Three men stabbed in Sydney's west

THREE men have been stabbed during a brawl in Sydney's west.

Police were called to Church Street in Parramatta at about 8.30pm (AEDT) on Friday to find a 29-year-old man with stab wounds to his stomach following the brawl.

He was taken to Westmead Hospital where two other men, aged 33 and 26, later turned up with stab wounds believed to have been sustained in the same incident.

None of the men's injuries are life-threatening.

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

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Transgender woman sues CrossFit in US

A TRANSGENDER woman in Northern California has sued the company behind the popular CrossFit workouts for refusing to let her compete in the female division of its annual fitness competitions.

The lawsuit brought by Chloie Jonsson, 34, accuses CrossFit Inc of violating her rights under a California law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

Jonsson's complaint says she was born male but has been living as a woman since she was a teenager and underwent sex reassignment surgery eight years ago.

The surgery, coupled with the female hormones she takes, satisfied the state's requirements for her to be recognised as female on her birth certificate and other official documents.

Her lawyer, Waukeen McCoy, said Jonsson, who works as a personal trainer and is an avid CrossFit practitioner, first spoke to company representatives about her background a year ago after a teammate learned that participants in the Reebok CrossFit Games were required to register according to their gender at birth.

"They said she has an advantage over other women because of the sex she was born with, and that is completely untrue, scientifically," McCoy said, noting that the International Olympic Committee and other sports governing bodies allow athletes who have undergone surgery, taken hormones and secured legal recognition to compete in the category that corresponds to their affirmed gender.

CrossFit's general counsel, Dale Saran, would not comment on the lawsuit, which seeks $US2.5 million ($A2.76 million) in damages.

Saran directed The Associated Press to a CrossFit online discussion board, where he posted that Jonsson had never supplied medical documents to back up her assertion that she was a woman.

He also dismissed McCoy's suggestion that transgender athletes are engaged in a struggle as valid as the one black baseball players waged to be accepted in the major leagues.

"The fundamental, ineluctable fact is that a male competitor who has a sex reassignment procedure still has a genetic makeup that confers a physical and physiological advantage over women," Saran wrote in a letter to McCoy that's linked to the discussion board.

"That Chloie may have felt herself emotionally, and very conscientiously, to be a woman in her heart, and that she ultimately underwent the legal and other surgical procedures to carry that out, cannot change that reality."

Saran said CrossFit may create a separate division for transgender athletes if enough step forward to compete.

CrossFit is headquartered in Washington, DC, but its founder, Greg Glassman, launched it in Santa Cruz, California in the late 1990s.

The company has 7000 affiliate gyms around the world where classes offer an intense, military-style mix of weight-lifting, core conditioning and cardio exercises, according to its website.

Individuals and teams compete every year in the timed CrossFit Games to determine who can complete the most repetitions of various exercises.

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Hillary Clinton urges equality for women

Hillary Clinton says women's rights is "the great unfinished business of the 21st century." Source: AAP

FORMER US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has declared that achieving equality for women and girls is "the great unfinished business of the 21st century."

The potential 2016 presidential candidate galvanised the UN commemoration of International Women's Day, repeating her resounding declaration as first lady at the 1995 UN women's conference in Beijing that "human rights are women's rights - and women's rights are human rights."

Clinton said that important progress has been made, citing the increasing number of girls in school and women in elected office, and the repeal of many discriminatory laws.

"Yet for all we have achieved together, this remains the great unfinished business of the 21st century," she said.

In the nearly two decades since Beijing, Clinton said, "no country in the world has achieved full participation, and women and girls still comprise the majority of the world's unhealthy, unfed and unpaid."

She called for greater opportunities for women and girls and urged the UN to include gender equality at the forefront of its new goals to promote development.

"When women succeed the world succeeds," Clinton said. "When women and girls thrive, entire societies thrive. Just as women's rights are human rights, women's progress is human progress."

Clinton said the goals must ensure that women everywhere have the right to find a job, to own and inherit property, to have a valid and legal identity, to have gender parity in primary and secondary education, and help end violence against women and child brides.

She stressed that there can be no progress "without safeguarding women's reproductive health and rights," saying the platform agreed to by 179 countries at the 1994 UN population conference in Cairo which ensures these rights "must be the starting point for work today."

"If we get it right, we can put the world on the path to less poverty and more prosperity, less inequality and more opportunity," Clinton said.

Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, head of UN Women, drew loud applause from representatives of the 193 UN member states and women's rights supporters when she echoed Clinton, declaring: "The 21st century offers an opportunity for a big leap forward - not baby steps. We've done baby steps."

She said she was also repeating Clinton's declaration from Beijing on women's rights "because equality between men and women remains an elusive dream."

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Australians on board missing plane

A search and rescue mission is underway for a Malaysia Airlines flight, which has lost contact with air traffic control.

Flight with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board missing ... Malaysia Airlines service bound for Beijing lost. Source: Supplied

• Beijing-bound flight from Kuala Lumpur
• Plane lost contact at 5.40am AEDT
• 239 passengers missing, inclduing six Australians
• DFAT hotline: 1300 555 135 or 02 6261 3305

SIX Australians including two couples from Queensland one couple from New South Wales are missing and feared dead in a Malaysia Airlines crash in the waters off Vietnam.

Brisbane couples Rodney and Mary Burrows and Catherine and Robert Lawton of Springfield Lakes are believed to be friends travelling together.

Neighbours of the Lawtons described them as a lovely couple.

Caroline Daintith, who had lived across the road from the Lawtons for years, said travel was a big part of the couples' lives.

The couple from Sydney have been identified as Li Yuan and Gu Naijun.

On board the flight ... Catherine and Robert Lawton of Springfield Lakes. Picture: Facebook Source: Facebook

They are among the 239 people on board a Malaysia Airlines flight that lost contact with air traffic control and may have gone down in the Gulf of Thailand.

The Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200 aircraft, lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 5.40am (AEST).

"The flight was carrying 227 passengers (including two infants), 12 crew members," the airline said in a statement.

Malaysia Airlines said the passengers were from 14 different countries. Initial reports stated seven passengers were Australians but a subsequent statement from the airline put the number at six. Two were from New Zealand.

Raw ... in Beijing, a woman in tears is helped by airport workers to a bus waiting for relatives of the missing passengers. Picture: Han Guan Ng Source: AP

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the government "fears the worst" for those aboard the flight, and that they had so far confirmed the names of six Australians on the flight's passenger manifest.

"Our sympathies are with the families and friends of these Australians. We also extend our condolences to the families of the other passengers and to the governments of all those countries affected, in particular China, Indonesia and Malaysia who had significant numbers of nationals on this flight.

"Australian consular officials are in contact with family members living in Australia of those believed to be on the flight and will continue to provide the families with all possible consular assistance," the spokesperson said.

The world waits ... A spokesperson, right, from the Malaysia Airlines speaks to the media at a hotel in Beijing. Picture: Andy Wong Source: AP

"Australian consular officials are in urgent and ongoing contact with Malaysia Airlines. Malaysia Airlines has advised that it is contacting relatives of the passengers on the flight."

The airline has established a call centre – phone +60 37884 1234 – for those seeking more information.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's 24 hour Consular Emergency Centre is contactable on 1 300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas).

A total of 153 passengers were Chinese nationals.

There were also 38 from Malaysia, 12 from Indonesia, three from France, two from New Zealand, four from the USA, two from Ukraine, two Canadians, two Russians, one Italian, one from Taiwan, one from The Netherlands and one from Austria.

Grim news ... Malaysian Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya addresses the media near Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Picture: Manan Vatsyayana Source: AFP

Reports on Twitter appeared to show a full list of names of passengers on board the flight, but its veracity had not been confirmed.

Pham Hien, a Vietnamese search and rescue official, said the last signal detected from the plane was 120 nautical miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Vietnam's southernmost Ca Mau province, which is close to where the South China Sea meets the Gulf of Thailand.

Lai Xuan Thanh, director of Vietnam's civil aviation authority, said air traffic officials in the country never made contact with the plane.

The plane "lost all contact and radar signal one minute before it entered Vietnam's air traffic control,'' Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of the Vietnamese army, said in a statement issued by the government.

Malaysia and Vietnam have launched searches for a missing Malaysia Airlines jet.

The South China Sea is a tense region with competing territorial claims that have led to several low-level conflicts, particularly between China and the Philippines. That antipathy briefly faded as nations of the region rushed to aid in the search, with China dispatching two maritime rescue ships and the Philippines deploying three air force planes and three navy patrol ships to help.

"In times of emergencies like this, we have to show unity of efforts that transcends boundaries and issues,'' said Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda, commander of the Philippine military's Western Command.

The ministry launched a rescue effort to find the plane, working in coordination with Malaysian and Chinese officials, the statement added.

Malaysian authorities dispatched a plane, two helicopters and four vessels to search seas off its east coast in the South China Sea, said Faridah Shuib, a spokeswoman for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

The Philippines said it was sending three navy patrol boats and a surveillance plane to help efforts.

Yahoo News quoted local newspaper reports that the Vietnamese Navy said the plane went down into the sea about 153 miles south of Phu Quoc Island, just off the coast of the Vietnamese / Cambodian border.

Other media outlets reported that the Chinese Navy had deployed two vessels to the South China Sea to search for the missing plane.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their search and rescue team to locate the aircraft," Malaysia Airlines said.

Whatever happened to the flight, Indonesia-based independent aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman said the clock was ticking on a "24-hour golden window'' for search and rescue efforts.

"You can't assume that there are no survivors, and if there are any, it is absolutely crucial that they are picked up within a day, or the chances of survival drops significantly,'' he said.

Search and rescue under way ... a map of the Malaysia Airlines flight's approximate flight path to Beijing. Source: Supplied

China's state news agency reported that the Malaysia Airlines aircraft lost contact over Vietnam while an unconfirmed report on a flight tracking website said the aircraft had plunged 200m and changed course shortly before all contact was lost.

The route would have taken the plane across the Malaysian mainland in a north easterly direction and then across the Gulf of Thailand.

Grief ... A possible relative cries at the Beijing Airport. Picture: Mark Ralston Source: AFP

Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted Chinese aviation authorities saying the plane did not enter China's air traffic control sphere.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement: "We are very concerned learning this news."

"We are contacting relevant authorities and are trying to confirm relevant information.''

The vice president of Malaysia Airlines told CNN that the missing plane had enough fuel for seven hours.

In shock ... A woman, center, surrounded by media covers her mouth on her arrival at a hotel which is prepared for relatives or friends of passengers aboard the missing plane, in Beijing. Picture: Andy Wong Source: AP

Malaysia Airlines' Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement: "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am earlier this morning bound for Beijing."

MORE: PLANE CRASHES THAT CHANGED AVIATION HISTORY

MORE: MAJOR AIR DISASTERS SINCE 2009

Seven Australians have been confirmed to be on board a Malaysian Airlines flight which has gone missing.

"The aircraft was scheduled to land at Beijing International Airport at 6.30am local Beijing time (9.30am AEST).

"Subang Air Traffic Control reported that it lost contact at 2.40am (local Malaysia time) today.

"Flight MH370 was operated on a Boeing B777-200 aircraft," he said.

"The flight was carrying a total number of 239 passengers and crew — comprising 227 passengers (including 2 infants), 12 crew members. The passengers were of 13 different nationalities."

Recording the grief ... media hover over a possible relative of a passenger on the Malaysia Airlines flight. Picture: Mark Ralston Source: AFP

The pilot was 53 year old captain Zahari Ahmad Shah, who joined the airline in 1981 and had over 18,000 flying hours.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft," Mr Yahya said..

"We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am earlier this morning bound for Beijing.

"Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew.

"Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilise its full support.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members."

Fearing the worst ... Chinese police stand beside the arrival board showing the flight MH370 (top red) at Beijing Airport. Picture: Mark Ralston Source: AFP

Follow Malaysia Airlines on the incident on Facebook

Fuad Sharuji, Malaysian Airlines' vice president of operations control, told CNN that the plane was flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) and that the pilots had reported no problem with the aircraft.

Finding planes that disappear over the ocean can be very difficult. Aeroplane "black boxes'' - the flight data and cockpit voice recorders - are equipped with "pingers'' that emit ultrasonic signals that can be detected underwater.

Under good conditions, the signals can be detected from several hundred miles away, said John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. If the boxes are trapped inside the wreckage, the sound may not travel as far, he said. If the boxes are at the bottom of an underwater trench, that also hinders how far the sound can travel. The signals also weaken over time.

Air France Flight 447, with 228 people on board, disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean en route from Rio de Janiero to Paris on June 1, 2009. Some wreckage and bodies were recovered over the next two weeks, but it took nearly two years for the main wreckage of the Airbus 330 and its black boxes to be located and recovered.

The Malaysia Airlines plane, registration 9M MRO, is thought to have been a regular on routes to Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Auckland.

A flight tracking website shows images of the plane descending at Kingsford-Smith airport in Sydney in 2010.

Showing the strain ... a Malaysian policeman stands guard outside a reception centre for family and friends at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Picture: Manan Vatsyayana Source: AFP

Malaysia Airlines is the national carrier of Malaysia and one of Asia's largest, flying nearly 37,000 passengers daily to some 80 destinations worldwide.

Malaysia Airlines has 15 777 planes in the fleet and is an experienced operator of this type of aircraft.

Aviation Week reported that the missing plane was a 777-2H6ER with tail number 9M-MRO and serial number 28420. It had been built in 2002 and had been used by Malaysian Airlines since that time.

The last major crash of Malaysia Airlines flight was in 1995, when a Fokker 50 (9M-MGH) crashed during approach in Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia, killing 34 people.

In 1977, a Malaysia Airlines flight was hijacked and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia, killing all 100 people aboard.

Anyone wanting more information on the flight should call the airline on +60-378841234.

If you have any information that is relevant to this story, please email paul.tatnell@news.com.au.

Commercial flight missing ... The image from @flightaware shows the last known track of flight MH370 over southern Asia. Picture: Flightaware.com Source: Supplied

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PM's comments rile Tasmanian leaders

TASMANIA'S leaders have clashed in a pre-election debate over Prime Minister Tony Abbott's claim that too much Australian forest has been "locked up".

Mr Abbott made the comments at a forestry industry gathering this week, 10 days out from the Tasmanian poll.

The federal government has already moved to wind back World Heritage areas in Tasmania that are part of an historic peace deal between conservationists and the timber industry.

Premier Lara Giddings has defended the agreement, which Liberal opposition leader Will Hodgman has promised to tear up if, as expected, he wins government on March 15.

Ms Giddings says the deal, which took almost three years to negotiate, should not be tampered with.

"Forestry is a critical industry in Tasmania but it cannot be part of the war and conflict we had in the past," the premier said.

But Mr Hodgman said parts of the 74,000 hectares the federal government has asked UNESCO to jettison had been logged previously and could be used to revitalise the state's ailing forestry sector.

"They can in fact then be productive forests available to the industry that's been deprived of a resource," he said.

"It's costing jobs and it's not allowing our forestry industry the capacity to grow."

The Liberals have pledged to get more tourists into Tasmania's World Heritage areas and say they will boost eco-tourism developments in national parks.

"It's too easy to say 'no' to these things," Mr Hodgman said.

"Why can't we be more like New Zealand?"

In a lacklustre third debate of the campaign, questions came from some of the 100 voters present in the Hobart Town Hall as part of a live television broadcast.

There were emotional pleas about provision of services from the carer of a disabled daughter and angst from a jobseeker who described a recent knock-back.

After the first debate was widely called as a draw, Ms Giddings went on the offensive with interjections in the second and was considered the winner.

The premier had less latitude to get on to the front foot in the third but an exit poll awarded her a win.

Only one moment drew applause and it had little to do with Tasmania.

Asked about the plight of asylum seekers on Manus Island, both leaders said they would welcome more refugees to the state.

Ms Giddings called for the reopening of the Pontville detention centre north of Hobart.

"We believe that we ought to have a humane approach to these people who need someone to stand by them," she said, to claps from the audience.

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Cootes Transport faces NSW ban: govt

THE trucking company involved in a fatal Sydney fuel tanker crash that supplies NSW service stations with almost half of their fuel is facing a state-wide ban.

Roads Minister Duncan Gay said Cootes Transport had shown a "blatant disregard for safety" and now had 14 days to explain why its trucks shouldn't be suspended or banned from travelling on NSW roads.

His announcement came after two people were killed and five injured in October 2013, when a Cootes tanker rolled on its side, burst into flames and collided with several cars on Mona Vale Road in Sydney's north.

"I have lost confidence in this company as an operator of dangerous goods movements on NSW roads," Mr Gay told parliament on Thursday.

"Enough is enough."

Cootes' parent company McAleese Group said it was surprised by the minister's announcement, considering it was already in the process of winding back most of its NSW operations.

Cootes supplies about 45 per cent of the state's fuel, but having recently failed to renew key contracts with BP and Shell, that number will fall dramatically in the coming months.

A McAleese spokesman said the company took its safety responsibilities "extremely seriously" and would respond to the government's concerns within the two weeks given to it.

The government in February called for Cootes' 400-strong NSW fleet to be re-inspected after problems were found in a number of trucks during routine checks.

Of about 320 vehicles checked, only 179 had not received a formal warning or defect notice, Mr Gay said.

"The community deserves to feel safe on our roads and this blatant disregard for safety will not be tolerated," he said.

The opposition's roads spokesman Walt Secord said while Labor supported the minister's announcement, it was concerned for drivers who now face "possible unemployment".

Caltex, which relies on Cootes to transport about 50 per cent of its fuel supply, said trucks should only be taken off the road if they fail regulatory checks.

Colin Long, from the Service Station Association, said a Cootes' ban could seriously impact major oil brands.

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Niger hands over Gaddafi son to Libya

Niger has turned dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son Al-Saadi (Pic) over to Libyan authorities. Source: AAP

NIGER has turned a son of the late dictator Muammar Gaddafi over to Libyan authorities, the Tripoli government said Thursday, as a government-allied militia released pictures of him in captivity.

The government said al-Saadi Gaddafi, who fled across the Sahara desert to Niger during the 2011 uprising that saw rebels capture and kill his father, ending his four-decade dictatorship, was in Libyan custody.

The Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade, a militia made up of former rebels, released pictures on Facebook of al-Saadi in a blue jumpsuit getting his head shaved.

The Libyan government said he would be held in accordance with "international standards regarding the treatment of prisoners."

Al-Saadi Gaddafi was best known as the head of Libya's football federation and a player who paid his way into Italy's top division.

Interpol had issued a "Red Notice" for him, for "allegedly misappropriating properties through force and armed intimidation when he headed the Libyan Football Federation."

Libya had repeatedly called for the extradition of al-Saadi from Niger, which had granted him asylum since September 2011 on "humanitarian" grounds, saying it had insufficient guarantees Libya's new rulers would give him a fair trial.

Three of Gaddafi's sons were killed in the 2011 uprising, including Mutassim, who was killed by rebels on the same day as his father.

Several key members of the Gaddafi clan have survived however, including Gaddafi's erstwhile heir apparent Seif al-Islam, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court but detained by a militia in Libya.

Former Libyan Olympic Committee chief Muhammad, and Hannibal, who made headlines with his scandal-packed European holidays, are believed to be in Algeria, as is the fallen tyrant's daughter Aisha.

Around 30 senior regime officials are believed to have crossed into Niger at the same time as al-Saadi but the authorities in Niamey have not said how many remain in the country.

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Palmer angry over election ad robbery

CLIVE Palmer is furious thieves have stolen his party's election advertisements in a Brisbane robbery.

Mr Palmer said there was a break-in late Wednesday at Coroneo and Co, the advertising firm he uses in Brisbane.

He said the Palmer United Party's yet-to-be released policy advertisements for the Western Australia Senate election rerun and Tasmanian state election were targeted in the raid.

"The Palmer United Party continues to be targeted by illegal and dirty-handed tactics," the Queensland MP said in a statement, referring to misplaced votes in the Fairfax seat recount and WA Senate election recount.

Mr Palmer has rushed back to Queensland from Canberra, where he had been attending federal parliament, to assess the situation.

A spokesman from Queensland Police told AAP the robbery happened between 6pm (AEST) on Wednesday and 3am on Thursday morning.

Police said three computers were stolen.

There's been no arrests so far.

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Sea Shepherd loses WA court injunction

SEA Shepherd has failed in its bid to secure a court injunction to force the West Australian government to suspend its controversial shark catch-and-kill policy.

The marine activists launched the fast-tracked legal challenge on Wednesday last week, seeking to have dozens of baited drumlines off Perth and the South West region removed.

The policy to kill any great white, tiger or bull shark bigger than three metres spotted in surfing and swimming hotspots was allowed by federal environment minister Greg Hunt.

He granted WA an exemption under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, allowing the protected species to be killed until the end of the trial on April 30.

Lawyers for Sea Shepherd had argued the exemptions to state laws were not published properly.

Deputy state solicitor Rob Mitchell told the WA Supreme Court on Tuesday that even if it was proved the state government had not followed proper procedure to get the policy started, the right papers would simply be signed within hours to keep the drumlines in place.

Sea Shepherd barrister Richard Hooker said the WA government was trying to write its own rules - and had not played by them.

But on Wednesday, Judge James Edelman decided against granting the injunction.

Dozens of tiger sharks - but no great whites - have been caught by the hooks.

Photos of bleeding and already dead sharks sparked outrage among conservationists, and thousands of protesters attended rallies against the policy around the country.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt later said the current operations can continue until April 30 but there will be no extension until WA conducts a full environmental assessment of the Shark Mitigation Strategy.

The scheme requires a full assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, he said.

Mr Hunt said the issue has highlighted the need for further research into the shark population off the Australian coast so the federal government was committing $379,000 for research into the white shark population.

It will aim to locate juvenile and nursery aggregation areas to enable genetic and electronic tagging to build a greater profile of the population and trends.

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Regional NT roads to get overdue repairs

SIX NT regional roads will receive upgrades worth more than $100 million in an initiative claimed by both Labor and the Coalition.

In August 2012 the then-Labor federal and NT governments announced a commitment of $106 million to repair the roads, which is finally being implemented with design work to begin this month.

The Roper and Buntine highways, and the Port Keats, Arnhem Link, Central Arnhem and Santa Teresa roads will all receive upgrades.

Chief Minister Adam Giles on Wednesday denied the announcement was a rehash of the previous government's funding deal cut 18 months ago.

"It's a totally new deal, I never even heard about their deal," he told AAP.

"We've been begging to get this work done; we wanted to do it last year (but) ... we've been waiting for the money to be approved."

The funding allocations and the roads identified are the same, and the planned works are very similar between the two plans, such as upgrading the gravel on the Arnhem Link Road, construction of a bridge over Rocky Bottom Creek on the Central Arnhem Road, and flood immunity improvement on Port Keats Road.

Mr Giles said the funding ratio between the federal and NT governments was the same because it was calculated by a set model.

As for the similarity in upgrade plans, "well, they're probably the roads that need it the most," he said.

"What is old is certainly new again as far as the shallow thinkers of the Abbott and Giles governments are concerned," said Federal Member for Lingiari Warren Snowdon.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said improving roads servicing regional and remote communities will boost local economies, bring social benefits, and link remote indigenous communities to regional centres.

These roads are critical to maintaining continued export growth from the resource and primary industries of the NT, he said.

The repairs "underpin a whole plethora of other activity aimed at addressing disadvantage across the Aboriginal community" said Joe Morrison, CEO of the Northern Land Council.

"It is unacceptable that large communities such as Wadeye, of over 2500 people, are cut off for lengthy periods of time each year - this funding will be vital in addressing this belated infrastructure requirement," he said.

"Roads are extremely important to Aboriginal people for service delivery and access, as well as a fundamental tool for economic development."

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Man dies after falling on NSW train tracks

A MAN has been killed by a train after slipping into a gap between the carriage and platform in Sydney.

Police say the man was trying to board a train at Dulwich Hill station about 4.20pm on Wednesday when he fell onto the tracks.

When the train pulled away, he became trapped beneath the carriage.

He died at the scene.

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Vic pair charged over fake notes

TWO men intercepted in a stolen car in southwestern Victoria have been found with counterfeit notes and printing equipment, police allege.

The pair were charged after officers stopped their car on the Western Highway at Dobie about 5.30am (AEDT) Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Blackburn man and 30-year-old Kings Meadows man were arrested and their car searched.

Police say they found counterfeit notes and printing equipment.

Both men have been charged with car theft, making and possessing counterfeit notes and possessing an instrument for making them.

They briefly appeared at the Horsham Magistrates Court on Wednesday and were remanded to reappear in April.

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Assaults of NSW paramedics rising

Three NSW paramedics have allegedly been assaulted in 24 hours, alarming the ambulance service. Source: AAP

THREE NSW paramedics have allegedly been assaulted in 24 hours, alarming the ambulance service, which says violence against staff is on the rise.

There have been 35 reported attacks on 47 paramedics in 2014, NSW ambulance chief Ray Creen said.

"Our paramedics are being punched, spat on, physically threatened and terrorised," he said.

"It is unconscionable that they are heading out with a view to rendering medical assistance and ending up requiring treatment themselves."

On Monday night, a paramedic was allegedly punched in the face by a 50-year-old man and taken to Ryde Hospital.

On Sunday evening, two paramedics were threatened by a 33-year-old man who tried to punch them as they treated him at a Dee Why home.

He was charged with common assault and intimidation and given bail to appear before Manly Local Court later in March.

Four other men and a woman are due before courts across the state charged with assaulting paramedics in late 2013 and early 2014.

A male paramedic was punched in the abdomen by a man who had tried to break into an ambulance at Campbelltown, another man flicked blood at a paramedic at Pagewood and two paramedics were threatened with a screwdriver by a man at Blakehurst in February.

"It is a sad indictment on society when a paramedic becomes increasingly vulnerable to attack, and it is a situation NSW ambulance will not tolerate," Mr Creen said.

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Sydney still Australia's most expensive

Sydney and Melbourne are still among the top 10 most expensive cities in the world, a study shows. Source: AAP

SYDNEY and Melbourne are still among the top 10 most expensive cities in the world, according to a global cost-of-living study, despite Australia falling down the costliness rankings in 2014.

The Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, which compares 131 cities using New York as its baseline, ranked Sydney as the fifth and Melbourne the sixth most expensive on earth.

Price rises and a stronger currency resulted in Singapore claiming the dubious title of the world's most expensive city, followed by Paris, Oslo and Zurich.

The decline of the Australian dollar means that by the EIU ratings, Australian cities in 2014 offer better value for money to visitors.

Brisbane and Perth rank joint 21st, and Adelaide in 37th place offers the best value for money in Australasia, according to the study, which includes more than 400 individual prices.

That is because inflation and currency appreciation in neighbouring New Zealand mean Auckland (17th) and Wellington (19th) are more expensive than most Australian cities.

"The long-term rise of the Australian dollar, which has doubled in value in the last decade, has fallen back lately, with a corresponding decline in relative prices," report editor Jon Copestake said.

"But cities like Melbourne and Sydney now appear to have cemented their position among the most expensive across Europe and Asia."

The latest rankings have unseated Tokyo as the world's most expensive city, thanks to the declining value of the yen.

Asia and Australasia account for four of the 10 most expensive cities, as well as four of the cheapest.

Europe is home to half of the 10 most expensive cities, while New York has reclaimed its position as the most expensive city in North America thanks to declines in the Canadian city of Vancouver.

On the opposite scale, Mumbai in India is ranked the cheapest to live, alongside other South Asian cities such as New Delhi, Karachi in Pakistan and Kathmandu in Nepal.

A civil war and the collapse of the Syrian pound places Damascus among the world's cheapest cities.

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NSW ordered to release WestConnex plans

THE NSW parliament has ordered the release of all documents relating to the WestConnex motorway project, a move the government says puts the project at risk.

Labor and the Shooters Party joined forces to pass a Greens motion in the upper house on Tuesday, giving the O'Farrell government 21 days to release all draft and final versions for the project.

Those documents will include emails, meeting minutes and diary notes for WestConnex, which is the country's largest transport plan, linking Sydney's west and east.

Coalition government MPs labelled the motion a "spiteful" move that would see commercially sensitive information disclosed.

Roads Minister Duncan Gay said releasing the documents could cost more than $1 million.

"This puts at risk the biggest road project in the country because people will lose confidence in the parliament of NSW," he told AAP.

"It destroys our economic position in getting the best deal for the state."

But Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi, who introduced the 'call for papers' motion, said the documents would lift the lid on the government's traffic forecasting and home acquisition plans for the project.

"WestConnex is the largest infrastructure project in Australia, and yet the public has not seen the business case nor a detailed justification for why this is a priority," she said in a statement.

"All we've seen is a glossy executive summary with pretty pictures."

The opposition's roads spokesman Walt Secord said the call for papers was a win for openness and transparency.

"I fully support lifting the lid on the minister's obsessive secrecy around WestConnex," he said.

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Yarra recognised with gallantry citation

AN old wrong has been righted with a Unit Citation for Gallantry awarded to the crew of HMAS Yarra for brave actions during the dark days of World War II.

Just 13 of 151 sailors survived Yarra's sinking when she took on a superior Japanese fleet to try to protect a fleeing convoy of merchant ships.

None now remain alive so Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Ray Griggs accepted the medal on their behalf from Governor-General Quentin Bryce in Melbourne.

That follows an inquiry into whether retrospective Victoria Cross medals could be awarded to 13 former servicemen, including Yarra's captain Lieutenant Commander Robert Rankin and crewman Leading Seaman Ronald Taylor, both killed in her final action.

Although no VCs were awarded, the inquiry found the outstanding performance of Yarra's crew should have been recognised for two actions.

As Japanese aircraft attacked Singapore on February 5, 1942, Yarra, then commanded by Wilfred Harrington, went alongside the burning troop transport Empress of Asia, rescuing more than 1800 soldiers.

Then on March 4, Yarra was escorting a convoy of merchant ships to Australia when three Japanese heavy cruisers and two destroyers approached.

Cmdr Rankin ordered the convoy to scatter while the sloop held off the Japanese warships. The Yarra was struck repeatedly by enemy shells but the 151-strong crew fought on.

Vice Admiral Griggs said those on Yarra faced almost certain death without wavering, serving Australia with extraordinary gallantry, skill and conspicuous devotion to duty.

"They did so as one company, even to death. In doing so, they set an enduring example to which all members of the Royal Australian Navy can aspire," he said in a statement.

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