Troops shoot dead six Kashmir protesters

INDIAN paramilitary troops have shot dead six people protesting outside a Border Security Force station in Kashmir, police say.

The incident happened on Thursday in Gool, 230 kilometres south of the main city of Srinagar, two police officers said on condition of anonymity.

"It is mayhem. Six are dead and dozens injured. The death toll could rise further," said one.

Protesters had gathered outside the Border Security Force (BSF) station to demonstrate against an incident involving troops at a mosque on Wednesday evening, witnesses said.

The troops had entered the mosque in Gool to complain about the loud recitation of prayers by worshippers during the holy month of Ramadan, the witnesses told AFP.

Worshippers gathered outside the security force station from early Thursday to protest at the incident.

"The BSF soldiers fired indiscriminately, downing protesters left, right and centre," one witness who declined to be identified told AFP by phone from the nearby village of Dharam.

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Sydney man's girlfriend a 'liar': inquest

SARAH Manning could "smell money" and was a "poisonous woman" who asked about her French boyfriend's will days after he died of a drug overdose, a court has heard.

David Monlun's business partner Raymond Harrison also described Ms Manning as a "compulsive liar and an actress" in a police statement he made weeks after the wealthy Frenchman died.

The inquest into Mr Monlun's death has previously heard Ms Manning and friend Jamie Philp were the last people to see Mr Monlun, who was found lying face down in his apartment near Sydney's Darling Harbour on May 30, 2011.

An autopsy listed mixed drug toxicity as the direct cause of death, with a lethal range of the drug GHB detected in his blood.

Speaking at the inquest on Thursday, Mr Harrison said Ms Manning had called him just days after his business associate had died, allegedly asking after the 40-year-old's will.

"She rang and said David had said to her on the event of his death that she should ring me and I would fix everything," he told Glebe Coroner's Court.

Mr Harrison who co-owned Mr Monlun's successful freight sales agency company Repworld said the French businessman "was happy again" when he first started seeing Ms Manning in the decade before his death.

But Mr Harrison said this changed over time.

In 2006 Mr Monlun was bashed and had his "hair cut out", reportedly by a friend of Ms Manning.

About four months later, Ms Manning's former partner Matthew Haar kidnapped Mr Monlun and forced him to take cocaine.

Two weeks later, Mr Haar and Ms Manning detained Mr Monlun and were both convicted over the incident.

In the statement given to police in June 2011 in which Mr Harrison said Ms Manning could "smell money" and was poisonous, he also said that after Mr Monlun's death, Ms Manning had called their business associate Nicholas Papaix.

"It was both the opinion of Nicholas and mine, Sarah was seeking an alibi regarding her involvement or contact with David and his death," Mr Harrison told police.

On the night of Mr Monlun's death, CCTV footage shows Ms Manning leaving the apartment at various times before coming back with Mr Philp - a long-term user of GHB.

After saying goodbye to the pair at around 3.20am, Mr Monlun can be seen to deteriorate, dropping a phone and being unsteady on his feet.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by Mr Monlun's mother Irene, she said much of her son's life had been a mystery to her.

Describing him as a "loveable joker" and a good son, she said, "David, as every human being, had his imperfections".

The inquest will delve into a number of matters, including telephone conversations about the nature of Mr Monlun's death.

It will also look into the circumstances in which an associate of Mr Monlun and Ms Manning - a Dr Christoph Lenzer - attended Mr Monlun's apartment during the evening he died and was later seen by police at Ms Manning's home.

The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund was adjourned to July next year.

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'Improving' Mandela marks 95th birthday

Nelson Mandela's daughter says her father has made a "dramatic" progress on the eve of his birthday. Source: AAP

NELSON Mandela is spending his 95th birthday in hospital but his health is "steadily improving", the South African presidency says, as people around the world honour his legacy with charitable acts.

With a wave of good deeds planned to mark Nelson Mandela Day, South Africans awoke on Thursday to word that their national hero was getting better six fraught weeks after he was admitted to hospital with a recurring lung infection.

"Madiba remains in hospital in Pretoria but his doctors have confirmed that his health is steadily improving," the presidency said in a statement, using Mandela's clan name.

Ndileka Mandela said her grandfather was now more responsive.

"He's using his eyes, nodding," she told AFP.

The news prompted joyful prayers of thanks outside the hospital which, for 41 days, has been the focal point of a national vigil.

"He is here with us today us. We didn't know that he will live to see this day," said Agnes Shilowane, a local university student.

"Tata (father) Mandela has once again proved that he is a fighter."

Nearby, school children read poems and left cards as nurses sang happy birthday to the former political prisoner who went on to become South Africa's first black president.

Birthday greetings and messages of support poured in from around the world - and even from astronauts on the International Space Station - to mark the anniversary, which many had feared Mandela would not live to see.

US President Barack Obama - who was unable to visit Mandela during a trip to South Africa last month - led tributes to the peace icon, calling on people to honour him through volunteer work.

"Our family was deeply moved by our visit to Madiba's former cell on Robben Island during our recent trip," Obama said in a statement.

"We will forever draw strength and inspiration from his extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness, and humility."

Other well-wishers included the Dalai Lama, former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, US actor Morgan Freeman and Mandela's former jailer FW de Klerk, who went on to share the Nobel Peace Prize with him.

"Mandela's place in South Africa's history is assured," former president De Klerk said in a statement.

"His legacy of courage, perseverance and magnanimity will continue to inspire us - and people throughout the world - for generations to come."

Across the country, biker gangs cleaned streets, volunteers painted schools and politicians spent 67 minutes on worthy projects - all to mark Mandela's 67 years of public service.

"Let us return Madiba's sacrifices and contributions through our own efforts to build a better society," President Jacob Zuma said.

Near Pretoria, Zuma himself will later try to channel Mandela's cross-community appeal by delivering government housing to poor whites.

Born on July 18, 1918, Mandela fought against white rule in South Africa as a young lawyer and was convicted of treason in 1964.

He spent the next 27 years in jail.

It was in part through his willingness to forgive his white jailers that Mandela made his indelible mark on history.

After negotiating an end to apartheid, he became South Africa's first black president, drawing a line under centuries of colonial and racist suppression.

He then led reconciliation in the deeply divided country.

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Qld premier cagey on COS' pay: opposition

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman hid the full pay of his chief of staff, the opposition says. Source: AAP

PREMIER Campbell Newman has tried to hide the full pay and perks of his chief of staff, the opposition says.

Labor Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk asked the premier to detail Ben Myers' salary package at Tuesday's budget estimates hearing.

Mr Newman only tabled a document which says Mr Myers earns the salary of a "chief of executive 5.1", but gave no dollar figure.

The public service commission said on Thursday that Mr Myers earns $264,000 a year.

But Ms Palaszczuk believes Mr Myers could be on a package as high as $400,000 when you add a work car, superannuation and leave allowances.

"I now want the details of what that package is," she said.

"I hope this is not a cover up."

She said she'd write to the Speaker of the House to question if Mr Newman deliberately mislead the budget estimates hearings.

A spokesman for the premier said the opposition leader's claims are nonsense.

"This is just another example of a lazy opposition jumping the gun, making wild claims and not doing any real work," he said.

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Yachtsman search harrowing for rescuers

THE crew of a rescue patrol that went in search of an elderly Frenchman who swam to a Perth beach after his yacht took on water were themselves stranded by the wild storm.

Denis Pallas, 73, emerged remarkably unscathed after spending several hours in treacherous seas, having hit a reef as he attempted to sail to Carnarvon in his 11.6 metre yacht with his pet dog.

Police said the man issued an emergency radio message around 6.50pm (WST) on Tuesday and despite language difficulties, he made it clear the vessel had engine trouble, winds of nearly 100km/h had ripped away his sails and its anchors were no longer secure.

He was asked to activate an emergency radio beacon, prompting water-based rescue crews to search for the yacht in waters off Alkimos, while a volunteer sea rescue group combed the beach.

The man then radioed that the yacht was taking on water and fears mounted when he was no longer contactable.

But at around 10.50pm (WST), the land-based rescue team found Mr Pallas alive, in his life jacket, on the beach at Alkimos.

His yacht was later found beached a few kilometres north of where he was discovered.

Water Police spokesman Peter Trevitt praised the rescuers, saying conditions were so foul, they couldn't return to their home base in North Fremantle and instead had to moor overnight at Hillarys.

"It was howling in from the south west," Mr Trevitt told AAP.

"It was a huge effort."

The waves were up to seven metres, he said.

"The 30 metres patrol vessel was turned 180 degrees on its axis, pointing the wrong way at one stage."

There would be no search for the man's dog, which remains missing after being swept overboard, despite wearing a life jacket.

"We work to a point where we know the people or the person on board is safe, and after that, it's at the hands of the elements."

Mr Pallas was taken to hospital for a check-up, but only had a scrape on his forehead.

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No manslaughter charges over Pike River

NO criminal charges will be laid by New Zealand police against individuals involved in the Pike River mine disaster, after an investigation concluded there was not enough evidence to prove manslaughter.

The families of the 29 men killed in the explosion at the Pike River mine on November 19, 2010 were informed of the outcome of the two-and-a-half year police investigation at a meeting in Greymouth on the South Island's west coast on Wednesday night.

Police say there is not enough evidence to link any individuals to specific events leading to the explosion and therefore manslaughter charges had to be ruled out.

Detective Superintendent Peter Read said he knew the families of the victims would be disappointed with the outcome.

"This has been a very difficult decision and not one taken lightly," he said.

He said the investigation had been one of the most complex ever undertaken by New Zealand police, involving interviews with 284 people and 34 million pages of documentation.

Police said there was enough evidence to charge individuals with criminal nuisance, but given the ongoing investigations by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment(MBIE), those charges would raise double jeopardy issues.

Any penalties arising from police charges would be unlikely to supersede those imposed under MBIE prosecutions, police said.

Police are not ruling out reopening the investigation should access to the mine be gained in the future.

Access would allow a scene examination.

"However, I stress there is no certainty that this would produce any new relevant information," Det Sup Read said.

"Even if new information was identified, there is no guarantee that it would lead to a future prosecution."

Earlier in July, Pike River Coal was ordered to pay $NZ110,000 ($A94,840) to each of the families of the 29 victims killed in the explosion.

The company was also fined $NZ760,000 for nine health and safety charges.

Last month, a judge ruled former Pike River Coal boss Peter Whittall could be tried in Wellington, rather than in Greymouth, on 12 health and safety breaches.

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Inquest reveals drug scene in NSW prisons

MAKESHIFT syringes made from cotton buds, prisoners "stoned" for days and drugs secreted inside inmates' bodies.

This was the drug scene inside NSW's Junee Correctional Centre when Anthony Van Rysewyk died from a heroin overdose in 2011, an inquest has found.

According to correctional officer Steve McMahon, drugs are a problem facing all prisons across the state.

Van Rysewyk was nearing the end of a minimum six years and three months sentence for robbery when he took two shots of heroin at the privately-run facility near Wagga Wagga on May 7, 2011.

In handing down her findings into the 28-year-old's death on Wednesday, Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund said when Van Rysewyk was put into his cell that evening other minimum security inmates noticed he was slurring his words, was unsteady on his feet and had "pin eyes" - a clear symptom of heroin intoxication.

Correctional service officers reported noticing nothing.

The next morning he was found dead in his cell.

According to inmates who gave evidence at the inquest, legal and illegal drugs - including heroin, marijuana and speed - regularly flowed into the prison.

Inmates regurgitated prescription medications obtained from the centre's pharmacy, while visitors ferried drugs in.

One inmate told the inquest how he had seen a visitor retrieve a parcel "about the size of a golf ball" from her crotch and pass it to a prisoner.

The prisoner then allegedly tried to put it up his anus.

Syringes were constructed from miscellaneous items, including cotton ear-buds as plungers.

"Inmates would be stoned every weekend, every day or Sunday to Tuesday from drugs that were available weekly," Ms Freund said.

Mr McMahon, also the Public Service Association (PSA) chair of prison officers, said drugs were "certainly a problem" in all NSW correctional centres.

"Some prisoners say that they are as easily available in jail as what they are on the streets," he told AAP.

"I don't personally believe that they are that prevalent. (But) there is certainly still a high incidence of drug use in jail."

Mr McMahon said he has found prisoners dead in their cells a number of times over his 20-year career, and pointed to contact visits as the primary way of drugs coming into the centres, with people secreting items into all bodily crevices, including mouths.

He suggested increasing the use of sniffer dogs and improving officers' training to identify drug intoxication.

These were among two of the recommendations also made by Ms Freund.

At the time of Van Rysewyk's death, she said there were only two officers supervising up to 40 inmates at the visitor centre, meaning prisoners were sometimes left unattended for up to five minutes.

There were no CCTV cameras and the dog squad didn't patrol the centre during or after visits.

Improvements at the centre run by GEO Group Australia had been "nominal" since the 28-year-old's death, the court heard.

GEO Group said in a statement it had "already taken steps to address the areas outlined in the recommendations", including conducting a review of officers' training.

Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) Commissioner Peter Severin said it took Van Rysewyk's death "very seriously" and would be looking at the coroner's recommendations.

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21 Indian children dead from school meal

Eight children died and 80 were hospitalised after eating lunch served at their school in India. Source: AAP

TWENTY-ONE children have died after eating a free lunch feared to contain poisonous chemicals at a school in eastern India, as angry protests erupted over the tragedy.

Thirty more children remain ill in hospital after consuming lunch cooked at a village primary school in the impoverished state of Bihar, state education minister P K Shahi said.

"The death toll has risen to 21," local government official Amarjeet Sinha told reporters, as suspicion focused on the possible presence of insecticide in the food.

There were emotional scenes as children, their limbs dangling and heads lolling to one side, were brought to a hospital in the Bihar city of Chhapra.

Other children, lying listless on stretchers, were placed on intravenous drips amid chaotic scenes at the hospital. Outside, inconsolable relatives wept.

"My children had gone to school to study. They came back home crying, and said it hurts," one distraught father told the NDTV network.

"I took them into my arms, but they kept crying, saying their stomach hurt very badly."

Running to the school to find out what had happened, the father said he saw "many bodies of children lying on the ground".

Bihar education minister P K Shahi said the midday meal "appears to be poisonous".

The children, all aged under 10, were buried near the school in the village of Masrakh on Wednesday morning as angry residents armed with poles and sticks took to the streets of Chhapra.

The mob smashed windows of police buses and other vehicles and turned over a police booth in Chhapra, the main city of Saran district where the school is located.

"Hundreds of angry people staged a protest in Saran since late Tuesday night, demanding stern action against government officials responsible for this shocking incident," said district government official S K Mall.

A preliminary investigation has shown the meal may have contained traces of phosphate from insecticide in the vegetables, Sinha from the local government told AFP.

He said doctors were treating victims with atropine, which is effective against organophosphate poisoning.

Media reports quoted villagers as saying the use of contaminated, foul-smelling mustard oil for cooking at the school could also have caused the deaths.

"Investigators are examining midday meal samples and samples of victims' vomit. Only the final report of inquiry will reveal the real cause," Sinha said.

State chief minister Nitish Kumar has announced compensation of 200,000 rupees ($A3670) for bereaved families.

Free lunches are offered to impoverished students in state-run schools as part of government welfare measures in many of India's 29 states.

Bihar is one of the country's poorest and most densely-populated states.

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Snowden to decide on asylum soon: lawyer

US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who has said he wants to apply for asylum in Russia, is studying his options and likely to make a decision shortly, a lawyer says.

Anatoly Kucherena, a prominent pro-Kremlin lawyer who participated in the fugitive's dramatic meeting with rights activists at a Moscow airport last week, said Snowden had contacted him for consultations.

"He is actively consulting with me," Kucherena told AFP on Tuesday, saying he last spoke to Snowden on Monday.

"After the meeting we've been in frequent touch.

"We are actively consulting and I believe that he will make up his mind in the coming days."

Snowden, wanted by the United States for revealing sensational details of its vast spying operations, flew into Russia from Hong Kong on June 23 and has since been marooned in the transit zone of the capital's Sheremetyevo airport.

The lawyer said he was helping the world's most famous fugitive navigate through the complexities of the Russian legislation. He was also explaining the difference between the status of refugee, political asylum and temporary asylum to Snowden.

"Before our consultations he did not have the understanding of those issues," Kucherena said.

"He needs to understand what suits him and what rights and obligations a certain status will generate."

Breaking silence for the first time since he arrived, Snowden who has essentially become stateless after Washington revoked his passport, met with a handful of rights activists and lawyers at the airport on Friday.

At the meeting, he said he would file for asylum in Russia before he could work out a way to travel legally to Latin America.

Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have indicated that they would be open to offering Snowden a safe haven.

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Japanese police bust overweight sex firm

JAPANESE police have arrested the alleged ringleader of a sex home delivery service specialising in women weighing up to 150 kilograms, a police spokesman says.

Keiko Saito, 41, and one of her employees are suspected of conspiring to run a prostitution business under the name "Makkusu Bodi" (Max Body), which boasted that it catered for men who like "explosive boobs and bums", police said on Tuesday.

Saito is alleged to have had about 30 overweight women in her employ, including one who tipped the scales at more than 150kg, Jiji Press reported.

Police say punters in Tokyo could telephone to request a visit in their home or hotel room, a service called "deri-heru" (delivery health) that is widespread in Japan, where it is illegal to sell penetrative sex.

Saito, who is believed to have earned about 400 million yen ($A4.4 million)) over three years, had previously worked as a prostitute, Jiji said.

She began her business because she believed larger women were popular with customers, the agency added.

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Dutch hostages plead for lives in Yemen

A DUTCH couple kidnapped in Yemen have issued an impassioned plea in an internet video for their government to act to secure their release, warning they face execution within 10 days.

Apparently unhurt, journalist Judith Spiegel and her partner Boudewijn Berendsen, who disappeared last month, appear in the minute-and-a-half clip posted on YouTube and Facebook.

"We have been kidnapped here in Yemen and we have a big problem," said an emotional Spiegel sitting next to Berendsen in the video dated July 13.

"We have spoken to the Dutch ambassador and told him what the conditions are to get out of here, but until now nothing's happened."

Spiegel then chillingly added: "These people are armed. If a solution is not found within 10 days, they are going to shoot us."

"Family, media, Dutch citizens, do something, we have to get out of here. We're not getting out of here ever, that's if we're not dead in 10 days!" she said as she burst into tears.

Dutch media reported that Spiegel is a journalist based in the Yemeni capital Sanaa for various Dutch media outlets including public broadcaster NOS and financial daily NRC Handelsblad.

Berendsen is employed in the insurance industry.

Both Spiegel and her partner also teach at the Lebanese International University in Sanaa, local media reported.

Yemeni police confirmed on June 15 that the couple had disappeared.

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said the case was receiving the government's "full attention."

"But I must say at once that talking about it in public seldom helps bringing the issue to a good conclusion," Timmermans said on his Facebook page.

Hundreds of people have been abducted in Yemen in the past 15 years, nearly all of them later freed unharmed.

But al-Qaeda militants have also seized foreigners in the country, including a Saudi diplomat and a South African couple.

Most kidnappings of foreigners are carried out by members of Yemen's powerful tribes who use them as bargaining chips in disputes with the central government.

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Car industry angered by FBT change

THE car industry is urging the federal government to reconsider its decision to remove the fringe benefit tax (FBT) concession on vehicles to help pay for the ditching of the carbon tax.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced on Tuesday Australia will move to a market-based emissions trading scheme (ETS) from July 1, 2014 - one year earlier than planned.

This means the fixed carbon price of $25.40 per tonne from July next year won't apply, and the price should drop to about to $6 initially under an ETS.

The carbon price is currently $24.15.

The move to an ETS will cost the budget $3.8 billion over the next four years, of which $1.8 billion will be made up from FBT changes relating to salary-sacrifice and employer-provided motor vehicles.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said the changes that start from Tuesday will have dire consequences, affecting both imported and domestically manufactured car sales.

"The effects will flow right through the industry, including to dealerships and service centres," FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said in a statement.

"I want to know if the government truly understand the consequences of this decision, and why the industry was not consulted on such a significant change."

Accounting firm Grant Thornton Australia said it would make administration costs more cumbersome because of the way the benefits would need to be calculated.

The current statutory formula will be abolished for new contracts, leaving the log book method that requires an employer to track the costs relating to each car, and to estimate the business use using employee-completed log books.

FBT is then payable on the private portion of the costs.

"This is a major additional administrative burden compared to the previous statutory formula method," Grant Thornton FBT specialist Elizabeth Lucas said.

"It will also mean a higher FBT impost for many employers."

The retail sector is worried about the consequences of FBT change, saying it will impact 320,000 employees across the nation.

"They will lose money and they will have less money to spend," Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman told AAP.

More broadly, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief economist Greg Evans described the move to an ETS as a "short-term fix" without out addressing the long-term issue.

"It provides no real solution, it provides no certainty and it doesn't deliver a sustainable reduction in costs for business," Mr Evans told reporters in Canberra.

He said it was still a multi-billion dollar tax impost on Australian business that its competitors don't pay.

"It's harmful for business, its harmful for the economy and its harmful for jobs," he said.

The Australian Industry Group was also critical of the saving measures.

"The change to the FBT treatment of cars will mean that taxpayers will face additional tax bills every year," chief executive Innes Willox said in a statement.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA), representing the nation's top 100 bosses, says businesses will still suffer.

"Businesses are still likely to be paying one of the highest carbon prices in the world for up to another year," BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott said in a statement.

The BCA believes the ETS design is flawed because it does not deal with industry competitiveness issues or ensure Australia's action remains in line with the rest of the world.

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Bangladesh Islamist jailed for 90 years

Wartime head of Bangladesh's largest Islamic party was jailed for 90 years for atrocities in 1971. Source: AAP

A BANGLADESHI court has sentenced an elderly Islamist leader to 90 years in prison for masterminding atrocities during the 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

Ghulam Azam, compared by prosecutors to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, was found guilty of all five charges of planning, conspiracy, incitement, complicity, and murder and torture during the war, which the government says killed three million people.

However, 90-year-old Azam, the wartime head of the country's largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and now its spiritual leader, was spared the death penalty because of his age and health, and was instead sentenced to nine decades in prison, an official said.

"He was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt in all five charges. The tribunal observed that he deserved death penalty," junior Attorney General M K Rahman said.

"But because of his old age and health complications, he was sentenced separately in the five charges. In all he has been sentenced to 90 years in prison."

Street violence erupted across Bangladesh ahead of the judgment, handed down by the controversial International Crimes Tribunal.

Supporters clashed with police, who fired rubber bullets at Jamaat activists armed with homemade bombs.

Jamaat, the country's largest Islamic party and a key member of the opposition, called a nationwide strike on Monday to protest the verdict, saying the war crimes trials are aimed at eliminating its leaders.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Azam, describing him as a "lighthouse" who guided all war criminals, and the "architect" of the militias which committed many of the 1971 atrocities.

When India intervened at the end of the nine-month war and it became clear Pakistan was losing, the militias killed dozens of professors, playwrights, filmmakers, doctors and journalists.

Azam was described as the "mastermind" of the massacres of the intellectuals. Many of their bodies were found a few days after the war at a marsh outside the capital, blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs.

Azam is the fifth person convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal. Three Islamists have been sentenced to death and one was given life imprisonment.

Previous verdicts by the tribunal have sparked widespread and deadly violence on the streets of a country that has a 90 per cent Muslim population.

Azam's lawyer Tajul Islam said the charges were based on newspaper reports of speeches Azam gave during the war, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

"The prosecution has completely failed to prove any of the charges," he told AFP before the verdict.

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Plibersek angry over UK tobacco backdown

FEDERAL Health Minister Tanya Plibersek has criticised the UK government for abandoning plans to follow Australia's lead and introduce plain packaging for cigarettes.

It was disappointing the UK was taking "a step back" when other countries such as Ireland and New Zealand were pushing ahead.

"I think this does show the continued effort of big tobacco to prevent plain packaging," she told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is under pressure to sack his Australian election strategist, former Liberal Party federal director Lynton Crosby, over his links to tobacco giant Philip Morris.

"It's very clear Lynton Crosby has been a key adviser in this move to dump plain packaging in the UK," Ms Plibersek said.

British newspapers are reporting that Mr Crosby's lobbying firm works for Philip Morris.

Ms Plibersek said data was unavailable on whether the introduction of plain packaging in Australia had hit cigarette sales.

But she is confident it's working.

Since Australian laws came into effect in December last year, tobacco companies have launched a challenge with the World Trade Organisation.

British American Tobacco Australia senior corporate affairs manager Scott McIntyre said early figures show the legal tobacco market has remained stable since plain packs were introduced in Australia.

"There has been no initial impact on legal tobacco sales in the first six months due to plain packaging as smokers are still purchasing cigarettes just like they were before," he said in a statement.

He said it was early days and to assess the situation properly more time was needed to see if there were any trends.

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More than 5700 missing after India floods

Indian authorities estimate more than 5700 people are missing, presumed dead, after the floods. Source: AAP

A TOTAL of 5748 people missing after last month's floods in northern India are presumed dead, authorities say.

Anyone still untraced would be declared dead to allow the government to start paying their families compensation, Uttarakhand state Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

"We will issue the list later today," he said in state capital Dehradun on Monday.

The government would pay 500,000 rupees ($A9218) for each victim, he said.

Heavy monsoon rains in mid-June caught thousands of pilgrims visiting Hindu shrines in the Himalayan region, tourists and locals, triggering devastating landslides and flash floods.

The earlier confirmed death toll was around 900.

Piyush Rautela, director of Uttarakhand's disaster management division, said the exact number may never be known.

"Many of the bodies may have been washed away by raging rivers or buried under debris," he said.

Nearly 109,000 people were rescued in land and air operations by the military.

The early monsoon rains flooded 4200 villages, and were estimated to be the heaviest in the region in 88 years.

Rautela said the administration was still providing relief materials including food and medicine to people in remote areas, as well as rebuilding roads and bridges destroyed by floods.

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Hong Kong shares end 0.12% higher

HONG Kong and Shanghai stocks rose on Monday after Chinese economic growth data for the April-June quarter came in as forecast.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.12 per cent, or 26.03 points, to 21,303.31 on turnover of $HK45.98 billion ($A6.57 billion).

Chinese shares closed up 0.98 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 19.90 points to 2,059.39 on turnover of 88.0 billion yuan ($A15.83 billion).

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PM arrives in PNG for talks

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has arrived in Papua New Guinea for talks on trade, how to tackle crime in the Pacific Island nation and the controversial Australian-run detention centre on Manus Island.

Mr Rudd touched down at Port Moresby's Jackson's international airport shortly after 5pm and was greeted by deputy prime minister Leo Dion and Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, as well as the now familiar troupe of traditional PNG dancers.

"It's wonderful to be back here in PNG," he said, noting it was his second official trip as prime minister to Australia's closest neighbour.

"I look forward to my discussions with Prime Minister O'Neill.

"I come here as a friend, a long standing friend, someone who believes in PNG's future."

High on the agenda on Sunday evening and Monday is PNG's endemic law and order problems.

"That concerns me," Mr Rudd told reporters in Cairns on Sunday before he headed to PNG.

"I am going to be talking to him about what we can do to enhance our cooperation there."

Last month four Chinese nationals were stabbed to death not far from the central business district in Port Moresby.

"One issue that can arise for discussion is what level of support Australia can give for deployment of police," Mr Pato told journalists in Port Moresby in Sunday.

"We're looking to see what aid the Australian Federal Police can give."

The Australian-run Manus Island refugee processing centre is also expected to be on the agenda.

PNG's Supreme Court last week dismissed a constitutional challenge against the centre, and the UNHCR has heavily criticised the conditions at the site.

'Manus Mess' was the front page headline of PNG's only Sunday paper, the Sunday Chronicle.

In a late addition to the trip, Mr Rudd brought Immigration Minister Tony Burke and Trade Minister Richard Marles with him to PNG.

Mr Burke said he will discuss asylum seekers and the progress of construction of a permanent facility on Manus Island.

"This trip will allow me to get an update on the progress of developing the centre on Manus Island in advance of making a personal visit to Manus Island in a few weeks time," he said in a statement.

Acknowledging the UNHCR report, Mr Pato said he expects the facility to be discussed.

"We have a system that can address those issues and those are not issues that cannot be overcome," Mr Pato said.

Immediately after arriving Mr Rudd headed straight to government house to meet Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio.

On Sunday night he is expected to dine with Mr O'Neill and Australia's High Commissioner Deborah Stokes, before a series of talks with PNG government officials on Monday.

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Aust woman hurt in Pamplona bull run

A 23-YEAR-OLD Australian woman is among five people injured when they were gored by bulls on the final day of the Pamplona fiesta in Spain.

The festival ran for nine days and landed a total of 50 daredevils in hospital.

Nearly half of those were seriously hurt on Saturday when the run in the northern Spanish town resulted in a bloody human pile-up that got trampled by the half-tonne bulls, sending 23 revellers to hospital.

As on each of the last eight mornings, a firework set off Sunday's mad dash through Pamplona's cobbled streets of six bulls and six steers as well as hundreds of thrill-seekers, many dressed in traditional white with a red neckerchief.

The animals will be killed by matadors in the final bullfight of the nine-day San Fermin festival.

The early morning bull runs are the highlight of the fiesta, which was immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's classic 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises and now draws hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.

The regional government said five runners were hospitalised on Sunday including the young Australian woman with a gore wound.

During Friday's run, bulls gored three men including a 20-year-old American.

Each year, hundreds of people are treated by medics and the Red Cross at the scene for cuts and scrapes without being hospitalised.

Fifteen people have been killed in the bull runs since records began in 1911. The most recent death was four years ago when a bull gored a 27-year-old Spaniard in the neck, heart and lungs.

The Associated Press reports that the Australian woman was struck in the chest by a massive Miura bull as she clung to wooden barriers outside the bull ring entrance. Other runners got tossed by the bulls or fell as they ran.

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Vic can't afford paramedic pay claim: govt

PARAMEDICS' wage claims, totalling $1.3 billion over four years, would have a significant impact on Victoria's budget, Health Minister David Davis says.

But the paramedics' union disputes the $1.3 billion figure quoted by Mr Davis, calling on him to provide the full detail of the costings for scrutiny.

Mr Davis told reporters on Sunday the 30 per cent salary increase sought by paramedics totalled $1.3 billion over four years, and would lead to less money for ambulances and ambulance stations.

He said the wage claim was significant and not well thought out.

"These are tough times. It's not easy for governments to fund significant new expenditures," Mr Davis said.

But Ambulance Association Australia state secretary Steve McGhie said the figures were "highly inflated".

"There figures are nowhere near right and if he thinks they are let him provide the full detail so they can be scrutinised."

Mr Davis said paramedics are well remunerated, with the most common category of paramedic earning an average $93,000 a year, including overtime.

However, Mr McGhie said a six-year paramedic who worked shift penalties - which all were expected to do - would earn $71,000.

"To earn $93,000 means they have to work $22,000 of overtime per year on average.

"If there were paramedics earning that - and if they didn't do it - then the ambulance service couldn't put paramedics on ambulances."

Mr Davis again called on the union to enter voluntary conciliation with Ambulance Victoria through independent umpire Fair Work Australia, saying it would lead to a fair wage deal.

But Mr McGhie said the union would attend conciliation until Ambulance Victoria responds to its paper detailing the productivity paramedics have delivered over the past three years.

The government has offered paramedics a 2.5 per cent annual pay rise, with any further increases offset by productivity gains.

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Egypt prosecutors quiz Morsi

INVESTIGATORS have begun questioning Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi and members of his Muslim Brotherhood over their involvement in a 2011 prison break, judicial sources say.

The inquiry follows allegations that Morsi and senior Brotherhood members escaped from Wadi Natrun prison during the uprising that ended former president Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule.

Investigators are examining whether foreign groups such as Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah were involved in the jailbreak.

State Security prosecution service investigators interviewed Morsi at an undisclosed location, the judicial sources told AFP.

It came hours after the public prosecutor received complaints against Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders, accusing them of spying, inciting violence and damaging the economy.

Morsi, who was overthrown by Egypt's powerful army on July 3, is being held in a "safe place", interim leaders have said.

His supporters accuse the military of violating democratic principles by removing an elected leader from office, and have vowed to keep fighting for his reinstatement.

The interim authorities are working to an army-drafted roadmap, and Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi is closer to forming a cabinet.

Parliamentary and presidential elections are expected next year.

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