windy weather to blow even more smoke into the Latrobe Valley town, health authorities are poring over records of similar fires and finding little information.

Chief Health Officer Rosemary Lester says she's seeking advice on whether the fire has become a long-term exposure event for residents because it's been burning for three weeks.

But that's proving difficult, she said, because long-term smoke inhalation studies involve big city air pollution, not coalmines.

"It's an unusual situation," she said on Thursday.

"We do remain concerned about the level of smoke in the air. The levels have been very high and continue to be very high.

"We don't know how much longer it will go on for."

Dr Lester said carbon monoxide levels are nowhere near the level required to evacuate the town but she couldn't rule out calling for one in the future if the fire keeps burning.

The Hazelwood fire started on February 9 and is expected to burn for at least another two weeks.

Authorities stress it remains safe to stay in the area, but residents should limit their exposure.

A community respite centre has been set up in Moe and the health assessment centre has been expanded.

Latrobe Regional Hospital Acting chief executive Amanda Cameron said while hundreds had visited the assessment centre, the impact of smoke on people's health appeared to be minimal.

"We've had no admissions into the hospital that are directly related to the fire," she said.

The Victorian Greens want an evacuation for the most vulnerable people.

But Premier Denis Napthine said that's not necessary, though he'll open his house in Port Fairy to those wanting to flee the smoke and others should do the same with holiday homes.

He said it was frustrating to know the coalmine fire was deliberately lit.

Incident controller John Haynes said the wind would determine how quickly the fire could be extinguished.

Fire crews expect big gusts to arrive on Friday and return next week.

"We're trying our hardest," he said.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More