NSW road toll rises to eight

The NSW holiday road toll has risen to eight after a motorcyclist died in the state's north. Source: AAP

THE NSW holiday road toll has risen to eight after a motorcyclist died following a collision with a ute in the state's north.

Police said a man in his 60s was riding his motorbike on the Summerland Way, near Whiporie, when it hit a Mazda ute at about 10.45am (AEDT) on Saturday.

The motorcyclist died at the scene while the driver of the ute was not hurt, police said in a statement.

They said the Summerland Way was closed as a result of the crash.

The latest fatality followed the death of a 50-year-old male motorist at Mudgee on Thursday and a grim Boxing Day in which there were five deaths on NSW roads.

A 79-year-old woman was the first fatality of the holiday season after she died in a collision at Mount Ousley, near Wollongong, on Sunday.

Meanwhile, police said the number of people injured in car accidents over the holiday period so far had jumped by 17 per cent from last year.

They said 369 people had so far been injured in crashes during Operation Safe Arrival, which runs from December 21 to January 4, compared with 316 injuries at the same point last year.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander John Hartley said the increase in the number was "one of the biggest concerns for police".

Police have so far charged 415 people with drink driving and 6573 motorists with speeding over the holiday period.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012, until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Japan eyes security ties with Australia

Japan's new PM Shinzo Abe (pic) has sought to expand the Japan-US security partnership to Australia. Source: AAP

JAPAN'S hawkish new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought to expand the Japan-US security partnership to Australia and India as it faces a bitter territorial row with China, a newspaper reports.

"The Japan-US alliance is the cornerstone," Abe, sworn in as prime minister on Wednesday, said in an interview with the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun on Saturday.

"It's good to expand it to security co-operation among Japan, the United States and India. (Co-operation) among Japan, the United States and Australia will also contribute to stability in the region," Abe said.

"It is important to regain the region's power balance," he added without elaborating.

Abe won conservative support in national polls earlier this month with forthright pronouncements on the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, vowing not to budge on Japan's claim to them.

China also lays claim to the island chain, which it calls the Diaoyu.

Beijing has sent ships into the islands' waters many times since Tokyo nationalised the chain in September, with analysts saying China intends to prove it can come and go as it pleases.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fukushima an 'unprecedented challenge'

THE clean-up at Fukushima after its tsunami-sparked nuclear meltdowns is unlike anything humanity has ever tried, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says.

"The massive work toward decommissioning is an unprecedented challenge in human history," the newly elected Abe said on Saturday during a tour of the plant.

"Success in the decommissioning will lead to the reconstruction of Fukushima and Japan."

Abe was at the crippled Fukushima Dai'ichi facility just days after being sworn in following the triumph of his pro-business Liberal Democratic Party in national elections.

The prime minister's trip to the still-ruined site, on which he was accompanied by an AFP journalist, is part of a push by his administration to tackle an issue that has been a major talking point in Japan over much of the past two years.

Observers widely expect Japan to restart its nuclear program on the LDP's watch, despite public concerns that the party was partially responsible for the extent of the catastrophe because of a culture of complicity during its more than five-decade rule.

His government announced on Thursday that it would review a pledge by the previous administration to scrap nuclear power within three decades and would give the green light to any power plants deemed safe by regulators.

Japan's entire stable of 50 reactors was shuttered for safety inspections in the aftermath of the March 2011 disaster at Fukushima, where a tsunami swamped cooling systems, sparking meltdowns.

The reactors at the plant raged out of control for months after the initial catastrophe, spewing radiation over a wide area and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

Abe's visit comes around a year after experts said they had brought the wrecked units under control. However, melted fuel remains inside their cores and their full decommissioning and cleaning-up is expected to take decades.

Dressed in a protective suit and wearing a face mask, Abe was taken by bus to see two of the damaged reactors.

Thanking workers for their efforts at this time of year, when many people are celebrating New Year at home with their families, he said: "Decommissioning work is hard work, but it is progressing. We owe it all to you.

"We, the government, will give full support."

The disaster at Fukushima was the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. Work to clean up at the site in Ukraine is still going on, more than a quarter of a century after a reactor exploded.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

National road toll rises to 29

The holiday road toll has risen to 29 after the death of a pedestrian hit by two cars in Tasmania. Source: AAP

THE death of a pedestrian killed after being hit by two separate cars in Tasmania has taken the holiday road toll to 29.

The 21-year-old man was standing on the Tasman Highway when he was struck by a ute at Cambridge, east of Hobart, at about 2.40am (AEDT) on Saturday.

The ute did not stop and shortly afterwards a sedan travelling west on the highway ran over the man, who was injured and lying on the road. The man died at the scene.

In Victoria, a man died following a crash involving two cars at Hoddle Street in East Melbourne.

One car ran into the back of the other vehicle just before 5.20am (AEDT), propelling it into a tree on the footpath.

A male passenger in one of the cars died at the scene.

Meanwhile, a NSW motorcyclist died following a collision with a ute in the state's north.

The man in his 60s was riding his motorbike on the Summerland Way, near Whiporie, when it hit a Mazda ute at about 10.45am (AEDT).

The motorcyclist died at the scene while the driver of the ute was not hurt, police said.

On Friday night, a 38-year-old woman died after a head-on collision near Bundaberg in central Queensland.

Four other people were taken to hospital as a result of the crash.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012, until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

30 people rescued after WA shark sighting

SURF lifesavers have rescued 30 people stranded on a rock off the Perth coast after reports of a six-metre great white shark lurking in the area.

Surf Life Saving WA said Twilight Beach in Esperance was closed between 11.15am and 12.30pm (WST) on Friday after a helicopter tour group spotted the shark.

It said 30 people were on a rock a short distance from the shore, but rather than ask them to swim back, a boat was sent to pick them up.

"Lifesavers transported 30 people via boat from Twilight Rock to the mainland without incident," Surf Life Saving WA said.

It follows the sighting of several other sharks in the south west region on Friday including three one-metre sharks that were feeding near Margaret River.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

India gang-rape victim has brain injury

Doctors in Singapore are battling to save the life of the student gang-raped on a bus in India. Source: AAP

AN Indian gang-rape victim is "struggling against the odds" to survive after suffering a heart attack and brain injuries, as medics criticised a decision to fly her to Singapore.

In a bulletin issued the day after her arrival in Singapore, doctors at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital said the 23-year-old was battling an infection in her lungs and remained critically ill after the December 16 assault in Delhi.

"The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital where she was airlifted to from India, said in a statement on Friday.

"Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury," he added.

"A multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival, and is doing everything possible to stabilise her condition over the next few days."

On Thursday night, the hospital revealed that the woman, who is a student in Delhi, had undergone "three abdominal surgeries and experienced a cardiac arrest in India" as it gave the first detailed rundown of her condition.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been treated in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital since she was thrown off a bus in the capital after six men took turns to rape her at the back of the vehicle on December 16.

She also suffered severe intestinal injuries as a result of being assaulted with an iron bar, according to police and prosecutors.

The decision to fly her in a special air ambulance was taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet on Wednesday, the government having already promised to pay all her medical bills.

But while ministers have insisted that the decision was taken purely on medical grounds, newspapers have suggested that authorities who have struggled to control nationwide protests over the attack were keen to have her transferred out of the country.

An unnamed doctor who was part of a team of experts consulted about the transfer told The Hindu newspaper that they had only been asked whether it was safe to move her rather than if it was the best course of action.

"The question was not whether there were any deficiencies in treatment that would be met by moving her.... She was being given the best possible care."

Samiran Nundy, chairman of the organ transplant and gastro-surgery department of Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told the paper that the transfer made little sense.

"I just can't understand why a critically ill patient with infection in blood and body, high grade fever and on the ventilator is being transferred," he said.

"It will take weeks in this case to even look into the possibility of an intestinal transplant so why hurry and take the patient out from a facility which works so well. It seems more of a political move."

Singh has ordered an official inquiry into the gang-rape and promised new laws to protect women as well as stiffer penalties for the worst sex crimes.

The government announced on Thursday that it would post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to publicly shame them. The campaign will begin in Delhi, which has been dubbed India's "rape capital".

"Our prayers are with the brave young girl. The best possible medical care is being provided to her," the premier told reporters on Friday.

"You have my assurance that our government is committed to bring the guilty to justice as soon as possible."

His comments were echoed by Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main ruling Congress party and India's most powerful politician.

"Our only wish today is that the victim recovers and culprits are punished and no time is lost in bringing perpetrators of such barbarous and heinous crimes to book," she said alongside Singh.

The woman's family has flown to Singapore to keep a vigil at the hospital.

Although they have not spoken to reporters, Singapore's Straits Times newspaper quoted an official who had spoken to her father and two brothers.

"These are simple, rustic people, who have never dreamt of boarding an aircraft, much less travel to a foreign country in an air ambulance," said the source.

"The father said he is reassured that the best is being done for his daughter and the rest lies in the hands of God."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Paper ordered to hand over Buswell notes

WEST Australian newspaper The Sunday Times has been ordered to hand over documents relating to an article it published containing allegations about the behaviour of state Treasurer Troy Buswell.

Mr Buswell, who is also WA's transport and emergency services minister, has launched a defamation case against his ex-lover, independent MP Adele Carles, after she made a string of accusations about him that were published in the newspaper.

A subpoena was issued seeking the correspondence between Ms Carles and the journalist including handwritten notes, emails, letters and audio recordings.

At a hearing in the WA Supreme Court on Thursday, lawyers for the newspaper argued the subpoena should be set aside because it was an abuse of process, a "fishing exercise" and had no legitimate forensic purpose.

However, Justice John McKechnie dismissed the application from the newspaper on Friday and ordered that The Sunday Times provide the documents by Monday.

Justice McKechnie rejected any argument that the subpoena would cause the newspaper to disclose confidential information.

"No question of journalist's privilege, if such a thing exists, or protection of sources arises," he said.

"The article purports to quote the defendant directly, and of course, names her prominently.

"Confidentiality alone or in combination with other factors is insufficient to set aside the subpoena."

Mr Buswell's lawyer, Martin Bennett, told reporters outside court he wanted to see all relevant notes made by the journalist that would provide some context for the comments extracted for the two stories published on December 9.

"They're all necessary documents to formulate a proper pleading in a defamation matter," he said.

Mr Bennett said there was currently no prospect of the defamation case being settled out of court.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Indian teen pressed to drop case

A 17-YEAR-OLD Indian girl who was gang-raped has taken her own life after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers, police and a relative say.

Amid the ongoing uproar over the gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi earlier this month, the latest case has again shone the spotlight on the police's handling of sex crimes.

One police officer has been sacked and another suspended over their conduct after the assault during the festival of Diwali on November 13 in the Patiala region in the Punjab, according to officials.

The teenager was found dead on Wednesday night after swallowing poison.

Inspector General Paramjit Singh Gill said on Thursday that the teenager had been "running from pillar to post to get her case registered", but officers failed to open a formal inquiry.

"One of the officers tried to convince her to withdraw the case," Gill, the police chief for the area, told AFP.

Before her death, there had been no arrests over her case although three people were detained on Thursday. Two of them were her alleged male attackers and the third was a suspected woman accomplice.

The victim's sister told Indian television that the teenager had been urged to either accept a cash settlement or marry one of her attackers.

"The police started pressuring her to either reach a financial settlement with her attackers or marry one of them," her sister told the NDTV network.

Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India reported that a police officer has been suspended for allegedly refusing to register a rape complaint in the northern state of Chhattisgar.

The woman and her husband later brought the case to the attention of a more senior officer and a hunt has been launched for her attacker, an auto rickshaw driver.

Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year in India were against women.

The real figure is thought to be much higher as so many women are reluctant to report attacks to the police.

During an address to the chief ministers of India's states on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to bring in new laws to cover attacks on women.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

1500 farmers stay put as volcano erupts

ABOUT 1500 farmers living on the slopes of the San Cristobal volcano have refused to leave, despite being ordered to evacuate as the volcano spews gas, sand and ash.

"People have not evacuated because we do not want to go and leave the area abandoned," Maria Pereira told AFP on Wednesday.

Pereira lives in Grecia 4, a community of about 600 people at the base of the volcano, in the Chinandega department.

She said columns of ash "bathed the trees, houses, and roads in white" and "pretty sand fell" in the morning. She said by early afternoon volcanic activity had decreased, though in the evening new columns of ash shot up.

In another community near the volcano, Bethlehem, some farmers resisted efforts of civil defence officials to convince them to obey the evacuation order.

Around 140 civil defence troops have been deployed to "persuade" farmers to move away from the danger zone, state deputy Colonel Nestor Solis told reporters.

The government issued a yellow alert on Wednesday, ordering the evacuation of 300 families living near the volcano.

Reiterating the evacuation order on Wednesday, first lady Rosario Murillo, a government spokeswoman, said "the situation of the volcano is unstable".

But she did not specify how many had obeyed the evacuation order or where they were being housed.

San Cristobal, the tallest of Nicaragua's seven active volcanoes, is believed to have erupted for the first time in 1685.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

US paper publishes list of gun owners

A NEW York newspaper has sparked outrage by publishing a detailed map with thousands of names and addresses of gun permit holders in the wake of the Newtown school shooting.

The publication came amid a heated debate over gun control revived after the Connecticut massacre and drew intense criticism on social media outlets from gun owners, who called it a violation of privacy.

The Journal News in New York state's Westchester County obtained the publicly available information from county clerks and published it earlier this week in an interactive map alongside an article entitled The Gun Owner Next Door.

The paper obtained the names and addresses of more than 33,000 permit holders in two counties, though it said more than 13,000 had no activity in the past five years, and could belong to people who moved or passed away.

It said it was awaiting information on 11,000 permit-holders from a third county.

The newspaper defended the publication, saying the information was legally obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and that its readers had a right to know whether their neighbours owned firearms.

"We knew publication of the database would be controversial, but we felt sharing as much information as we could about gun ownership in our area was important in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings," said CynDee Royle, editor and vice president of the Journal News, a Gannett Publication.

"People are concerned about who owns guns and how many of them there are in their neighbourhoods," she said. The newspaper had also asked for information about the type and number of weapons people owned, but that request was denied.

Critics slammed the move as an invasion of privacy that could put gun owners at risk, and the newspaper said it had received hundreds of calls from people who feared for their safety or felt their privacy had been violated.

"You're giving a shopping list to criminals," the newspaper quoted Tom King, president of the New York Rifle & Pistol Association, as saying.

"Does it matter if you own 47 guns or you own one gun? Everybody likes to think that someone who has all of these guns is evil, that there's some nefarious reason they have all these guns. There are collectors."

The newspaper's Facebook page drew hundreds of comments, positive and negative, with several irate users publishing the home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of the daily's publisher and editors.

"Don't you idiots realise you have just classified the law-abiding gun-owning citizen with sex offenders who have been released from prison?" wrote one user, identified as Sheila Gray.

"You also have told the street thugs where the armed homes are and where there are no guns."

The school shooting at Newtown, Connecticut earlier this month - in which 26 people, including 20 young children - were shot dead, has sparked renewed calls for new gun regulation.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More