Palm oil firms blamed for Singapore smog

FOREST fires in Indonesia, which have cloaked Singapore in record-breaking smog, are raging on palm oil plantations owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies, environmental group Greenpeace says.

Singapore's worst environmental crisis in more than a decade has seen the acrid smoke creep into people's flats and shroud residential blocks as well as downtown skyscrapers, and the island's prime minister has warned it could last weeks.

"NASA hotspot data in (Indonesia's) Sumatra over the past 10 days (11-21 June) has revealed hundreds of fire hotspots in palm oil concessions that are owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies," the group said in a statement.

Singapore's smog index hit the critical 400 level on Friday, making it potentially life-threatening to the ill and elderly, a government monitoring site said.

On Saturday morning, the reading was at 323, still in the "hazardous" zone.

Parts of Malaysia close to Singapore have also been severely affected by the smog this week.

"Fires across Sumatra are wreaking havoc for millions of people in the region and destroying the climate. Palm oil producers must immediately deploy fire crews to extinguish these fires. But really cleaning up their act starts with adopting a zero deforestation policy," said Bustar Maitar, head of Greenpeace Indonesia's forest campaign.

Indonesia is the world's top producer of palm oil, which is used for many everyday items such as soap and biscuits.

The country's carbon-rich rainforests and peatlands have for decades been wiped out to extract the timber as well as to clear the land for palm oil plantations and mining activities.

Indonesia last week sought to shift some of the blame for the raging forest fires on Malaysian and Singaporean palm oil companies that had invested in Indonesia.

Indonesia's Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya said Friday that eight companies suspected to be behind the fires were under investigation, promising to reveal their names after the probe.

A senior presidential aide Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said Friday that the fires happened in concession areas belonging to two paper producers - Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL).

Indonesia stepped up its fire-fighting efforts on Friday by deploying aircraft to artificially create rain and to water bomb the blaze.

The haze crisis has caused a dramatic escalation in tensions between tiny Singapore and its vast neighbour, with the city-state repeatedly demanding that Jakarta steps up its efforts to put out the fires.

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Mandela ambulance to hospital broke down

THE ambulance that rushed Nelson Mandela to hospital two weeks ago broke down and another had to be called, but the mishap did not endanger the anti-apartheid hero, the South African presidency says.

"All care was taken to ensure that the former president's medical condition was not compromised by the unforeseen incident," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said on Saturday.

The ambulance had engine trouble on its way from the 94-year-old Mandela's Johannesburg home to a specialist heart clinic in Pretoria, some 55 kilometres away.

Doctors are "satisfied" that Mandela, who is battling a serious lung infection, suffered no harm during the wait for a replacement ambulance, Maharaj said.

Maharaj said the "fully equipped ICU (intensive care unit) ambulance" had a "full complement including intensive care specialists and ICU nurses".

Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president in 1994, was taken to hospital in the early hours of June 8. Officials have described his condition as serious, but say he is improving.

Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Mandela as president in 1999 for two terms, said on Thursday that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was not going to "die tomorrow" despite a growing acceptance among South Africans of his mortality.

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Pakistani actress burned in acid attack

A YOUNG actress suffered burn injuries in an acid attack in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, her relatives and police said.

The 18-year-old, known as Bushra and popular in the northwest for her film, television and theatre appearances, was attacked while asleep at her home in the town of Nowshera, 148 kilometres northwest of Islamabad.

"A man climbed the wall of our house in the early hours, threw acid on my sister and fled," said Bushra's brother, Pervez Khan.

A local police official, Sultan Khan also confirmed the incident.

The teen was immediately taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar where Dr Suhail Ahmad said she had suffered 33 per cent burn injuries, on her face and shoulder, but was in a stable condition.

Her brother Pervez Khan has lodged a complaint against a local TV drama producer, Shaukat Khan, over the incident saying that the producer was unhappy over Bushra's refusal to marry him.

Popular Pakistani singer Ghazala Javed, 24, was shot dead by gunmen as she left a beauty salon in Peshawar last year over a dispute with her ex-husband.

Acid attacks are common in Pakistan with scores of such assaults taking place each year.

The plight of acid attack victims and survivors became the focus of a 40-minute Oscar-winning documentary Saving Face by a Pakistani woman Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy in 2012.

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Japan's Mt Fuji gets World Heritage status

Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan has been granted World Heritage status. Source: AAP

JAPAN'S Mount Fuji, known for its perfectly cone-shaped volcano, has been granted World Heritage status, UNESCO said.

Fujisan, the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 metres, is one of the country's most recognisable sights. The snow-capped peak "has inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries," UNESCO said.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation committee, currently holding its 37th annual session in Phnom Penh, classified the site as a "cultural" heritage site, rather than a "natural" heritage site.

"The awe that Fujisan's majestic form and intermittent volcanic activity has inspired was transformed into religious practices that linked Shintoism and Buddhism, people and nature," documents prepared ahead of the meeting said.

Mount Fuji "inspired artists in the early 19th century to produce images that transcended cultures, allowed the mountain to be known around the world, and had a profound influence on the development of Western art."

Fujisan, which is located some 100 kilometres southwest of the capital Tokyo, last erupted around 300 years ago. Images of its peak adorn tourism literature published at home and abroad.

UNESCO documents singled out a series of wood block prints by Katsushika Hokusai, the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, saying they "had a profound impact on Western art in the 19th century and allowed the form of Fujisan to become widely known as the symbol of 'Oriental' Japan".

The UNESCO-listed site includes the top zone of the mountain and sites spread across the slopes and at the base of the mountain including shrines, lodging houses and groups of "revered natural phenomena" including springs, a waterfall, and lava tree moulds.

"Together (they) form an exceptional testimony to the religious veneration of Fujisan, and encompass enough of its majestic form to reflect the way its beauty as depicted by artists had such a profound influence on the development of Western art," UNESCO said.

Mount Fuji is the seventeenth Japanese site to be inscribed by UNESCO.

UNESCO is currently holding a 10-day annual meeting in Phnom Penh to consider adding 31 sites to the World Heritage List.

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Senate has four days to clear bills

The Senate will consider 54 government bills before parliament rises ahead of the federal election. Source: AAP

THE Gillard government has presented the Senate with a massive legislative agenda for parliament's final week.

The upper house will have four sitting days next week to consider 54 government bills and there could be more, depending on what legislation is passed by the House of Representatives.

The 43rd Parliament is due to rise next Thursday, the last scheduled sitting day before the September 14 election.

The government wants the Senate first-up on Monday to pass legislation allowing a referendum for the constitutional recognition of local government.

The referendum will be held in conjunction with the election.

Later in the week the government will ask the upper house to approve legislation for a revamp of the Australia Council, the nation's arts funding body, various taxation bills, its aged care package and changes to private health insurance.

Also on the list is the Australian Education Bill which implements the recommendations of the Gonski review into schools funding.

The government also needs the Senate to pass its appropriation bills so the business of governing can continue.

Senators are likely to be sitting late into the night to handle the demanding agenda and there's a possibility additional sitting days might be needed.

Also likely is the use of the guillotine, a mechanism the government uses with the support of the Australian Greens, to gag debate.

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Bomb kills seven at Pakistan mosque

A BOMB attack has killed seven people and wounded more than 20 others at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque and religious seminary on the outskirts of Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar.

"Seven people have been killed and 25 others were injured in the blast in the prayer hall of the mosque," police official Subhan Khan told AFP on Friday.

Police said it was a Shi'ite mosque and madrassa complex in Gulshan Colony, a Shi'ite-dominated area on the edge of Peshawar, which abuts militant strongholds in the northwestern tribal belt on the Afghan border.

"It looks like a suicide attack, but we cannot confirm it at the moment because we are still investigating," said Khan.

Jamil Shah, an official at the main government-run Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, confirmed that medics had recovered seven dead bodies and received 26 injured people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but sectarian violence targeting Pakistan's minority Shi'ite community has been on the rise in recent years.

Shi'ites account for 20 per cent of the mostly Sunni Muslim population in the nuclear-armed state, which suffers from a Taliban insurgency and al-Qaeda-linked violence.

Extremist Sunni militant faction Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for a series of bloody attacks on Shi'ites in the southwestern city of Quetta that killed at least 25 people on June 15.

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Latest Mumbai building collapse kills 10

AN apartment block collapse in Mumbai's outskirts has killed at least 10 people and trapped more in the debris, the latest incident to fuel concerns about the quality of construction in the booming Indian city.

Rescue workers were using hand-held wire cutters and excavators to search for survivors through the rubble after the building collapsed on Friday while many of its residents were sleeping, officials said.

"There have been 10 deaths, five adults and five children. Nine are injured, with minor injuries," said K P Raghuvanshi, police commissioner of Thane district, where the incident occurred.

Among those killed were a two-month-old girl and a seven-year-old boy, said Sandeep Malvi, spokesman for the municipal corporation of Thane.

Police said an investigation was under way into the cause of what the third building collapse in recent months in the Mumbai area, including one in April that killed 74 people.

The collapses have highlighted widespread shoddy construction standards in India, where a huge demand for housing and pervasive corruption often result in cost-cutting and a lack of safety inspections.

"The pace of urbanisation in India's large cities is unmanageable," said Anurag Mathur, a senior executive at property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle India.

"Sometimes the codes of construction, building safety and upgrades are either not followed or not carried out regularly," he told AFP.

Police said 20 people had been rescued from under the debris on Friday, while local reports said the three-storey building, built in 1979, was home to nine families.

The spokesman, Malvi, said monsoon rains may have triggered the collapse but "we can't say that's the only reason".

The incident happened about 35km from the centre of the financial capital, close to the scene of the apartment block that collapsed in April, which was one of the worst such incidents in decades.

Two builders and seven others were arrested in connection with the collapse of the partly finished building, which officials said was unauthorised.

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Abbott's Top End plan needs action: mayors

Opposition leader Tony Abbott is set to outline his vision for developing northern Australia. Source: AAP

A COALITION plan to turbocharge the economy of northern Australia has been met with cautious approval from those in the country's Top End.

But some community leaders tired of rhetoric from federal politicians say they want firm commitments, not vague plans.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was in Townsville talking up plans to turn the northern region into a hub for tourism, food production and energy exports.

He promised a white paper exploring opportunities for the area would be delivered within 12 months of his party being elected to government.

It would consider ways to double the nation's agricultural output, boost domestic and international tourism, encourage people to move north and build an energy export industry worth $150 billion.

Mayors in far north Queensland, the Northern Territory and parts of Western Australia unanimously welcomed the announcement, but some found it hard to get excited.

"We hear the talk all the time, and what we want to see is a bit more of the walk," Rosa Lee Long, mayor of the Tablelands, near Cairns, told AAP.

"I still welcome this but I'd have been far more happy had there been a lot more meat on the bone," her counterpart in Mt Isa, Tony McGrady, said.

The president of the Roebourne Shire in WA's Pilbara region said the plan would go a long way to helping the Pilbara city grow to 50,000.

"We're always excited about anyone wanting to invest in the northwest and any assistance from the federal government would be more than welcome. We'll certainly roll out the red carpet," Fiona White-Hartig said.

Upgrading airports and roads, protecting tourist meccas and marketing potential sites, introducing tax incentives to attract more residents, and increasing housing availability were among the wish list items for mayors in northern Australia regions.

"It's all very well to say 'move north' but we need to make sure people have something to move to," Darwin's Lord Mayor Katrina Fong Lim said.

Mr Abbott said the coalition's white paper would allow the region to capitalise on the opportunities presented by growth in Asia.

"If Australia is to play its part in the Asian century, that part of our country which is already the most integrated with Asia needs to be developed," he told reporters in Townsville.

He expects the white paper will encourage families to move north and include moving sections of the CSIRO and Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service agencies to key urban zones.

Longstanding zonal tax rebates might be reviewed, but Mr Abbott ruled out a separate tax arrangement for the country's north.

Cynics see Friday's announcement as an attempt to stem the flow of regional votes from the coalition to the conservative Katter's Australia Party (KAP).

"While they're trailing behind the KAP in a number of key seats, they have stolen our line and assumed north Queenslanders are dumb - bad mistake," federal Independent MP Bob Katter said in a statement.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said the Labor government had invested an "enormous amount of money" in facilities, roads and energy projects in the north.

"We've got some thought bubbles from Mr Abbott - a series of proposals, which are not funded. There's no detail," he told reporters in Brisbane.

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Palmer backs candidate he hadn't met

CLIVE Palmer has endorsed a devoutly religious Western Australian candidate for his political party on the same day he met her.

The mining magnate had seen Teresa van Lieshout's many YouTube videos, covering a wide range of topics such as "Biblical Eschatology (Apocalyptic)" and "Abolish Psychiatric Practice in WA", but had not met her until a Palmer United Party (PUP) function in Perth on Thursday.

She will contest the Labor-held seat of Fremantle after being approached by the party.

The Australian Democrats and Katter's Australian Party asked her to run for them as well, but she says she chose Mr Palmer's organisation because he had financial resources to fight the two major parties.

"I looked at some of his policies and they seemed pretty sound to me," Ms van Lieshout told AAP.

But she disagrees with Mr Palmer's stance on asylum seekers, saying she's not one to toe the party line and most voters want politicians with firm views.

While the billionaire has said asylum seekers deserve more compassion - and even airline tickets to get here - Ms van Lieshout agrees with Bob Katter, who wants the Navy to patrol Australian waters for boats.

And she believes asylum seekers should continue to be sent to Christmas and Manus islands, and Nauru, saying Australian politicians are not doing enough to help its own citizens, who are becoming homeless in droves.

In WA, she's particularly enraged that the Liberal-led government is imprisoning fine defaulters in large numbers. Australia-wide, she wants the decision-making power in schools to be taken from principals and handed to teachers.

But the topic that fires her up the most is psychiatrists after her brother was involuntarily institutionalised after being diagnosed with schizophrenia.

There, he was pumped full of drugs - a scenario that had killed some people, she claimed.

"I want psychiatry abolished," she said.

"They nearly killed my brother.

"It destroyed my family's life.

"It's just a killing machine and a money machine."

Ms van Lieshout also shrugged off a matter that could pose a big problem for her down the track: possible imprisonment over non-paid court costs.

She tried to appeal a conviction for breaching planning laws after putting up political signage outside her Hilton home during the 2013 state election, but that was twice rejected in WA's Supreme Court.

After unsuccessfully arguing that there was an implied right of freedom of political communication in the constitution, she was ordered to pay thousands of dollars in costs.

But she told the judge to "f*** off", she said.

"I wrote him a letter saying 'I'm going to pay a cent'.

"They might try and jail me for political reasons.

"That would be pretty cruel and stupid."

Ms van Lieshout, a former teacher who picked up 1.8 per cent of the votes for the seat of Willagee in the 2013 state election, provides tutoring and advice through her education consultancy.

Curtin University academic Chamonix Terblanche was the other WA candidate anointed by PUP on Thursday as part of its Senate ticket.

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Qld hospitals will reveal legionella tests

QUEENSLAND hospitals will release water test results for the potentially deadly legionella bacteria following an outbreak at a Brisbane hospital.

One patient has died and another patient is in intensive care after contracting legionnaires' disease at The Wesley Hospital over the past fortnight.

Tests have detected traces of the legionella bacteria, which causes the disease, in the warm water system at the privately run facility.

The disease can be contracted when a person breathes in water vapour containing the bacteria, causing potentially fatal lung infections.

Sick people, including cancer patients, are at most risk.

Because the source of previous outbreaks has been air conditioning systems, hospitals were only required to conduct routine testing of airconditioning towers.

In light of the Wesley's unusual outbreak, Queensland Health has ordered all public and private hospitals to test their hot water systems.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg says legionella is ever-present in the environment and is often found in very low concentrations in drinking water, but this does not automatically equate to a human health risk.

"If positive samples are returned, it is imperative that timely and appropriate treatment of the affected water supply is implemented," he said in a statement.

"This will ensure the safety of patients is protected."

Meanwhile, the Wesley's management has rejected claims it tried to cover up a legionnaires' death in 2011.

Queensland Health is investigating the current outbreak and announced this week it will include the 2001 death in its probe.

Further lab tests will ascertain whether the case is linked to the current outbreak.

UnitingCare Health, which operates the hospital, previously told reporters there were no past cases.

The Queensland Nurses Union says lying about past cases is serious and the hospital's management should be held to account.

However, UnitingCare director Richard Royle accused the union of making inflammatory comments and has denied any wrongdoing.

He says the 2011 case was a "sporadic case" and because it was not clear whether the patient contracted it from the hospital, management believed the public did not need to be informed.

The hospital did notify Queensland Health of the case at the time.

"I did not make the 2011 case public because it was not confirmed as hospital acquired," Mr Royle said.

He said the current outbreak had been different because the hospital's water system was the source and more patients could have been affected.

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Assange just an attention seeker: Howard

FORMER prime minister John Howard thinks Julian Assange is an attention seeker of the worst kind.

But he's not sure if the WikiLeaks founder has committed a crime.

Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador, but won't leave that country's embassy in London for fear of being arrested and extradited to Sweden over sexual assault allegations.

The former hacker is worried he'll then be handed over to the US to face charges over WikiLeaks' release of classified documents.

Mr Howard says while Assange is no hero, it's not clear whether he's guilty of a crime.

"He's just an attention seeker of the worst kind," Mr Howard told a diplomatic forum in Canberra on Thursday.

"But I'm still struggling to see what crime he's committed."

Former Labor cabinet minister Gareth Evans praised WikiLeaks for publishing classified footage of a US airstrike from an Apache helicopter on 2007 that killed at least 18 people, including two Reuters journalists.

"That was a classic cover up situation which was covered and that deserves our applause," he told the forum.

But he criticised WikiLeaks for showing "indifference" to the implications of its releases on security and intelligence operations.

"That made it, at the end of the day in Wikileaks' case, more of an ego trip rather than a serious minded contribution to international public policy," Professor Evans said.

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Soldiers charged over derogatory comments

AUSTRALIAN soldiers will reportedly be charged after posting derogatory comments about women on social media.

Defence has told the Townsville Bulletin a small number of serving soldiers based in Townsville will be charged under the Australian Defence Force Discipline Act after associating themselves with two Facebook pages that referred to women as "sluts" and "fat chicks".

The soldiers involved could also face further disciplinary action, the Commander of the Townsville-based 3rd Brigade says.

Brigadier Shane Caughey says he is disgusted by the culprits' conduct and those who denigrate any group in society were not welcome in the ADF.

"There is no place for them here in Townsville and no place for them in 3rd Brigade," he said.

ADF members had chosen to protect every Australian, regardless of their gender, religion or ethnicity, when they joined up, he added.

"It is inappropriate for any member of the ADF or the army to express views which denigrate a particular part of our society," he said.

"Absolutely we have to be held to higher account - otherwise all Australians cannot trust the institution.

"That is a message that every soldier needs to understand."

The charges are unrelated to an investigation into soldiers who allegedly filmed themselves having sex with fellow military personnel and civilians and sent the images to their colleagues.

Army chief Lieutenant-General David Morrison last week announced more than 100 ADF members were being investigated over the emails.

Gen Morrison followed up the announcement with a fiery video message targeting troops.

The stern message, which urged members who weren't prepared to respect women to "get out" of the army, was applauded by feminists and the wider community.

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NSW man charged with possessing child porn

A MAN in southern NSW has been charged with possessing child abuse material on a computer hard drive.

Police were informed on Saturday that suspicious material was stored on a hard drive taken in for repairs at a computer store.

Police raided a Yass property on Monday and seized more than 10,000 images and 200 video files.

A 67-year-old Yass man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with possession of child porn.

He appeared in Goulburn Local Court on Wednesday and was refused bail to re-appear in the same court on Wednesday 14 August.

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PM to visit Indonesia to discuss boats

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will travel to Indonesia next month for talks on people smuggling. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard will travel to Indonesia next month to discuss ways of combating people smuggling and terrorism.

Ms Gillard will meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on July 5 to discuss a number of political, security and commercial issues.

The talks, which are part of the annual Indonesia-Australia Leaders' Meeting, will canvas issues around education, trade, climate change and transnational crimes such as drug trafficking.

They'll also cover ways of stopping people smuggling and counter terrorism.

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop on Wednesday urged Ms Gillard to travel to Indonesia and hold discussions with President Yudhoyono on ways of combating people smugglers.

The prime minister said she had already held a number of meetings with him and accused the opposition of insulting Indonesia with their policy of towing back asylum seeker boats.

Ms Gillard will be in Indonesia on July 4 and 5 and will visit Jakarta and Bogor.

AAP

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Somali Shebab claim attack on UN compound

SOMALIA'S al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents say they have attacked and shot their way into a key United Nations compound in the capital Mogadishu.

"Our commandos have attacked the UN compound... we set off an explosion and have entered the compound, where we are fighting with the infidel forces," a senior Shebab official said on Wednesday.

Somali police officer Abdi Hassan described the gunfire as "heavy".

A UN official said the attack was against a building just outside the secure airport compound where all the UN agencies are based.

The official said she was close to the compound when the blast occurred but was not inside.

She said UN security officers were battling the gunmen.

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Croc kills pregnant woman in Indonesia

A PREGNANT woman has been killed and her three-year-old son is missing after they were attacked by a crocodile in eastern Indonesia, a local official says.

The woman and her son were crossing a wooden bridge on the Waimea river in Lembata district on Monday when they disappeared, said Lisa, the district official, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

A crocodile resurfaced with the woman's body on Tuesday but the boy remained missing, she said.

There have been at least five fatal crocodile attacks in Lembata in recent years.

In April, a crocodile grabbed a 75-year-old woman and ate her.

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Australian soldier hurt in chopper landing

An Australian soldier has been injured in a Black Hawk helicopter landing in Afghanistan. Source: AAP

AN Australian soldier has been injured in Afghanistan after a Black Hawk helicopter slammed to the ground.

The unnamed special operations member was one of five Australians on board when the helicopter made a "hard landing" 55kms east of Tarin Kowt on June 11, the Defence Department has reported.

The aircraft was not engaged in combat leading up to the crash.

On return to base, the crew was assessed with one soldier found to be suffering concussion.

"While the wounding doesn't appear to be of a serious nature, all precautionary measures are taken before soldiers are returned to duty," said the soldier's commanding officer in a statement.

All other Australian personnel travelling in the helicopter have since returned to duty.

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Ban Ki-moon arrives in China for talks

UNITED Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Beijing for high-level talks with Chinese officials on North Korea, Syria and other issues, his spokesman says.

Ban will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and senior foreign policy officials during his stay, spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Ban "expects to discuss a wide range of matters pertaining to peace and security, such as the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Mali and Syria," Nesirky said in an e-mail to AFP.

Ban will also meet China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Cabinet member Yang Jiechi, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying confirmed on Tuesday.

"The two sides will exchange views over international and internal issues of common interest," she said.

"China's position on the Korean peninsula nuclear issue is consistent and clear," Hua said.

"China is committed to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, as well as the settlement of the issue through dialogue and consultation."

US President Barack Obama said China was taking a tougher line against North Korea's nuclear program as he credited new president Xi with taking more responsibility in the world.

UN diplomats also said that the worsening Syrian conflict and North Korea would top Ban's list of discussion topics in Beijing.

"Ban has taken a hard line on Syria, where China has sided with Russia. But North Korea is also an urgent problem for everyone," a UN Security Council diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

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Port to go, NSW public sector to tighten

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird says his budget will show a continuation of efforts to manage expenses. Source: AAP

THE world's largest port in Newcastle will be sold off by the NSW government as part of Treasurer Mike Baird's mostly prudent budget that included only a handful of nasties.

There are fears more public servants will lose their jobs as the beleaguered sector struggles to find another $750 million in savings over the next two years.

The government is also stepping up efforts to chase people over unpaid fines while doctors say a 5.2 per cent increase in health funding isn't enough to meet growing demand.

But the big announcement is that the government will sell off the state's last major port with the privatisation of the facility in Newcastle.

The 99-year lease is expected to net the government up to $700 million, half of which will be returned to the growth city north of Sydney to give it a light rail network.

The treasurer says his third budget "consolidates two years of tough decisions, two years of reform, two years of stringent expense control".

The government is estimating a smaller than expected deficit of $329 million for 2013/14, bouncing back into the black the following year by $829 million.

The figures, however, change when estimated under new accounting methods that bring NSW into line with global standards.

The new accounting standards have a return to surplus not happening until 2015/16 and a deficit of $1.89 billion for 2013/14.

The government says marketing and rating agencies will "look through that" as there is no actual change in the state's cash or debt position.

It follows years of savage cutbacks to rein in government expenditure, including an unpopular public sector wages cap and the reform of the police death and disability scheme.

And even though Mr Baird says his "tough decisions are beginning to bear fruit", the pain isn't over.

Public servants appear to have been spared the big job cuts of previous years but the treasurer has conceded more could come over the next 12 months.

"There's no number ... I am open at every opportunity to make the public sector more efficient."

The efficiency dividend and wages cap imposed on the sector is expected to net the government almost $19 billion in the six years to 2016/17.

On the plus side, 1300 businesses will be spared from paying from payroll tax next year while $302 million will speed up new home building.

A massive $60 billion will be ploughed into new roads, rail, hospitals and schools over the next four years as the government rolls out the largest urban road project and largest rail project in the country.

Unions are urging the government not to ship the promised infrastructure in from overseas in flat packs while the opposition claims families will bear the brunt of the budget's cuts to hospital resources and frontline services, despite rising revenues.

Mr Baird hailed his budget for slowing expense growth, accelerating spending on infrastructure and reducing net debt - "an extraordinary trifecta in the light of the challenges we face".

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell told parliament the government was "living within its means".

Shadow Minister for Education and Training, Carmel Tebbutt, said the "disappointing" budget had reduced education spending from 22.4 to 21 per cent.

"Axing the jobs of another 315 high school staff is the worst possible strategy when we are meant to be promoting greater Year 12 retention," she said in a statement.

She said the budget for school infrastructure remained at the same level as 10 years ago, despite higher enrolments and the need to upgrade physical assets.

Meanwhile, Greens MP and spokeswoman on Family and Community Services, Jan Barham, said the homeless had been neglected in the budget, which had been an opportunity to deliver much-needed increases for services that support disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.

"Keeping families safe and together and ensuring they have a stable home are fundamental aims that needed more investment than this Budget delivered," Ms Barham said in a statement.

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Australia on notice to protect reef

UNESCO has postponed a decision on whether to list Australia's Great Barrier Reef as "in danger". Source: AAP

THE Great Barrier Reef will be listed as an "in danger" World Heritage site next year if new developments along the Queensland coast aren't restricted.

The World Heritage Committee has told Australia it must present a plan on how to protect the reef from increasing coal and gas extraction and shipping.

If improvements aren't made the reef could be listed as "in danger" when the committee meets in June next year.

Although Australia has made some progress, "some issues still need to be addressed more forcefully", Marc Patry, program specialist at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, said at its meeting in Cambodia on Tuesday.

WWF Great Barrier Reef spokesman Richard Leck, who attended the committee meeting, says the state and federal governments have been put on notice.

"They have 12 months to take these recommendations seriously or risk the Great Barrier Reef being listed on the World Heritage list of shame," he said.

The committee also had some good news, noting Australia's commitment to improving water quality.

Both Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke and Queensland Environment Andrew Powell welcomed the decision.

"I am pleased that the final report takes into account more recent commitments by the government to safeguard the reef," Mr Burke said.

This includes a further $200 million for the next stage of the Reef Rescue program and continued scientific research to protect the reef, he said.

Mr Powell said the state government had worked hard over the past year to address concerns raised by the UN's environmental arm.

This includes scaling back plans for a multi-cargo port at Abbott Point near Bowen, improving water quality and reducing nutrient run off from farms.

However, environmental groups say more needs to be done.

"The committee is essentially saying: 'things aren't good enough, you have to do better'," Felicity Wishart, from the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said.

"We're still seeing the Queensland government fast tracking developments and we're still seeing the Australian government failing to stop that."

Greenpeace says the proposed dredging of three million cubic metres of sand to expand Abbott Point must be stopped to protect the reef.

"This is exactly the kind of destructive development that has the world worried about the future of the Great Barrier Reef," spokeswoman Louise Matthiesson said.

A study led by the Australian Institute of Marine Science last year found that between 1985 and 2012 the reef had lost half of its coral cover.

The main culprits were tropical cyclones, crown-of-thorns starfish and coral bleaching.

An in-danger listing for the reef would admit Australia to an undesirable club that includes the likes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has all five of its World Heritage sites on the danger list.

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