Cyprus leaders to head to Brussels

A delegation from Cyprus led by President Nicos Anastasiades is on its way to Brussels for talks. Source: AAP

CYPRUS President Nicos Anastasiades and party leaders will travel to Brussels on Saturday for crunch talks with the EU on measures aimed at staving off bankruptcy for the island, state media said.

The delegation would depart at lunchtime and return to Cyprus late on Saturday or on Sunday, a day ahead of a deadline to adopt the measures aimed at raising 5.8 billion euros ($A7.22 billion) in order to secure a 10-billion-euro bailout, the official CNA news agency reported.

The Cyprus parliament finally gave its approval late Friday to the first three of eight measures hammered out by the government in a desperate bid to secure the bailout from the EU and IMF by Monday's deadline.

MPs approved a solidarity fund to be set up through the nationalisation of pensions and capital controls to prevent a run on the island's banks when they are finally due to open on Tuesday after being closed for more than a week.

They also passed a restructuring plan drawn up by the Central Bank of Cyprus that will separate "good" debts from "bad" in the troubled banks, particularly in second largest lender Laiki Bank.

- an unpopular measure that deputies have already rejected this week in another form.

But with the deadline looming and the option of securing funding from elsewhere including from ally Russia exhausted, they have been forced to revisit it as an option to raise the 5.8 billion euros.

Media reports on Saturday said the most likely scenario was a tax of 20-25 per cent on deposits of more than 100,000 euros at the island's biggest lender, the Bank of Cyprus.

The government needs to seal the package by Monday or face being denied European Central Bank emergency funding in a move that would collapse the island's banks and devour its economy.

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China's first lady a media sensation

Peng Liyuan set Chinese media and social network sites abuzz with her elegant style in Moscow. Source: AAP

CHINA'S glamorous first lady has become a media and internet sensation as she accompanies husband President Xi Jinping on a state visit to Russia.

Already famous and immensely popular in her homeland due to her long career as a singer, Peng Liyuan set Chinese media and social network sites abuzz with her elegant style from the moment she stepped off the plane in Moscow Friday.

Photographs of Peng and Xi were plastered across the front pages of state media, which usually do not focus on the country's first ladies.

Major newspapers in Beijing on Saturday featured a shot of the Chinese leader and his wife smiling as they left their plane, rather than a photo of Xi's handshake with President Vladimir Putin on his first overseas trip as head of state.

Carrying a handbag and wearing a navy blue coat standing beside her husband, Peng was even shown briefly arm-in-arm with Xi in a public display of affection rare among the communist leadership.

This scene makes the Chinese happy because they have been waiting for it for a long time," said Hu Xijing, editor of the Global Times, while regretting that the media's comments did not give the event the importance it deserved.

Peng did not stop smiling before and during the official welcome from their Russian hosts.

That smile and her sense of style attracted widespread attention on China's Twitter-like microblogs.

"What elegance!" said one charmed commentator using the name "Lanpingzigaidexingfu".

"What a beauty," added "Renxiaoxuanxuan", while a more restrained "Yanhuozhiqiu" praised her as being "dignified" and "open minded".

Peng's coat was the particular object of attention. Just hours after the first images were broadcast of her descending from the aircraft, copies of the garment were being offered on the internet shopping site Taobao (China's version of eBay) for between 499 and 10,000 yuan ($A77 and $A1,540).

In just seconds, Peng effortlessly projected an image of youth and spontaneity in stark contrast to what the Chinese public have grown accustomed to over the past 30 years.

Her immediate predecessor Liu Yonqing, the austere and reserved wife of former president Hu Jintao, was rarely exposed to the limelight and usually seen standing behind her husband.

Peng, however, was already a household name in China thanks to her role over the past 25 years in the state television New Year gala, which is watched by millions of viewers.

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Cambodia French family deaths not suicide

Investigators in Cambodia have ruled out suicide in the deaths of French widower Laurent Vallier. Source: AAP

FRENCH and Cambodian investigators have ruled out suicide in the deaths of a Frenchman and his four young children whose skeletal remains were found in a submerged car last year.

Ten French investigators, including a judge and scientific and forensic police, arrived in Cambodia earlier this month to probe the deaths of widower Laurent Vallier, 42, and his young children.

"This (investigation) has led to very significant breakthroughs which are now ruling out the possibility of a suicide," the French embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement on Saturday.

The family's badly decomposed bodies were discovered inside Vallier's white 4x4 vehicle after it was retrieved from a large pond behind his house in southern Kampong Speu province in January last year.

Vallier and his two sons and two daughters, thought to have been aged from two to nine, had been missing since September 2011.

Chhim Rithy, a Cambodian investigating judge at Kampong Speu who was working with the team, said they had found some blood stain stains inside Vallier's house and on a rope.

"It is not the case of suicide. It could be a murder case," he told AFP, adding investigation in the case was still ongoing.

Vallier, who according to his relatives worked as a tour guide, is understood to have moved from France to Cambodia around 13 years ago, arriving in Kampong Speu in 2007. His Cambodian wife died in childbirth in 2009.

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Queen volunteered for Olympics Bond

Director Danny Boyle says the Queen offered to do the James Bond skit for the London Olympics. Source: AAP

QUEEN Elizabeth II needed no convincing to appear in a James Bond-themed skit during the opening ceremony of the London Olympics - in fact, she volunteered, according to the show's director.

Director Danny Boyle says he had initially thought a lookalike - possibly actress Helen Mirren - would play the role of Elizabeth alongside Bond actor Daniel Craig.

He tells ITV's Jonathan Ross in an interview to air Saturday night that when he sought permission from officials to film the skit he heard back that not only was the video a go, but the monarch herself wanted to be in it.

Boyle says that when filming began, the Queen asked him if he thought she should have a line, to which he replied "OK, what do you suggest?"

"She said 'I'll do something' and we started shooting and she turned round and she said her lines beautifully," he said, according to excerpts of the interview released in advance.

The Queen's star turn in the skit was considered one of the highlights of the opening ceremony last year.

In the skit, a tuxedo-clad 007 strides into Buckingham Palace to escort his VIP guest to the Olympic ceremony. In her acting debut, Elizabeth swivels around in her desk chair to face the legendary spy and declares: "Good evening, Mr. Bond."

Two of Queen's corgi dogs also appeared in the clip.

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Hong Kong stocks flat amid uncertainty

HONG Kong shares fell 0.50 per cent Friday on fears about the growing crisis in Cyprus, where the European Central Bank has threatened to cut funding if Nicosia does not hammer out a new bailout plan.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 110.58 points to 22,115.30 on turnover of HK$60.17 billion ($A7.4 billion).

However, Chinese shares closed up 0.17 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 4.04 points to 2328.28 on turnover of 86.0 billion yuan ($A13.25 billion). The index rose 2.19 per cent for the week.

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Three Marines die in shooting at US base

A US Marine shot and killed at least one person at a military base in Virginia. Source: AAP

A US Marine shot and killed at least one person at a military base in Virginia and has barricaded himself inside a building.

US media said the shooting happened Thursday night at Marine Base Quantico in the state bordering Washington, DC.

The base went into lockdown immediately after the shooting, but this has since been lifted.

Police are in a standoff with the shooter.

The suspect is a Marine who attended officer candidate school at the base, CBS News reported.

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Revealed: The Big Bang's baby boom

The afterglow of the Big Bang, the cosmic microwave background, as detected by the European Space Agency's Planck space probe. The radiation was imprinted on the sky when the universe was 370,000 years old. It shows tiny temperature fluctuations that correspond to regions of slightly different densities, representing the seeds of all future structure: the stars and galaxies of today. (AP Photo/ESA, Planck Collaboration via NASA) Source: AP

THE Planck space telescope has captured an image of the residual glow from the Big Bang, the European Space Agency says.

This is an image with more detail than has ever been captured before of the cosmic microwave background radiation, which originated about 380,000 years after the Big Bang, the explosion amid which the universe began 13.8 billion years ago.

"For cosmologists, this map is a goldmine of information," George Efstathiou, director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge and one of Planck's lead researchers, said of the data.

This first light, which has been travelling through space for some 13.4 billion years and cooling the entire time, now has a temperature of just 2.7 degrees Kelvin (minus 273 C or minus 454 F), which is just above absolute zero.

Nevertheless, the light shows very tiny fluctuations in its density corresponding to the "seeds" from which stars and galaxies later formed.

An image from the Planck spacecraft shows a bridge of hot gas that connects galaxy clusters about a billion light-years from Earth. (AP Photo/ESA Planck Collaboration)

The unique photograph was obtained after processing data obtained over the past 2 1/2 years by the Planck telescope launched in May 2009 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana to map the cosmos and analyse its origins.

The telescope is positioned at a location in space known as the Earth/Sun L2 Lagrange point some 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.

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SA wine makers launch new campaign

ADELAIDE wants to become what Bordeaux is to France - the wine capital of the nation.

The state's winemakers have launched a campaign to promote Adelaide, seeking to identify the city more closely with the state's leading wine regions, including the Barossa Valley.

SA Wine Industry Association spokesman Marc Allgrove said the state's wine sector produced 75 per cent of the nation's premium wines and had the country's best known wine regions and the majority of its highest profile wineries.

"However, when our winemakers travel overseas they have to explain where 'South of Australia' is," he said.

"We want to change the international mindset with a simple proposition so that Adelaide will be seen in the same way as Bordeaux is the wine capital of France, Florence is the wine capital of Italy and San Francisco is the gateway to the US wine country.

"Great cities that launch visitors into international quality wine and food experiences."

Mr Allgrove said the industry would embark on a major promotion offering a special experience every day for the next year.

Delivered through iPhone and Android apps, the campaign would put the spotlight on hundreds of cellar doors and wine bars, restaurants and cafes.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill will launch the campaign on Friday.

At the launch, Mr Weatherill said food and wine were central to the state's identity.

"Adelaide truly is the wine capital of Australia," he said.

"We are home to some of the world's oldest vines and produce some of the world's most iconic wines."

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Billabong probes sharp share plunge

Billabong is investigating why its shares plunged by more than 20 per cent in morning trade. Source: AAP

BILLABONG says it remains in talks with its two suitors, despite noting a media report that says its equity value could be zero by the 2015 financial year.

The troubled surfwear retailer also says it is not aware of the reasons for the increased level of trading in its shares, after it came out of a trading halt late on Thursday.

Billabong shares were put in the trading halt earlier in the day after a surprise sharp sell-off pushed the stock to record lows.

The company requested the halt after its shares suddenly plunged by more than 20 per cent in late morning trade.

It came ahead of next week's deadline for two potential private equity suitors to make up their minds about whether to finalise takeover bids for the company.

Two private equity consortiums, Sycamore and Altamont/VF, have made separate offers of $1.10 a share for Billabong.

Both have been running their slide rules over Billabong's books in recent weeks.

The due diligence process is due to end next week.

Billabong said in the stock exchange statement that it "confirms that the process for the change of control proposals previously announced is ongoing and that both the consortia who have submitted indicative proposals remain in the process".

"Billabong ... notes an article in today's The Australian Financial Review referring to a bid process for the Company and to a Credit Suisse research analyst report in relation to the Company," it said in the statement.

The newspaper article, quoting Credit Suisse, said that if earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation dropped from the current guidance of $74 million for the 2013 financial year to $50 million by 2015, due to a reduction in wholesale earnings resulting from brand rationalisation, then Billabong's equity value would be zero.

The stock fell as much as 22 per cent to a record low of 63 cents in late morning trade.

It was down 11.5 cents, or 14.2 per cent, at 69.5 cents when the trading halt was announced at lunchtime.

Billabong plunged into the red with a massive $536.6 million first half net loss.

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Police continue questions over baby death

POLICE are continuing to interrogate a man about the death of a 10-month-old baby from Broome.

They're also appealing for information from the public about the infant's final journey.

WA police and St John Ambulance were called to the Fortescue Roadhouse southwest of Karratha on Wednesday afternoon after the man arrived there with a 10-month-old boy who was not breathing.

After initial treatment, the boy was taken to Nickol Bay Hospital but died on the way.

Detectives from the Major Crime Squad flew to the state's north and are still questioning a 25-year-old man, who is a family member of the child.

Police are calling for anyone with information about the movement of the silver 1982 Toyota Landcruiser 80 series.

The vehicle is believed to have travelled from Broome, leaving about 11pm (WST) on Tuesday.

It was found at the Fortescue Roadhouse about 2pm (WST) the following day.

Anyone with information about the incident, or the vehicle, is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Gillard says leadership struggle is over

JULIA Gillard has declared the Labor leadership tussle over.

After a tumultuous day on which party elder Simon Crean called for a showdown and was sacked from the ministry, caucus unanimously fell in behind the prime minister and her deputy Wayne Swan.

Mr Crean sought to put an end to months of relentless speculation about a Kevin Rudd comeback by asking Ms Gillard for a leadership spill on Thursday, the final day of parliament before a seven-week break.

He argued the "deadlock" over the Labor leadership could not continue and said he would back Mr Rudd as leader and offer himself as deputy.

He said Mr Rudd - whose leadership style has been criticised in the past - had "changed" in the 13 months since his last failed challenge to Ms Gillard and was now a "more disciplined asset".

After initially rejecting the call, Ms Gillard agreed to declare the leadership positions open after talks with senior government MPs, including Anthony Albanese.

But within minutes of the caucus meeting, Mr Rudd announced he wouldn't stand in the absence of a request from a majority of the party.

"I am here to inform you that those circumstances do not exist," he said, referring to the evident shortfall in support.

As the news spread, Labor MPs were heading into the party room in Parliament House.

Ms Gillard and Mr Swan were returned unopposed as leader and deputy. Ms Gillard thus prevailed for the second time since she rolled Mr Rudd for the leadership in 2010.

While Mr Crean didn't nominate for the deputy's role, he spoke to MPs and called for a return to the Labor values and policy focus of the Hawke-Keating era.

Ms Gillard accepted the caucus endorsement "with a sense of deep humility and a sense of resolve".

"Today the leadership of our political party - the Labor Party - has been settled and settled in the most conclusive fashion possible," she said.

"The whole business is completely at an end."

Mr Rudd's decision had immediate consequences for his supporter, government whip Joel Fitzgibbon, as well as parliamentary secretary Richard Marles.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who is now considering his position, said he backed Mr Rudd because of Labor's primary vote, which is in the low 30 per cent range.

"That's why I took the decision that the party may have a better chance under a different leader," he told reporters.

But he accepted the caucus decision, saying it was now "time for healing".

Mr Marles, who spoke out in favour of Mr Rudd on Thursday, resigned from his role.

Mr Crean was stripped of his arts and regional portfolio.

Mr Rudd called for the party to unite and ensure Opposition Leader Tony Abbott "does not simply walk into the Lodge as if it's his own personal property".

Mr Abbott said the caucus outcome had solved nothing and the tensions would continue.

"The civil war will continue as long as Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard are in the parliament," he said.

Australia needed strong and stable government to prosper and flourish.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand and that is plainly the case with the current government," Mr Abbott said.

Earlier, he failed to get support in parliament for a "no-confidence" motion against the government, even though independents Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Andrew Wilkie sided with the coalition.

Mr Wilkie warned that if the "nonsense" continued when parliament returned for the budget on May 14 the minority Labor government risked losing the support of the independents.

Mr Swan said the issue was over.

"This prime minister is a tough leader," he said.

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Vic ambo shortages 'put patients at risk'

VICTORIAN paramedics say they have fallen asleep at the wheel because they are working overtime to cover staff shortages.

Lack of staff is leading to poor ambulance response times and putting patients at risk, they say.

A group of paramedics attended Victoria's parliament house on Thursday, backed by the Labor opposition.

They say they are being stretched while a high number of paramedics are on stress leave and want a resolution to their pay deal with Ambulance Victoria.

Opposition health spokesman Gavin Jennings said the government has failed to ensure the ambulance service is adequately funded.

Comment is being sought from Ambulance Victoria.

Ambulance Victoria general regional services manager Tony Walker said the organisation had increased the number of paramedics on short-term vacancies to reduce reliance on overtime.

"The welfare of our staff is paramount and we recognise the seriousness of the issue of fatigue," Mr Walker said in a statement.

He said rostering guidelines took into account providing predictable shifts for paramedics.

Mr Walker said the organisation was negotiating with the state government for shift-working paramedics to get wage increases above the standard 2.5 per cent government policy.

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Cyprus president in crisis talks

Furious Cypriot MPs rejected the terms of a bailout aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy. Source: AAP

CYPRUS President Nicos Anastasiades was meeting party leaders in a frantic search for a viable plan B after MPs rejected the terms of an EU bailout aimed at saving Cyprus from bankruptcy.

The emergency meeting at the presidential palace was also being attended by Central Bank governor Panicos Demetriades and a member of the troika of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, state television said.

Under the bailout deal reached at the weekend, the troika was to provide Cyprus with 10 billion euros ($A12.52 billion) on condition that Nicosia raises another 5.8 billion euros.

It called for a levy of up to 9.9 percent to be slapped on all Cyprus bank deposits, an unprecedented move that triggered outrage among savers and raised fears other financially crippled EU states like Italy and Spain could be next.

The Cyprus government backtracked, and on Tuesday dropped the proposed tax on savings below 20,000 euros, while keeping it at 6.75 percent for deposits of 20,000-100,000 euros and 9.9 percent for those above 100,000.

But that too was heavily criticised by the speaker as amounting to "blackmail" before it was flatly rejected in parliament, in a vote that plunges the eurozone into uncertainty and leaves Cyprus scrambling for other sources of financing.

State television said one option being looked at to raise the 5.8 billion euros was the nationalisation of the provident funds of state and semi-state institutions, which could raise around three billion euros.

Another option was a shrinking of the banking sector, possibly merging the island's two biggest banks into one, so the amount of recapitalisation needed would be lower.

It said Anastasiades had relayed this message to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call late on Tuesday.

Cyprus's banks were left heavily exposed to the Greek debt crisis and their failure would leave the country on the verge of bankruptcy and in danger of going into default.

That in turn would put immense pressure on the euro and once again place the unity of the European Union in doubt.

Russian media have speculated that one proposal on the table in Moscow was for its natural gas giant Gazprom to infuse Cypriot's banks with cash in exchange for interest in the island's offshore energy fields.

Gazprom has refused to confirm that this offer - also reported by Cypriot media - is under discussion.

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New-look WA cabinet to be announced

WA Premier Colin Barnett is expected to appoint several new ministers in his new-look cabinet. Source: AAP

FIVE new ministers have been appointed to Western Australia's cabinet, with pro-nuclear Riverton MP Mike Nahan emerging as the big winner and tattooed MP Joe Francis taking the "hot potato" prisons job.

Mr Nahan replaced Simon O'Brien as finance minister and also took Peter Collier's energy portfolio.

Premier Colin Barnett said Mr O'Brien had been "very gracious" in accepting the decision and praised former minister Robyn McSweeney, whose child protection portfolio was given to mental health minister Helen Morton, saying she had done a terrific job.

But the premier offered lukewarm comments on former corrective services minister Murray Cowper.

He said an investigation into Mr Cowper's involvement in illegal land clearing at shack community Wedge Island - revealed in the final week of the election campaign - had been resolved and had "absolutely nothing" to do with his being axed.

A riot at the Banksia Hill juvenile detention facility, which an inquiry has heard followed staff shortages in which young offenders were "locked down" in their cells for as long as five weeks, also did not figure in the reshuffle.

"Murray was very unlucky," Mr Barnett told reporters.

Opposition spokesman Roger Cook said corrective services had been "handballed like a hot potato around the cabinet".

"The premier has palmed that portfolio off again now to a junior minister, one without experience in what is clearly a very difficult policy area," he said.

In the key energy portfolio, Mr Barnett said Mr Nahan would focus on energy security and reducing power prices - although he said during the election campaign they would rise at or around the inflation rate.

Ken Baston replaces Nationals MP Terry Redman for agriculture and food.

Mr Redman also lost housing but retains forestry and gains water, and training and workforce development.

Nationals WA leader Brendon Grylls, who retained his position as regional development minister, said losing the agriculture minister's role was a "historic change" for the junior coalition party.

"The Nationals for multiple governments have had that portfolio," Mr Grylls said.

But as a Carnarvon pastoralist Mr Baston was a good fit for the important training role, he said.

Mr Cook, however, said the Nationals had been "relegated to the back seat".

Former local government minister John Castrilli did not seek reappointment and will focus on his Bunbury electorate, and his role has gone to Darling Range MP Tony Simpson.

The freshest new face belongs to 33-year-old Albert Jacob, who takes on the challenging environment portfolio taken from Bill Marmion.

Mr Marmion, who has a civil engineering background, has taken on the important mines portfolio after the retirement of WA's longest serving parliamentarian, Norman Moore.

The government has passed up an offer by former police minister Rob Johnson to take on the coveted speaker's role, with the nomination going to Michael Sutherland.

The new cabinet will be sworn in by WA Governor Malcolm McCusker on Thursday.

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Greater privacy for abuse victims

THE federal government has changed the century-old Royal Commissions Act to facilitate the inquiry into institutional child abuse.

The bill passed in the lower house on Wednesday night allows those who want to give evidence to do so in a less formal setting.

They will now be able to go before a private hearing, not swear an oath or affirmation, but receive the same protections as those giving evidence at formal hearings.

The government has also strengthened the confidentiality measures surrounding the information given in a private session.

The amended bill excludes personal information given in private sessions from being released under the Freedom of Information Act and stops the records from being accessed for 99 years.

Although the procedural changes in this legislation are being introduced specifically for the royal commission into institutional abuse, they will now apply to all future Commonwealth royal commissions. The Royal Commissions Amendment Bill 2013 will now proceed for royal assent.

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Most indigenous kids completing Year 12

FEDERAL Schools Minister Peter Garrett says he's proud that more than half of indigenous students are now staying in school and finishing Year 12.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released on Wednesday show that last year, for the first time, 51.1 per cent of indigenous students were sticking with their schooling all the way through to Year 12.

This is well up from the 38 per cent retention rate a decade earlier in 2002.

"We are determined to close the gap between the education results of indigenous and non-indigenous students and are investing in programs that we know lift results," Mr Garrett said in a statement.

The data showed South Australia had the highest indigenous retention rates, with about seven in 10 students staying in school.

In the Northern Territory just one-third of indigenous students stuck it out.

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Xstrata cuts 100 jobs

GLOBAL miner Xstrata says it will axe about 100 jobs as part of a decision to close its Brisbane office.

The weak global coal market including poor prices and a high Australian dollar, as well as high costs, have been blamed for the decision.

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Qld MP Driscoll still facing allegations

A ROOKIE Queensland MP has been unable to shake off allegations of misusing taxpayer funds despite an attempt to explain himself in parliament.

Redcliffe MP Scott Driscoll has faced a raft of allegations in recent weeks, including claims of sexual harassment, financial mismanagement and improper business dealings.

Mr Driscoll defended himself in parliament on Tuesday, saying he had done nothing wrong other than failing to declare that his wife received more than $500 in income from a private company she runs.

Premier Campbell Newman has stood by his first-term MP, saying there's nothing to suggest he's unfit for public office.

The premier said investigations so far by the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), and ongoing departmental probes, had all turned up nothing.

But Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk repeatedly attacked the government in parliament on Tuesday, saying Mr Driscoll had not done enough to explain himself.

"We have heard today a very brief explanation from the member for Redcliffe ... and it does not go to the root of all the questions that need to be answered."

Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Driscoll had other irregularities in his pecuniary interests register and listed 13 specific questions the opposition felt he still needed to answer.

Mr Newman said Mr Driscoll had become subject to "trial by media", a scenario he had encountered himself during last year's state election.

"I, myself, and my wife know only too well about ... trial by media, but particularly the tactics of the Australian Labor Party to use the CMC as a political weapon to attack people," he told parliament.

The latest claims against Mr Driscoll, published in The Courier-Mail on Tuesday, accuse him of using his electorate office and staff to run a retail lobby group he used to head.

He's also faced sexual harassment claims from former employees of the Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association and calls to produce the association's books amid claims that about $700,000 was spent inappropriately.

Mr Driscoll's wife has also been accused of inappropriately receiving taxpayer funds from another organisation with which Mr Driscoll was involved, the Regional Community Association of Moreton Bay.

But the MP says he's the target of a campaign of "falsehoods" and the attacks on his wife have been particularly upsetting.

The CMC confirmed on Tuesday that it received a referral from the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services on November 27, 2012.

It alleged official misconduct against Mr Driscoll.

The CMC says it found at the assessment phase of the complaint, that the matter did not involve official misconduct and therefore fell outside its jurisdiction.

The commission pointed out in its statement on Tuesday that the assessment process is separate to an investigation.

The CMC said it's assessing all new relevant information on the matter to decide whether or not it needs to take any further action.

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Half a million new homes for Sydney

NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has unveiled a 20-year blueprint for Sydney's growth. Source: AAP

A 20-YEAR blueprint for Sydney's growth has identified a need for more than half a million new homes by 2031 but lobby groups want clarity about where they will be built.

Unveiling the strategy on Tuesday, Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said 545,000 new homes would be needed to cater for a population of 5.6 million Sydneysiders in 20 years - a 17 per cent increase on the number forecast in 2010.

Seventy per cent of the additional 1.3 million people who will set up homes in Sydney will be the children of current residents.

"We're trying to be less constrictive and restrictive and what we are saying is the market place should have far more of a say in what the mix of housing is and where it will be," Mr Hazzard said.

"We can make forecasts on where we believe it should be, but we are not going to do what Labor did ... they allowed the planners to be the sole determinant."

Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson said the obvious location for higher density housing was around transport nodes and town centres.

But a range of housing types was needed, including new houses on the city's fringe and apartments in existing suburban areas.

"We need more detail on the type of housing densities planned, particularly for existing urban areas," he said.

Patricia Forsythe, executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, said the strategy needed to address the density of housing along transport corridors.

"We need to increase housing density along existing transport corridors as a matter of common sense to continue to maintain a working city.

"Many existing transport corridors, especially along railway lines, have old three-storey walk-up apartment buildings that are reaching their use-by date.

"Reforming the planning and strata systems could see a flurry of building activity to redevelop these buildings into higher density, modern apartments."

Housing Industry Association executive director NSW, David Bare, said "urgent action is required".

As part of the plan, the government also wants to create 625,000 extra jobs over the next two decades, with 50 per cent of them in western Sydney.

The draft metropolitan strategy divides Sydney into nine key areas, known as "city shapers". These include growth corridors along Parramatta Road, Anzac Parade and the North West Rail Link, and an enhanced role for Parramatta as Sydney's second CBD.

A western Sydney employment area would be developed south of Mt Druitt.

"We need to make sure in whatever we plan, the jobs are near houses, the houses near jobs and infrastructure is there to connect them," Mr Hazzard told parliament.

He said western Sydney was at the heart of the government's economic strategy.

"Sydney is in effect the Aladdin's Cave, but the part of the Aladdin's Cave that is the critical part is the west," he said.

"The west is where the treasure lies for people to tap."

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Dead pigs in China river exceed 13,000

The number of dead pigs found in a river running through Shanghai has reached more than 13,000. Source: AAP

THE number of dead pigs found in a river running through China's commercial hub Shanghai has reached more than 13,000, as mystery deepened over the hogs' precise origin.

Shanghai had pulled 9,460 pigs out of the Huangpu river, which supplies 22 per cent of the city's drinking water, since the infestation began earlier this month, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai has blamed farmers in Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for dumping pigs which died of disease into the river upstream, where the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday another 3,601 dead animals had been recovered.

The Jiaxing government has said the area is not the sole source of the carcasses, adding it had found only one producer that could be held responsible.

Shanghai said it had checked farms in its southwestern district of Songjiang, where the pigs were first detected, but found they were not to blame, the Shanghai Daily said.

The scandal has spotlighted China's troubles with food safety, adding the country's most popular meat to a growing list of food items rocked by controversy.

Samples of the dead pigs have tested positive for porcine circovirus, a common swine disease that does not affect humans.

"Due to some farming households having a weak recognition of the law, bad habits, and lack of increased supervision and capability for treatment have led to the situation," the national agriculture ministry's chief veterinarian Yu Kangzhen said.

Yu attributed a higher mortality rate among pigs to colder weather this spring, though he ruled out an epidemic, the ministry said in statement posted on its website over the weekend.

The thousands of dead pigs have drawn attention to China's poorly regulated farm production. Animals that die from disease can end up in the country's food supply chain or improperly disposed of, despite laws against the practice.

In Wenling, also in Zhejiang, authorities announced last week that 46 people had been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years for processing and selling pork from more than 1,000 diseased pigs.

China faced one its biggest food-safety scandals in 2008 when the industrial chemical melamine was found to have been illegally added to dairy products, killing at least six babies and making 300,000 people ill.

In another recent incident, the American fast-food giant KFC faced controversy after revealing that some Chinese suppliers provided chicken with high levels of antibiotics, in what appeared to be an industry-wide practice.

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Sydney man waits months for urgent surgery

A SYDNEY man had to wait 105 days for urgent heart surgery because of the state government's $3 billion cut to health funding, NSW Labor says.

Leumeah man Sid Jackson, who had an aortic valve replacement at St George Hospital, was also asked to pay a $432 ambulance bill after he was prematurely discharged from hospital.

The health minister has waived the ambulance charge.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said Mr Jackson was told he needed the operation within 30 days.

"The health minister should stop congratulating herself and admit the reality is NSW hospitals are being left drastically underfunded by her government."

Opposition health spokesman Dr Andrew McDonald said Mr Jackson should not have been sent home when he was still suffering from post-surgery fluid overload.

"Two days later, on the advice of both his GP and cardiologist, Mr Jackson was taken back to St George Hospital by ambulance as he was not well enough to get there himself.

"After another four-day stay in hospital, Mr Jackson was discharged, weighing six kilos less than on admission. But he was then charged $432 for the ambulance service, which should not have been needed in the first place."

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Mugabe in Rome for Pope's inauguration

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is in Rome for Pope Francis's inauguration. Source: AAP

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe flew into Rome on Monday to attend Pope Francis's inauguration, sidestepping a travel ban that applies to the EU but not to the sovereign Vatican City state.

Mugabe arrived amid controversy in Zimbabwe where police on Sunday arrested four of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's aides and a prominent human rights lawyer following a referendum that would curtail Mugabe's powers.

A practising Catholic, the 89-year-old Mugabe visited the Vatican previously in 2011 for the beatification of late pope John Paul II.

In 2005, he attended John Paul II's funeral on a visit that drew controversy after Britain's Prince Charles shook hands with him.

Pope Francis's inauguration mass in St Peter's Square will take place on Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands of faithful and world leaders expected.

Mugabe has been widely condemned for human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

Preliminary results indicate the referendum has been approved, paving the way for fresh elections to decide whether Mugabe will stay on.

The new constitution would introduce presidential term limits and beef up parliament's powers but could allow Mugabe to stay on for another decade if he wins elections.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since independence from Britain in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

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Charges over $4m car pile up in Japan

A multi-car pile up involving eight luxury cars could see 10 drivers charged. Source: AAP

POLICE in Japan want to charge 10 drivers over a $US4 million, multi-car pile up involving eight Ferraris, one Lamborghini and a Mercedes-Benz.

The chain-reaction smash in December 2011 occurred when a convoy of expensive sports cars were on a freeway in Shimonoseki in western Japan, said Yamaguchi prefectural police official Shinji Tanaka.

The driver of the lead Ferrari lost control of his luxury ride and those behind the wheels of nine supercars and three other vehicles failed to apply their brakes in time.

One car driving on the opposite carriageway was also affected.

The Sports Nippon newspaper said around $US4 million ($A3.88 million) worth of damage was done.

Police sent the case against a 61-year-old man and nine others to prosecutors last Thursday on suspicion of violating traffic laws.

The final decision on whether to charge the drivers rests with prosecutors.

Police say 10 drivers, aged between 38 and 61, were exceeding the speed limit or not paying enough attention to the road, Tanaka said.

At the time of the accident, television showed footage of the badly crumpled cars - most of them red - some with airbags deployed after a smash that left six people hurt but killed no one.

"It's rare to see a chain-reaction accident like this involving expensive cars," said Tanaka.

"Some of the drivers told us they didn't really know the specifications of their cars or just how powerful their acceleration was."

The drivers were on their way to a supercar event in Hiroshima.

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ACCC best to assess media mergers: Nine

Nine's boss pledged to protect regional TV jobs in a potential merger with Southern Cross. Source: AAP

THE competition watchdog has better ways of assessing the pros and cons of any merger between two companies than the measures proposed under the federal government's public interest test, Nine Network's managing director Jeffrey Browne says.

Mr Browne was speaking to a Senate committee inquiry into Labor's package of six media reform bills, which the federal government wants parliament to pass this week.

He said there were safeguards under the Broadcasting Services Act as well as the powers of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to ensure there was no need for a public interest test in relation to mergers of media companies.

"The ACCC controls mergers, to the extent they prohibit mergers, if there is a substantial lessening of competition, where they have exercised that power very effectively," he told the committee in Canberra on Monday.

He said the advantage of using the ACCC's current provisions was that there were some clearly defined indicators such as jobs, innovation and exports.

"The existence of those economic principles make that test or their considerations more objective than what is being proposed," Mr Browne said.

He also said there was a sufficient spread of voices in the media landscape where his network competed strongly with the Seven and Ten Networks.

There were more programs on the internet every day, he said.

The proposed increase to a quota for Australian programs would be easily accommodated by the Nine Network, Mr Browne said.

His network was broadcasting around 70 per cent Australian shows, compared with the 55 per cent share for commercial television overall, as part of an agreement to cut the licences rebate for the networks.

Audiences had demanded more local shows with 20 of the top 20 programs produced in Australia in 2012, and 47 out of the top 50, compared with most being from the US five years ago.

"We comfortably exceed that quota because those shows rate and that is what our audiences want and need," he said.

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Melb Heart believe they know fan attacker

A-LEAGUE club Melbourne Heart are confident they have identified the supporter was who launched a cowardly attack on a celebrating a Western Sydney Wanderers fan at AAMI Stadium.

Heart chief executive Scott Munn told AAP the club believes it knows the identity of the man whose was face was clearly caught on Fox Sports TV coverage as he landed a king hit on the bare-chested Wanderers fan on Saturday night.

"We are reasonably comfortable we know who the person is and all action will be taken to provide his identity to the police," Mr Munn said.

Mr Munn stressed the man was not a member of the club.

"His actions were not appropriate and we don't accept it - it was absolutely abhorrent," Mr Munn said.

Victoria Police are aware of the vicious assault, and are working with Melbourne Heart, but say so far no one involved has reported it to police.

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Asian markets mixed

ASIAN markets have closed mixed following another strong lead from Wall Street, where traders took heart from more upbeat US jobs numbers.

The yen was flat after Japanese MPs gave final approval to the government's nominees to take the helm at the Bank of Japan (BoJ), with expectations high that it will usher in more aggressive monetary easing.

Tokyo rose 1.45 per cent, or 179.76 points, to 12,560.95 - its highest level since September 2008. Sydney bounced back from three days of losses to register its biggest rise since July, adding 1.75 per cent, or 88 points, to close at 5,120.2.

Hong Kong was 0.38 per cent lower, losing 86.07 points to end at 22,533.11 while Shanghai closed up 0.36 per cent, or 8.12 points, at 2,278.40.

Seoul fell 0.78 per cent, or 15.63 points, to 1,986.50.

On Wall Street, traders welcomed data showing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week for the third week in a row, signalling continuing improvement in the jobs market.

The S&P 500, which includes all major segments of the US economy, climbed 0.56 per cent to end just short of its all-time high close set in October 2007.

And the Dow was up 0.58 per cent, breaking its all-time record for the eighth straight day. It was the Dow's 10th consecutive rise.

However, while the unemployment numbers were welcomed, the US dollar fell to Y96.08 in New York from Y96.40 in Asia earlier on Thursday.

In Tokyo on Friday the dollar fetched Y96.07.

The upper house of Japan's parliament gave the green light to Haruhiko Kuroda as BoJ governor, as well as to Kikuo Iwata and Hiroshi Nakaso as his deputies.

The men are expected to usher in a new era for the BoJ as Tokyo demands more action to boost the world's third-biggest economy, with Kuroda saying he will do all he can to achieve the bank's new two per cent inflation target.

Focus will now be on the bank's policy meeting next month to see what tools the new leadership will use to jumpstart the Japanese economy and drag it out of deflation.

The euro bought $US1.3026 and Y125.11 against $US1.3000 and Y124.91.

In Seoul, electronics giant Samsung fell 2.63 per cent after it unveiled its new Galaxy S4 smartphone in New York late on Thursday with a bigger screen and a new eye-tracking device.

However, Bae Seung-Young of Hyundai Securities told AFP: "It's not because the Galaxy S4 failed to meet expectations. It's just that investors feel technical smartphone upgrades are flattening out."

Oil prices rose, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April up 13 cents to $US93.16 a barrel in the afternoon, while Brent North Sea crude for May gained 24 cents to $US109.20.

Gold was at $US1,592.44 an ounce at 0815 GMT (1915 AEDT) compared with $US1,584.80 late on Thursday.

In other markets:

- Taipei fell 0.31 per cent, or 24.27 points, to 7,927.49.

Leading smartphone maker HTC shed 2.7 per cent to Tw$234.5 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.96 per cent lower at Tw$103.0.

- Manila fell 0.60 per cent, or 40.11 points, to 6,654.60.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone dropped 0.55 per cent to 2,844 pesos while BDO Unibank fell 3.30 per cent to 88 pesos.

- Wellington rose 0.14 per cent, or 5.96 points, to 4,387.06.

Contact Energy was up 2.19 per cent, Ryman was up 1.3 per cent at NZ$4.78 while Trade Me added 0.9 per cent to NZ$4.74 and Kathmandu climbed 0.4 per cent to NZ$2.45.

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Cyprus postpones debate on EU bailout

THE Cyprus government has postponed a planned emergency session of parliament on Sunday to debate a controversial EU bailout as the scale of opposition to its terms became clear.

President Nicos Anastasiades also put off until Monday a planned briefing of MPs and a promised address to the nation to defend what he acknowledged were "painful" sacrifices in return for a desperately needed 10-billion-euro ($A12.58 billion) bailout for the island's banks.

MPs will now convene at 4pm on Monday (0100 AEDT Tuesday) to debate ratification of the deal after a briefing by the conservative president, the state broadcaster said.

Ministers will now meet on Monday to thrash out the draft legislation to put before parliament, including an unprecedented levy of up to 9.9 per cent on all savings in the island's banks that has prompted a storm of public protest.

State television said the parliamentary debate was postponed to "ensure MPs were fully aware of the situation and were better informed."

The privately run Sigma TV said that Anastasiades was struggling to secure even a simple majority for the necessary legislation in parliament, in which his right wing DISY party holds just 20 of the 56 seats.

The communist AKEL party, which has 19 seats, had refused to sign an agreement on the terms on offer while it was in power before Anastasiades was elected president last month.

Even Anastasiades's partners in the ruling coalition have voiced strong misgivings. DIKO leader Marios Garoyian said he had spoken to the president about seeking "alternative choices" amid opposition from some of his centrist party's nine MPs.

The government needs to ratify the controversial savings levy before banks reopen, which is currently scheduled for Tuesday after a holiday weekend on the island.

But state television said there was a possibility that Tuesday too may now be declared a bank holiday as the legislative process falters.

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Count under way after Zimbabwe referendum

ZIMBABWE is tallying the ballots from a constitutional referendum that looked set to curb President Robert Mugabe's powers and tee up crucial elections in the violence-plagued nation.

The first incomplete trickle of results pointed to landslide backing for the text, which would introduce presidential term limits, beef up parliament's powers and set polls to decide whether the 89-year-old Mugabe stays in power.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since the country's independence in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

The draft constitution is part of an internationally backed plan to get the country on track. Zimbabweans' verdict on the draft is expected to be known within five days of the voting.

According to the Movement of Democratic Change, the party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, of the nearly 90,000 votes initially counted in the second city of Bulawayo only 6250 were against the draft.

Mugabe has backed the proposed constitution, which enshrines his drive to put land in the hands of black Zimbabweans. Also, the clauses are not retroactive so he could if re-elected remain president for another 10 years.

His political rival Tsvangirai has also lent his support to the text, although turnout is expected to be low.

But that has not prevented the threat of violence from looming over the vote, as party militants keep one eye on the general election.

A vote is expected to take place in July, but doubts remain about whether it can take place as planned.

Shortly before polls opened on Saturday, gunmen later identified as plain clothes police detectives, seized a member of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from his home northeast of Harare.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP Samson Magumura had been arrested on charges of attempted murder in connection with a recent firebomb attack that injured a Mugabe ally.

While casting his vote on Saturday, Mugabe, whom many blame for past unrest, urged Zimbabweans to ensure the referendum proceeded peacefully.

"You can't go about beating people on the streets, that's not allowed, we want peace in the country, peace, peace," he said.

Mugabe, the target of 11 years of Western sanctions over political violence and rights abuses, also used the opportunity to vow the United States and European countries would not be allowed to monitor the upcoming general election.

"The Europeans and the Americans have imposed sanctions on us and we keep them out in the same way they keep us out," he said.

Tsvangirai on Saturday expressed hope that a positive outcome would help catapult the country out of a crisis marked by bloodshed and economic meltdown.

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