Out-of-control truck kills 11 in Kenya

AT least 11 people have been killed after a truck lost control and rammed into passengers boarding a ferry in Kenya's port city of Mombasa, the Kenya Red Cross says.

"So far we can confirm 11 deaths from the ferry tragedy. Scores are still trapped at the scene and more than 20 people have been evacuated," Mombasa regional Red Cross chief Mwanaisha Hamisi said on Saturday.

Hamisi confirmed witness accounts of the event, saying "the lorry rammed into the passengers as they were boarding the ferry".

"Its brakes failed then it lost control and hurtled down the ferry's boarding ramp, running over the passengers and trapping people underneath it," she added.

Hamisi said that the death toll could rise as "many people are trapped in the wreckage".

A witness, Hassan Juma, who was on his way to work said he "saw the lorry lose control and ram into a crowd of passengers boarding the ferry".

The area traffic police boss confirmed the incident but was unsure of the number of dead and injured.

"We have dispatched a team to the scene ...We can't tell the exact number of people because there are a lot of people usually crossing the channel," regional traffic police chief Joshua Omukata said.

Mombasa, some 400km southeast of the capital Nairobi is Kenya's main port city and a key tourist hub famed for its sandy beaches.

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Weather goes from bad to worse in Qld

EX-CYCLONE Oswald refused to budge from central Queensland and whipped up three mini-tornadoes that injured at least 17 people, damaged scores of homes and forced the evacuation of towns around Bundaberg on Australia Day.

To the north, floods in Gladstone led to the city being declared a disaster zone and was the biggest concern for authorities on Saturday evening.

Torrential rain topped a metre in 48 hours and has swollen the Boyne River to two metres higher than the previous record.

About five metres of water is pouring over the spillway of the Awoonga Dam into the Boyne, just south of Gladstone.

Tannum Sands and Boyne Island, at the mouth of the Boyne River, narrowly escaped inundation on Saturday.

But they may not be so lucky when an extraordinarily high tide hits on Sunday morning.

"We're now getting ready for the next time when we think we'll have the biggest problem and that's at the high tide on Sunday morning," Gladstone Mayor Gail Sellers told AAP.

About 2000 people have been asked to evacuate.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said a saddle dam off the Awoonga Dam is close to overflowing, which would put 500 homes in peril.

He said the government is considering mandatory evacuations.

"That's my main concern," he said.

Mini-tornadoes that tore through the costal townships of Bargara and Burnett Heads struck after 1pm AEST, damaging homes, shops, a bowling club and government buildings.

Both townships were declared disaster areas.

A man and woman in a parked car on the Esplanade at Bargara were critically injured when a huge pine tree toppled onto the car's roof.

At least 15 other people were treated for minor injuries after being hit by flying glass and other debris.

Queensland emergency services minister Jack Dempsey, who lives in Bundaberg, said 150 homes were damaged at Burnett Heads - and two completely destroyed - by one of three tornadoes to strike the Bundaberg district.

"There are a number of small towns and suburbs that were hit by the mini-tornadoes," Mr Dempsey said.

"We are still trying to assess the extent of the damage."

The third and final mini-tornado badly damaged a home when it hit the coastal town of Coonarr, about 20km south of Bundaberg, at about 4.30pm (AEST).

Mr Newman, who addressed a press conference shortly after the first of the mini-cyclones had struck Bargara, said the Callide and Kroombit Dams, west of Gladstone, were experiencing unprecedented outflows.

Residents at Jambin and Goovigen have been ordered to take refuge on higher ground.

Flood warnings have been issued for the Calliope, Boyne, Baffle and Kolan Rivers.

In Rockhampton, floodwaters have inundated barbecues and car parks along the Fitzroy River.

The river continues to rise as it absorbs about half a metre of rain dumped on the city this week.

Mr Dempsey said the SES has received more than 650 requests for assistance since Friday morning, including more than 130 for Rockhampton, and more than 35 jobs each for Gladstone and Yeppoon.

There were also six swift-water rescues.

"Thankfully they were all very successful outcomes," he told ABC Radio.

A 60-year-old fisherman was found on Balaclava Island on Saturday afternoon, surviving more than 40 hours lost at sea.

His 38-foot fishing vessel began taking on water off Port Alma on Thursday.

Authorities are still searching for the second fisherman on board.

The rain depression is expected to finally mobilise southward overnight to begin tormenting the southeast.

In the next few days about 300mm of rain is expected in Wivenhoe Dam catchment, upstream of Brisbane, and coastal areas could get as much as 500mm.

Mr Newman said controlled releases from the dam are continuing and there is no doubt it will be able to cope with the influx of rainwater in the coming days.

"We can absorb that flood," he said.

The biggest risk will come from suburban creeks in the Gold and Sunshine Coast and greater Brisbane area.

"With all that heavy rain, flash flooding is definitely expected," Ken Kato from the Bureau of Meteorology told AAP.

The Moreton Bay Regional council is warning residents to prepare for tidal surges expected to cause flooding in low lying areas on Saturday and Sunday.

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Death sentences for Egypt soccer violence

AN Egyptian court has handed down death sentences for 21 people accused of taking part in soccer violence in 2012 that killed 74.

In the courtroom, families of the deceased wailed and raised their hands in the air shouting "Allahu Akbar", Arabic for "God is great".

The judge said in his statement read live on state TV that he would announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9.

Among those on trial are nine security officials.

The soccer melee on February 1, 2012 between Port Said's Al-Masry fans and Cairo's Al-Ahly fans was the world's deadliest soccer violence in 15 years.

As is customary in Egypt, the death sentences will be sent to a top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for approval.

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Crowds surge to Swan River for fireworks

ABOUT 300,000 people are expected to attend Perth's Skyworks display on the Swan River to celebrate Australia Day, up 50,000 from last year thanks to milder weather.

The city has enjoyed a 36C degree maximum, compared to 2012's sweltering 41C.

So far, the gathering throng has largely abided alcohol restrictions aimed at curbing antisocial behaviour, but police expect to impose some $200 fines before the event draws to a close.

At another popular destination, the port city of Fremantle, some 500 people have gathered for one of Western Australia's biggest citizenship ceremonies.

They were among the state's more than 2500 new citizens, hailing from 92 countries, to take the pledge on Saturday.

More than 80 citizenship ceremonies were held around the state, ranging from single-person ceremonies in country towns like Ravensthorpe, to the welcoming of 700 new citizens at Wanneroo - the second largest such event in the country.

One of the new Australians, Italy-born mother-of-one Cecilia Crespi, said she liked Australia's strong community feeling, egalitarian ideals and life-improving opportunities.

Briton Cathy Clayton, who moved to Perth with her policeman husband and teenage daughter, said she loved living in a house with a swimming pool that was close to the beach.

"My heart is truly embedded in the Australian way of life," she said.

Deputy leader of the opposition, Julie Bishop, told a citizenship ceremony in Perth's western suburbs that Australians were fortunate to live in an exciting and dynamic place.

"We enjoy a level of freedom based on our values and our beliefs that others around the world can only dream about," Ms Bishop said.

"We have a modern, dynamic economy that allows us the opportunity to have a standard of living that is amongst the highest in the world."

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US, China put pressure on N Korea

The White House has criticised the nuclear test of North Korea as "needlessly provocative". Source: AAP

NORTH Korea has threatened the South over sanctions, even as China and the US seek to pressure Pyongyang into backing down on a planned nuclear test.

In the latest in a series of warnings from Pyongyang sparked by a tightening of UN sanctions, the North's top body for inter-Korean affairs threatened the South with unspecified "physical counter-measures".

"Sanctions amount to a declaration of war against us," the Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Fatherland said in a statement on Friday.

"If the South Korean puppet regime of traitors directly participates in the so-called UN 'sanctions', strong physical counter-measures would be taken," it added.

The warning, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, came a day after North Korea's top military body threatened to conduct a third nuclear test and boost its ability to strike the United States.

The upsurge in tensions has its roots in Pyongyang's defiant decision to push ahead with a long-range rocket launch on December 12 - insisting it was a peaceful mission to place a satellite in orbit.

The rest of the world saw it as a banned ballistic missile test and on Tuesday the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution expanding the number of North Korean entities on an international blacklist.

The United States, supported by Japan and South Korea, spearheaded the UN resolution.

Pyongyang reacted furiously, vowing to boost its nuclear arsenal and to conduct a third nuclear test and even longer-range rocket launches in an "all-out action" against its "sworn US enemy".

In Washington on Thursday, White House spokesman Jay Carney criticised the North Korean threat as "needlessly provocative" and stressed any test would be a "significant violation" of UN Security Council resolutions.

"Further provocations would only increase Pyongyang's isolation, and its continued focus on its nuclear and missile program is doing nothing to help the North Korean people," Carney told reporters.

Outgoing US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States was "fully prepared" for a test from Pyongyang.

"But I hope... they determine that in the end, it is better to become a part of the international family," Panetta said.

In addition to the UN measures, the United States added names to its own blacklist that freezes any US-based assets of designated individuals and groups and makes it a crime for anyone in the United States to assist them.

The UN resolution was notable for receiving the backing of North Korea's sole major ally, China, which had shielded Pyongyang from stronger sanctions demanded by Washington.

In an unusually frank warning on Friday, China's state-run media indicated that Beijing would decrease aid to Pyongyang if it goes ahead with a nuclear test.

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Physician is Senior Australian of the year

Emeritus Professor Ian Maddocks (R) has been named the 2013 Senior Australian of the Year. Source: AAP

SENIOR Australian of the Year Professor Ian Maddocks believes his national award can help raise the importance of the role of palliative care for the dying in the medical profession.

The internationally recognised palliative care specialist, 82, was honoured on Friday for his work as a specialist and academic and his passionate advocacy for peace at the Australian of the Year awards ceremony in Canberra.

Prof Maddocks said more work needed to be done in the area of palliative care.

"There are still people in the other professions of medicine who don't hand over to us, who don't bring us in earlier enough," he told reporters.

"We can work alongside them, so that people are ready for that change when the other doctors say, 'well sorry, there is no more treatment for you'.

"Yes there is, there is lots more we can do."

Receiving his award, the emeritus professor at Flinders University in South Australia said he was still keen to promote palliative care as a general part of medicine practice.

"We shall all die. Some of us will deny the approach of death. Some will experience difficult treatments and then be told there's nothing to be done," he said.

"Palliative care affirms that there is always something that can be done."

Mental health and ageing minister Mark Butler said Prof Maddocks had made a significant contribution to the development of palliative care practices throughout Australia.

An emeritus professor at Flinders University, the octogenarian from the Adelaide beachside suburb of Seacliff still provides care for the terminally ill and continues to supervise postgraduate students.

Prof Maddocks has been a key leader in the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and the Nobel Peace Prize winning group, the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War.

The married father of three, and grandfather to five, was appointed Professor of Palliative Care at Flinders University in 1988.

Prof Maddocks was the first president of the Australian Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, and the first president of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Palliative Medicine.

He was also a specialist physician in the Australian Administration of Papua New Guinea for 14 years, and in 1971 became Foundation Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Papua New Guinea.

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Refugee is Young Australian of the Year

Akram Azimi was named the Young Australian of the Year for his work with indigenous communities. Source: AAP

HE fled Afghanistan with his mother and brother at the height of a bloody civil war, arriving in Australia a child refugee.

Now, 25-year-old Akram Azimi is 2013 Young Australian of the Year with a deep connection to his adopted country.

He was picked as an inspiration for his work mentoring people with disability and in indigenous communities, the latter beginning with a trip to a community in the Kimberley in Western Australia that he hoped would provide some adventure.

"What I did not know was that when I met those kids I was going to fall in love with them. I was going to fall in love with that community, I was going to fall in love with that landscape," he told reporters in Canberra.

He says since then every time he heard a fact about indigenous Australians he could imagine the face of a small child he had met.

"That has compelled me ever since to do all that I can to share with non-indigenous Australians the beautiful and rich culture that we are surrounded by."

For three years, Mr Azimi mentored young indigenous Australians in the remote community of Looma in the Kimberley, and primary school students in a small farming community in the WA wheat belt.

In 2011, he co-founded a student-run initiative to raise awareness about indigenous issues in universities, and has also worked with the True Blue Dreaming, a youth mentoring network.

Mr Azimi is also mentoring a Special Olympics athlete to raise public awareness about disability issues.

He was born in Kabul in 1987 and fled with his family in 1999 after the Taliban viciously consolidated its power in the country through a vicious civil conflict involving warring tribal factions.

At first he was "an ostracised refugee kid with no prospects", but Mr Azimi later excelled.

He went on to study a triple major in law, science and arts at the University of Western Australia.

His family has thrived since arriving in Australia as refugees and they have been treated with warmth and generosity.

"This (award) says something wonderful about our nation, that someone who looks like me can be held up as a role model to all other Australians."

After his name was announced, he had a special thanks for Prime Minister Julia Gillard for her leadership on polio eradication.

"You have saved so many kids from a lifetime of suffering," Mr Azimi said.

He says he is alive because Australian taxpayer dollars helped vaccinate children in war-torn Afghanistan and he will do everything he can to ensure all children can live free from polio.

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French Mali action enters third week

A breakaway faction from the Mali rebel front has called for a peaceful solution to the Mali crisis. Source: AAP

A FRENCH-LED offensive against radical Islamists occupying northern Mali has entered its third week.

French and Malian soldiers carried out joint patrols into the early hours of Friday morning some 200 kilometres south of Gao, an Islamist stronghold in Mali's north which has been battered by air strikes, a military source said.

"It's a first" in this region, the source said.

The patrols came a day after bombing raids destroyed two Islamist bases in Ansongo, about 80km from Gao, and the nearby village of Seyna Sonrai.

Extremists seized Gao, along with two other key northern Mali towns, Kidal and Timbuktu, 10 months ago, sparking fears the vast semi-arid zone could become an Afghanistan-like haven for terrorists.

France came to the aid of its former colony on January 11 as the Al Qaeda-linked Islamists broke south of their months-old frontline into government-held territory, seen as a threat to the capital Bamako.

Gao lies some 150 kilometres from the Niger border in eastern Mali, where more than 2000 Chadian soldiers and 500 from Niger are being deployed to open a second front against the Islamists.

French NGO Action Against Hunger warned the opening of a new front in Mali's east could worsen an already dire food shortage in the isolated area.

The organisation "fears strongly that an armed ground intervention from Niger will cut the last access route to supply basic goods (food and medicine)" to people in the region.

France's surprise decision to intervene has received broad international support but there has been increasing alarm about reports of rights abuses by Malian soldiers against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs.

The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues said at least 31 people had been executed in the central town of Sevare, and some bodies dumped in wells.

Human Rights Watch said witnesses had reported "credible information" of soldiers sexually abusing women in a village near Sevare.

Mali's crisis began last January when the Tuareg desert nomads revived a decades-old rebellion for independence of the north, which they call Azawad.

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Four remanded over 'bikie bashing'

FOUR men will remain behind bars over a bikie-linked bashing in western Sydney, in which the victim was allegedly restrained with cable ties and beaten unconscious.

Michael Gregg was allegedly set upon by 10 men at Prospect on Wednesday night at PSR Prospect Smash Repairs.

Macquarie Radio reports the business has links to the Rebels outlaw motorcycle group.

All 10 accused men were arrested at the scene and charged with recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm in company, affray and assault.

Four of the accused appeared in Blacktown Local Court on Thursday, when prosecutors alleged Mr Gregg was restrained with cable ties and beaten until he was unconscious.

David Coe, 25, was refused bail due to his violent criminal history, including firearms offences.

Andrew Hawthorne, 33, from Seven Hills, 22-year-old Ryan Vella from Toongabbie, and Lee Buenen, 29, from Blacktown, were granted bail with strict conditions, including that they report to police daily and that they not associate with other Rebels bikies.

A heavy police presence was assembled outside the court, where supporters of the men clashed with reporters, swearing and shoving a photographer.

Outside court, defence lawyer Peter Doyle agreed that Coe's criminal history meant there had been a high chance that he would be remanded.

"I'm a bit disappointed for him going back into custody ... but it's not unexpected," Mr Doyle told reporters.

The other six accused appeared in Mount Druitt Local Court on Thursday, and three of them remanded in custody.

The injured man is in a stable condition at Westmead Hospital where he is being treated for serious facial injuries.

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PNG to revoke Indonesia fugitive passport

THE Papua New Guinea government says it has started the process of revoking citizenship for wanted Indonesian fugitive Djoko Tjandra.

Djoko fled Indonesia in 2009, one day before the nation's Supreme Court convicted him in absentia for misusing government bailout funds meant for the now defunct Bank of Bali.

Controversially Djoko was awarded PNG citizenship last June and issued a passport under the name Joe Chan, despite being wanted by Interpol and the Indonesian government.

"Mr Tjandra is currently wanted by Indonesian authorities and has an outstanding arrest warrant issued in Indonesia," the PNG government's chief secretary, Manasupe Zurenuoc, said in a letter to Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato.

"The issuing of a passport under a different name allows Mr Tjandra to travel freely and evade the Indonesian authorities."

Mr Zurenuoc said in a statement he had advised Mr Pato to revoke Djoko's passport.

After securing the name change on his passport, Djoko as Joe Chan obtained visas to Taiwan and Japan.

The issuance of the passport is now the subject of an investigation by the PMG Department of Justice and Attorney-General.

Mr Zurenuoc said clear grounds exist for the passport issued to Djoko to be cancelled, notwithstanding the outcome of the investigation by the Department of Justice and Attorney-General.

Deputy opposition leader Sam Basil told the Post-Courier newspaper "two Papuan ministers" allegedly involved with Djoko must be disciplined.

The newspaper report said Mr Basil was referring to Public Services Minister Sir Puka Temu and former foreign affairs minister Ano Pala, who reportedly pushed for Djoko's citizenship to be approved.

"The two ministers must be dealt with," Mr Basil said.

"We are waiting and Papua New Guinea is waiting."

Mr Pala late last year told parliament Djoko was being defamed and should be afforded the rights and privileges PNG citizenship.

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Spain unemployment soars to record high

SPAIN'S unemployment rate has shot up to 26.02 per cent, with nearly six million people out of work.

The National Statistics Institute said on Thursday the rate rose by one per cent in the last quarter of 2012 from the third quarter.

It said 691,700 more people lost their jobs in 2012.

The unemployment level is the highest in the country's modern history.

Spain is in the throes of its second recession in just over three years following the collapse of its once-booming real estate sector in 2008.

Battling to reduce a swollen deficit and avoid a bailout, the year-old conservative government has brought major financial and labour reforms and applied severe cutbacks in wages and spending but so far the economy has shown few signs of recovery.

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Last Vic firefighters return from Tas

THE last group of Victorian firefighters who helped battle Tasmania's worst fires in nearly half a century have returned home.

Over 70 Victorian emergency services personnel were sent to Tasmania this month to help the state fight and recover from fires that destroyed nearly 200 properties and burned through 120,000 hectares.

One of the contingent, Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) firefighter Peter Cramer, died while identifying potential containment lines at Taranna, east of Hobart, on January 13.

The final group of firefighters returned to Melbourne on Thursday.

Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Mike Brown thanked the Victorian contingent for their help.

"The Victorian teams fitted in very quickly and provided our people with needed support and relief," he said.

"The effectiveness of the task force speaks volumes for the consistent approach we now have to emergency management and the close relationships we have with our Victorian counterparts."

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Hong Kong stocks edge downwards

HONG Kong shares have closed 0.1 per cent lower after hitting a 20-month high in the previous session.

Despite a positive lead from Wall Street, the benchmark Hang Seng Index eased 23.89 points to 23,635.10 on Wednesday on turnover of HK$80.89 billion ($A9.94 billion).

Chinese shares closed up 0.25 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 5.77 points to 2,320.91 on turnover of 97.0 billion yuan ($A14.84 billion).

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Australian men held over Thai shooting

TWO Australian men have been arrested in Phuket over the accidental shooting of two German tourists.

Lawyers told AAP the men, John Edward Cohen, 33, and Adam Lewis Shea, 26, were involved in an altercation with a Danish man over a motorbike.

Cohen, a long-time resident of the island, allegedly fired a pistol and accidentally hit the tourists at Patong Beach on Tuesday, they said.

The Phuket Wan newspaper said Johann Baschenegger, 41, was admitted to hospital in a serious condition.

Joseph Woerner, 71, was in a satisfactory condition.

Police said the shooting occurred around 7.45pm near the Baan Pirin Hotel where the Germans were staying.

The Australians allegedly fled after the shooting but were tracked down to a local bar.

Both men are reported to have links with a motorcycle club known as the Rebel MC.

Lawyers were on Wednesday trying to have the men released on bail.

Officials said the Australian men were receiving consular assistance.

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Cane toads and utes at NT Aust Day fun

CANE toad racing and utes may not be what springs to mind when you imagine Australia Day celebrations, but in the Northern Territory it is all part of the fun.

A huge storm threw last year's Australia Day plans in Darwin into chaos, with strong winds and rain shutting down many of the events, but in 2013 extreme weather is not expected.

For people not afraid to get out of bed in the early hours, from 7am (CST) there is a 2km or 4.5km fun run being held along The Esplanade in Darwin.

Dragonboat races, barbecues and rugby sevens action are all on offer during the day.

Among the more unusual events in the Top End are the annual Nightcliff cane toad races and the great Aussie thong throw.

With the wet season heralding mating season the toads are said to be extra jumpy, making the winner difficult to pick.

The ute run, where people decorate their cars and dogs in Australia Day themes and drive them to Darwin's Greyhound Club, will also make its return this year.

Darwin's Australia Day ambassador is Aboriginal artist John Kundereri Moriarty, who will attend a flag raising ceremony, Gala Ball and a multi-cultural celebration.

The Oz Fusion concert will be held at Marrara and will include different dancers showing off Aboriginal, Chinese, African and Irish dance styles.

Tourism NT is trying to take advantage of Australia Day, using January 26 to launch its latest marketing campaign, "Australia's Unexplored Backyard".

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European stocks edge higher at open

EUROPE'S main stock markets have gained slightly at the start of trading.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies rose 0.18 per cent to 6,190.02 points at the start of trading on Wednesday.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index rose 0.09 per cent to 7,702.92 points and in Paris the CAC 40 climbed 0.06 per cent to 3,743.07.

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Researchers brave freeze to track whales

Researchers will embark on a voyage that will track the behaviour of the Antarctic blue whale. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN researchers will brave freezing conditions in small boats to prove that researchers don't have to kill majestic whales to study them.

Environment Minister Tony Burke says an inaugural voyage next week will estimate the abundance, distribution and behaviour of the colossal Antarctic blue whale.

"This research shows, in contrast to Japan's so-called "scientific whaling" program, that you don't have to kill these majestic creatures to get valuable information about them," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Scientists from Australia, Chile, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States left Hobart on Tuesday on a mission in which they'll use small sonar buoys to track and find the elusive mammals across hundreds of kilometres in the Southern Ocean.

They will also use satellite tags on the whales.

Australian Marine Mammals centre leader, Mike Double, said the population of the critically endangered species had dropped significantly from the early 1900s to the 1970s, when it probably went down to around 300-400 whales.

"We think the population is increasing but we don't have good information on that," Dr Double told AAP on Tuesday.

"This is the start of a collaborative international effort to try and locate as many of these animals as we can, where we take photos and biopsies so we can identify individual whales."

Dr Double said the aim was to track the whales the best they could and also understand the role of these animals and krill fish in the Antarctic eco-system.

The whale grows to more than 30-metres long, weighs up to 180 tonnes and has a heart the size of a small car.

"Despite their colossal size we know very little about the animals," Mr Burke said, "including where they breed and feed, and how many remain in our oceans today after industrial whaling slaughtered more than 340,000 of them in the early 1900s."

The researchers will target areas thought to be frequented by the blue whales along the ice edge west of the Ross Sea.

Dr Double said he "sadly" would remain at home as he could not leave his two young children for two months.

Every summer, environmental group Sea Shepherd clashes with Japanese whaling ships in the Southern Ocean.

Dr Double said there is the possibility for his team to cross paths with Japanese ships.

"Certainly we don't wish to bump into these fleets and if we did, we would simply move away from those fleets and operate elsewhere," he said.

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Bali court sentences UK woman to death

An Indonesian court has sentenced British woman Lindsay June Sandiford to death for drug smuggling. Source: AAP

AN Indonesian court has sentenced a British woman to death for smuggling cocaine onto the resort island of Bali.

Prosecutors had sought a 15-year sentence.

Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, was found guilty by the Denpasar District Court and sentenced on Tuesday.

In its verdict, a judge panel concluded Sandiford had damaged the image of Bali as a tourism destination and weakened the government's drug prevention program.

Sandiford was arrested in May when customs officers at Bali's airport discovered 3.8 kilograms of cocaine worth $US2.5 million ($A2.4 million) in her luggage.

She told the court she was forced to take the drugs into the country by a gang that was threatening to hurt one of her children.

There are more than 114 prisoners on death row in Indonesia. At least 40 of them are foreigners, most of whom have been convicted of drug crimes, according to a March 2012 report by Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy.

Five foreigners have been executed since 1998, all for drug crimes.

There have been no executions in the country since 2008, when 10 people were put to death.

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YMCA chief erred over reference checks

Parents are concerned over YMCA's checks after a former worker was sentenced for molesting 12 boys. Source: AAP

THE YMCA NSW chief executive says he was wrong to assume the organisation did not conduct reference checks on a childcare worker who went on to molest 12 young boys during his employment.

Parents of the victims are upset over the conflicting accounts of the YMCA's practices.

The non-profit organisation says it checked two work references in Australia provided by the man, but it did not check on his overseas employment, which was terminated over similar allegations of child abuse.

Jonathan Luke Lord, 26, was sentenced on Friday in Sydney's District Court to 10 years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of six years for molesting 12 boys aged between six and 11.

The offences occurred from 2009, when he was first hired by the YMCA in southern Sydney, up until the day he was stood down in September 2011.

Lord worked in before- and after-school programs and in a YMCA creche and found private babysitting clients through his job.

Some of the abuse happened on bus trips to and from YMCA daytime activities and at YMCA events.

YMCA NSW chief executive Phillip Hare on Tuesday clarified his earlier statement that he believed the organisation had not checked Lord's references.

"At that point in time I made an error because I did not know the process there," Mr Hare told AAP.

Mr Hare also clarified his earlier statements about the YMCA not checking Australian references.

"There are many policies in the YMCA and my level of knowledge of all those policies is not complete," he said.

"My view is to tell the truth all the time. I was unsure. I was unsure."

In a January 10 interview with AAP, Mr Hare said believed references had not been checked in relation to Lord's babysitting experience, the only Australian employment listed on his resume, and it was not necessarily the YMCA's practice to make calls to referees.

"No, we would not necessarily ring," Mr Hare said in the interview.

"We wouldn't necessarily ring randomly because even that tends to be generally a breach of confidence."

A week after the interview, the YMCA stated in an email that it had checked two references relating to Lord's work as a babysitter in Australia before hiring him.

After Friday's court proceedings, a letter was sent to about 600 YMCA parents that included the same information.

Mr Hare said in the January 10 interview the YMCA had learned after Lord's arrest that he had been dismissed as a camp counsellor in the United States over an allegation of similar behaviour.

Lord had listed the US camp job on his resume but did not specify where he had worked and did not provide contact information for the employer, the YMCA told AAP.

Mr Hare and the YMCA maintain the organisation does not have a practice of checking overseas references.

The father of Lord's main target agreed that if the YMCA had looked fully into Lord's employment record, it might have been more alert to warning signs he was grooming boys.

"It's like any criminal," said the man who is considering civil action against the organisation.

"He can be a drug dealer and sell drugs for 20 years before you get caught."

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Calm returns as Eritrea mutiny ends

ERITREA'S government says the capital Asmara is calm after armed mutineers seized the information ministry, with opposition websites saying the stand-off has been settled.

"All is calm today, as it was indeed yesterday," said Yemane Gebremeskel, the director of Eritrean President Issaias Afewerki's office, in a message to AFP.

Opposition website Awate.com, based in the United States but with close connections inside Eritrea, said that the commander of around 100 rebel soldiers had agreed to surrender.

It was not clear if the mutineers had formally surrendered.

Amanuel Ghirmai, an Eritrean journalist in Paris for independent Radio Erena, said army mutineers stormed the hill-top ministry - which towers over the capital of the Red Sea state - early on Monday morning.

They reportedly ordered news readers at the government-run television and radio station - the only source of media for the authoritarian state - to read a statement.

The state-run Eri-TV and radio broadcasts were taken off air on Monday, but had resumed broadcasting on Tuesday, several sources said.

"Eri-TV, under regime loyalists, has resumed broadcasting live," added Awate. "All Ministry of Information employees have been released."

Multiple sources reported that one of those held inside the information ministry was the daughter of Afewerki, who has ruled the Horn of Africa nation with an iron grip since independence in 1993, following an epic 30-year liberation war from neighbouring Ethiopia.

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Defence works on regional engagement

AS Australia prepares to withdraw troops from East Timor, the Solomons and Afghanistan, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is working on renewing its engagement with Asia-Pacific nations, Defence chief David Hurley says.

General Hurley refused to comment on the content of the upcoming Defence White Paper, due for release in the next few months.

But he said issues which prompted the government to commission the White Paper earlier than scheduled, including the end of long-running defence operations, would obviously feature in the new strategic document.

General Hurley said the headquarters Joint Operations Command had devoted much time over the last year in revamping and renewing the campaign plan for defence engagement in the region, and new frameworks had been put in place.

"We are not rediscovering the northern region but being able to build up our interaction," he told an Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) function in Canberra.

General Hurley said defence had maintained a very high operational tempo for the last decade but would end East Timor and the Solomons operations this year and reconfigure deployments in the Middle East.

He said a key task for 2013 was resetting the ADF for the future and keeping it at a level of capability that would still allow it to respond to a government requirement to deploy troops somewhere in 48 hours.

General Hurley said at a time when the defence budget was under severe pressure, one reason to engage with the region was that it was far more expensive in the long run having to fall back on using defence capabilities.

"We have got to put the money where we are going to get the best bang for the buck at the moment and part of that will be shaping our environment and building up relationships and confidences in the region," he said.

General Hurley said defence was also rethinking how it operated in the Pacific, conducting the first meeting of south-west Pacific nation defence chiefs last year.

"We got that group together to say 'okay, how do we reshape the dollars we have all got, to do the best we can in terms of search and rescue, assisting with maritime security tasking, counter-piracy, the fishing industry'. We actually dragged Chile into that as well," he said.

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Japanese hostage describes Algeria terror

A JAPANESE hostage who narrowly survived the armed attack on an Algerian gas plant says he was sure he would die after seeing two colleagues shot dead in front of him.

The unnamed man described in a newspaper report on Monday how Islamist gunmen had dragged him from his barricaded room, handcuffed him and executed two hostages standing nearby.

In a chilling account of his escape, published Monday in the Daily Yomiuri newspaper, the Japanese hostage told colleagues he had been on a bus when it was attacked by a group of heavily-armed militants in the Sahara desert early Wednesday.

Seven Japanese are known to have survived the three-day assault, which ended in a bloodbath on Saturday - all of them connected to Japanese plant builder JGC.

The man said he was leaving a lodging house with other foreign workers in a convoy of buses when militants first swooped, according to JGC spokesman Takeshi Endo.

As the vehicle in front was hit by a hail of bullets, the driver of his bus slammed the vehicle into reverse and tried to flee.

But a wheel snapped off, stranding the bus and forcing passengers to run through the desert and seek refuge at the workers' formerly-secure lodging house.

The man barricaded himself in his room and cowered with the lights off, as gunmen began their rampage through the compound.

But a short time later the door splintered open as militants shot the lock apart and burst in, plucking the frightened man from his hiding place and clamping handcuffs on him.

He was frogmarched to a bright room with other foreign hostages where his captors began speaking Arabic with some of his Algerian colleagues.

The next thing he knew someone opened fire and two people slumped to the floor, dead, in front of him.

"I was prepared to die," Endo quoted the employee as saying.

The bodies of other foreigners lay on the ground as he and a Filipino colleague were bundled into a vehicle and driven off towards the gas plant.

Without warning the vehicle was sprayed with bullets, which pierced the windshield and forced the prisoners to duck down as low as possible to avoid being shot.

As their captors abandoned the vehicle the prisoners were left alone, not knowing who had opened fire.

In the hours that followed the Japanese survivor hid under a truck, trying to stay away from the gun battle that raged around him. As bullets flew past he saw a bus full of hostages -- some wearing JGC uniforms -- drive past.

He watched with horror as the vehicle came under attack, but said he had no idea of the fate of those on board.

After nightfall, when the shooting had stopped he began trudging through the desert, walking for an hour before he came across Algerian soldiers and safety.

Japan's Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported it had spoken to an Algerian man who was taken hostage with about 20 foreign nationals, including six Japanese.

He said the foreigners were forced to link arms and then had their wrists and ankles bound with plastic ties, effectively forming a human chain.

The militants then wrapped explosives around their captives' bodies.

He said hostages were allowed to use the lavatory and were offered food, but none of the Japanese accepted because they were too scared.

The 45-year-old said he had made his escape on Thursday when the Algerian military staged its first assault.

He said he and other Algerians had run in the confusion, but the foreigners could not get away.

"I don't know what happened to them afterwards. I hope they survived," he was quoted by the Mainichi as saying.

JGC, which has 78 employees in Algeria, said Monday morning 17 of its employees who were at the plant are still unaccounted for -- 10 Japanese and seven others.

Witnesses have said nine Japanese people were killed in the 72-hour ordeal.

JGC spokesman Takeshi Endo told reporters in Japan that employees who were in the plant at the time of the siege but managed to escape before being taken hostage would help to identify anyone in the hospital.

"We were cautious about asking them to do this tough job, but they agreed to do it and as they were working closely with the colleagues who are still missing, it will surely be helpful," Endo said.

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Five seriously hurt in Austria train crash

TWO packed commuter trains have collided head-on in the morning rush-hour traffic in Vienna, leaving five people seriously hurt.

"At the moment there are five people seriously injured and several people with light injuries," emergency services spokeswoman Claudia Gigler told AFP on Monday.

The Austrian automobile association said one person was trapped inside the wreckage.

Many passengers were suffering from shock.

Gigler said the cause of the crash was not known.

Austrian Railways spokeswoman Sarah Nettel said that the crash occurred at 8.45am (1845 AEDT) in the Penzing district of western Vienna.

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US ship ignored reef warnings: Philippines

A PHILIPPINES official has accused a US Navy minesweeper of ignoring warnings to stay away before it became stuck on a World Heritage-listed coral reef.

The accusation on Monday by the superintendent of Tubbataha marine park, Angelique Songco, added to growing anger in the Philippines over the incident.

The US Navy has apologised but may still face fines.

Park rangers radioed the USS Guardian to say it was nearing the Tubbataha Reef on Thursday, but the captain insisted they raise their complaint with the US embassy, Songco told reporters.

She said shortly after the warning, the 68-metre vessel became stuck on part of Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Sulu Sea about 130 kilometres southeast of the western island of Palawan.

The site is protected by Philippine law, and is off limits to navigation, except for research or tourism approved by Songco's office.

Songco said it was too early to assess the damage to the coral.

The vessel was still stuck on the reef and being battered by big waves.

The commander of the US Navy's 7th Fleet, Vice Admiral Scott Swift, apologised in a statement from Japan on Sunday.

"As a protector of the sea and a sailor myself, I greatly regret any damage to this incident has caused to the Tubbataha Reef," Swift said.

He acknowledged that protecting the reef was vital, and that the navy took its obligations to preserve marine environment seriously.

He said the crew members had left the vessel, and there were no traces of any oil leaks.

The Philippine Navy said three of its ships had been put on standby near the area to assist in efforts to remove the Guardian from the reef. Two civilian tugboats had been contracted by the Americans.

The Guardian had been en route to Indonesia after visiting a Philippine port north of Manila when the incident occurred, according to the US Navy.

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Vic residents return to bushfire-hit homes

RESIDENTS have returned to their bushfire-damaged homes in Victoria's east, as authorities battle to bring a massive blaze under control before more predicted hot weather.

Firefighters took advantage of Sunday's cooler weather to strategically backburn amid fears towns could again be threatened on Thursday.

The massive 56,000-hectare blaze has already killed one man who was found in a burnt-out car and destroyed at least 21 homes since it began in the Baw Baw National Park last Thursday.

There are fears the fire may have been deliberately lit.

Residents in Seaton, Glenmaggie and Glenmaggie Point have returned home.

Glenmaggie resident Peter Monds, a CFA member, was manning phones at a control centre when his home was destroyed.

Inside his uninsured home were many photos and memories.

"There's no good crying about it," he told the Nine Network.

"It's gone, it's gone."

Authorities say 21 houses, 35 sheds and 11 vehicles have been lost in the fire and the fire could go for two weeks.

The fire was threatening the small hamlet of Licola, but it has been held about 15km from the town.

Firefighters began a 180 hectare backburn about 10am (AEDT) on Sunday.

Incident Controller Michael Masters said the CFA and DSE were doing a joint backburn due to the likelihood of a very high fire weather day predicted for Thursday.

"The risk of high temperatures and a north westerly wind poses a very significant risk to the Aberfeldy-Donnely bushfire breaking containment lines if we don't backburn today," he said in a statement.

Mr Masters said the 180 hectare backburn would reduce fuel loads in an unburnt area 5km south of Glenmaggie and 6km northwest of Heyfield.

Fire crews are also working on the eastern perimeter in the Coongulla state forest north east of Glenmaggie to strengthen containment lines.

Police are appealing for people to come forward if they witnessed anything suspicious in the hours before the blaze started at Aberfeldy in Gippsland about 11.30am on Thursday.

They particularly want to speak to anyone who was camping in the Donnelly Creek Road area on Thursday morning or local residents.

Smoke from the bushfires reached Melbourne on Sunday and could be smelt in the CBD air.

Authorities have urged the public to ensure there is actually a bushfire in their area before reporting it to Triple-0.

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Indian media hails Gandhi's promotion

Indian newspapers are trumpeting the elevation of Rahul Gandhi in the ruling Congress party. Source: AAP

INDIAN newspapers are trumpeting the elevation of Rahul Gandhi to second-in-command of the ruling Congress party and predict a showdown for the position of prime minister with opposition rival Narendra Modi.

"Party finally crowns prince," headlined the English-language tabloid Mail Today over a full-page spread that featured a smiling picture of the 42-year-old on Sunday.

The son, grandson and great-grandson of Indian prime ministers is now second in the party's hierarchy after his mother, party president Sonia Gandhi, who led the party to back-to-back victories in the 2004 and 2009 polls.

The move indicated that the Congress party was "not averse to pitting him against Narendra Modi and fielding him as its prime ministerial candidate," the Mail said.

"The party, it is evident, now feels that it will be in an advantageous position... in case of such a battle."

Gandhi was on Saturday formally named as the vice-president of the party, propelling his long-anticipated accession to power and paving the way for him to lead the party in general elections next year.

The Times of India said the stage had been set for a possible showdown between Gandhi and Modi, a hardline leader of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who is widely expected to run for prime minister in 2014.

"As number two in the Congress, he has been, for all practical purposes, pitched as the prime minister candidate of the party... thus setting the stage for a showdown with the Gujarat strongman," it said referring to Modi.

The BJP -- which is the main opposition party in parliament -- is yet to name a candidate to take on the Congress-led alliance but clamour is growing for Modi to be pitched for the prime ministership after he won key state polls last year.

The Hindustan Times said the Congress had stopped short of naming Gandhi as the candidate for the country's top job "perhaps out of consideration for its sitting octogenarian PM Manmohan Singh".

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Snow causes chaos in China

Snow in northern China has forced the cancellation of over 100 flights and the closure of highways. Source: AAP

SNOW in northern China has forced the cancellation of more than 100 flights and the closure of dozens of highways, authorities say.

Beijing Capital International Airport's official website said on Sunday a total of 111 flights were cancelled at the facility, including 16 international ones.

Another 68 flights were delayed, with 11 of those on international routes.

More than 40 highways in northern China were closed due to the snow, the government's official weather website said. No accidents were reported.

As of 8:00 am Sunday weather authorities recorded up to 8.6 centimetres of snow in a mountainous part of northwestern Beijing near the Great Wall of China.

Much smaller amounts fell in central Beijing and had largely stopped by Sunday afternoon.

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Union slams privatisation of hospital pool

Staff at Sydney's Prince of Wales hospital will stop over moves to privatise the hospital's pool. Source: AAP

THE Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney is set to meet budget cuts by privatising its hydrotherapy pool but outraged union members claim it will jeopardise patient care.

Health Service Union (HSU) staff will stop work to protest the move at midday on Monday, said the union's NSW secretary Gerard Hayes on Sunday.

"How can patients at the Prince of Wales have confidence that their recovery will be the priority when a new private operator has commercial objectives to meet?" he said.

Mr Hayes said the pool "sell-off" would provide part of the $35 million in savings the hospital must find to meet the NSW government's $3 billion in health cuts.

It's believed it is the first move of its kind in NSW.

The hour-long protest at High Cross Park also marks the official launch of the HSU's "O'Farrell Cuts, We Bleed campaign", which will travel across the state for the next six months.

"Daily, our members are reporting cuts like these ones," Mr Hayes said in a statement.

The union is using the privatisation of the hydrotherapy pool as an example of how cuts to the health budget will devastate staff and patients.

Mr Hayes said the facility was crucial for people suffering cerebral palsy, post-polio syndrome, musculoskeletal conditions and breast cancer.

"Yet the O'Farrell government wants to turn the pool over to a private operator, whose main imperative will be to turn a quick buck," he said.

"We intend to fight him on this, every step of the way."

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