Search for missing Bondi swimmer continues

The search for a man missing off Bondi Beach has resumed, 12 hours after he was hit by a big wave. Source: AAP

THE search for a man feared drowned off Sydney's Bondi Beach will continue into a third day after authorities failed to uncover any sign of him.

The 22-year-old man was one of two Japanese nationals who got into trouble after going for a swim in rough conditions about 5.30pm (AEDT) on Monday.

Lifeguards pulled one of the men to safety, but the second man failed to resurface after being hit by a large wave.

A water and air search for the man continued on Tuesday but strong swells made it too dangerous for divers to become involved, a police spokesman told AAP.

The search was again wound down on Tuesday evening due to fading light.

It is set to continue again on Wednesday at first light.

Police would not comment as to whether the search and rescue operation would move to a recovery effort.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Former police chief starts WA poll probe

Former federal police chief Mike Keelty has begun a probe into the 1375 missing WA Senate votes. Source: AAP

FORMER federal police chief Mick Keelty has begun his investigation into 1375 missing votes from the West Australian Senate ballot.

Mr Keelty was in Canberra on Tuesday ahead of travelling to Perth to gather evidence and interview witnesses.

The investigation is expected to take two weeks.

An AEC spokesman said all evidence would be given to Mr Keelty and his independent advice would be an "important input" into whether the commission petitions the Court of Disputed Returns in the next 40 days.

The court could decide on a fresh election of WA senators.

A number of parties, including Labor, the Palmer United Party and Wikileaks, are also considering taking the matter to court.

The 1255 above-the-line ballots and 120 informal votes disappeared during a recount by the Australian Electoral Commission after the September 7 federal election.

The formal recount began at the central senate scrutiny centre in the Perth suburb of Northbridge on October 17.

The recount took a fresh look at informal ballot papers plus about 1.2 million ballot papers where voters marked the ballot paper above the line.

The votes counted including not only those cast at WA polling places but other voting centres around Australia, overseas and by post.

Up to 120 AEC staff were involved in the count, which used a computerised system called EasyCount Senate.

When it was discovered some ballots were missing, the AEC conducted what it described as a "very thorough" search before publicly admitting the error.

On Monday, the AEC declared the WA Senate result as three Liberal, one Labor, one Green and one Australian Sports Party.

The AEC plans to run a "model" of the missing votes to see if they would have changed the result.

The writ for the WA Senate election will be returned on Wednesday.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Woman 'disappeared' over Sydney balcony

A Sydney man accused of throwing his girlfriend off a balcony has told a court he didn't do it. Source: AAP

IN the seconds before her death, Lisa Cecilia Harnum looked straight at her accused murderer, Simon Gittany.

She then disappeared over the edge of a balcony, as Gittany screamed out her name "in shock and despair", he told his murder trial.

Two weeks into a Supreme Court murder trial which has heard allegations of Gittany's controlling nature over Ms Harnum, he took the stand to tell his version of events.

The crown alleges he threw the 30-year-old Canadian off their balcony at the Hyde building in Sydney's CBD in a fit of rage on July 30, 2011.

Gittany, 40, has pleaded not guilty.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, he painted a picture of a tumultuous relationship, in which he said Ms Harnum frequently got annoyed over small incidents and occasionally jumped out of moving cars.

He emphatically denied he forced Ms Harnum to submit to him, discouraged her from making friends, or ordered her not to leave the apartment except to buy groceries.

But he admitted he was very jealous and installed a computer program that allowed him to covertly monitor her text messages.

He said he did so because Ms Harnum had a secret and wouldn't tell him what it was.

"I was confused, upset, frustrated because my partner was hiding something from me and she was ashamed to tell me what it was," he said.

The court has previously heard Ms Harnum suffered from bulimia, something Gittany was unaware of.

Two days before her death, the pair had an argument during which Gittany revealed he had been monitoring Ms Harnum's texts.

The rows continued over the next day, although the pair watched a film - Romeo and Juliet - at home together "arm in arm" the night before her death, Gittany said.

But when he discovered Ms Harnum had changed the password on his text monitoring program, he said he told her to pack her bags and leave the following day.

The row escalated the next morning, with Ms Harnum eventually running for the front door.

The trial has seen CCTV footage of Gittany dragging Ms Harnum back into the apartment and covering her mouth as she screamed out of embarrassment of what the neighbours would think.

During the next minute, Gittany asked her to tell him her secret.

"It would all be easy if you'd just tell me," Gittany said he told her.

Then he said he saw Ms Harnum running for the balcony but, by the time he reached it, he said she was almost entirely over the other side.

He said she "released herself" onto an awning below as he reached out both his hands and tried to grab any part of her.

Ms Harnum lay across the awning and looked at him as he screamed at least twice, he said.

"After I couldn't reach her it was like she disappeared or let go," he said, adding she then went into freefall.

"I pushed myself out as far as I could to keep my eyes on her, which was all I could do.

"I kept my eyes on her until she hit the ground."

Gittany said he felt like the entire incident was a dream.

"The first person I witnessed die was my fiancee in a tragic circumstance that I just did not know how to process," he said.

The trial continues.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man charged with shooting murder in Sydney

A MAN has been charged with murdering a man who was shot in the back in western Sydney.

Raymond Pasnin, 27, was shot a number of times as he walked to his car at a unit block in Pendle Hill last Wednesday.

He later died in hospital.

Following an investigation, a 26-year-old man was arrested at Parramatta on Tuesday and has since been charged with the murder of Mr Pasnin.

He has been refused bail to appear at Fairfield Local Court on Wednesday.

Police have previously said the shooting was believed to be linked to a domestic dispute involving Mr Pasnin's girlfriend.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Total fire bans blanket much of NSW

TOTAL fire bans have been declared across much of NSW, including the greater Sydney region, where the fire danger is expected to be severe.

The fire bans will be in place from midnight (AEDT) on Saturday for the far north coast, north coast, greater Hunter, greater Sydney region, Illawarra and Shoalhaven, central ranges, New England, northern slopes, northwestern and upper central west plains districts.

Severe fire weather would affect towns including Newcastle, Narrabri, Lismore and Coffs Harbour, the Rural Fire Service said on Saturday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said a front would move through eastern NSW on Sunday, increasing westerly winds ahead of a strong southerly change moving up the coast.

Temperatures would drop but humidity would remain low into the evening, the bureau said.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man hid drug ice in his underpants: police

A Sydney man has allegedly been caught with $11,000 worth of the drug ice hidden in his underpants. Source: AAP

A SYDNEY man has allegedly been caught with $11,000 worth of the party drug ice hidden in his underpants.

Police say they were patrolling the Surry Hills nightclub strip Oxford Street on Saturday when they saw two men acting suspiciously about 4am (AEDT).

Officers stopped and searched the men's car, and a check revealed one was wanted on an outstanding warrant and he was arrested.

The 23-year-old was taken to Surry Hills police station, where it's alleged 41 bags of methamphetamine were found in his underpants.

Police estimate the alleged haul had a street value of $11,000.

More than $4000 cash was also seized during the search, police say.

The man, from Westmead, has been charged with dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crime, supplying a prohibited drug and possession of a prohibited drug. He was also charged over the outstanding warrant.

He was refused bail during an appearance at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday, police say, and is due to reappear in court next week.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Plibersek lashes WA premier

Deputy federal Labor leader Tanya Plibersek (pic) has slammed West Australian Premier Colin Barnett. Source: AAP

DEPUTY federal Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has taken a swipe at West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, saying he has "broken promise after promise" since winning a second term.

Ms Plibersek used much of her address at the state Labor Party's annual conference in Belmont on Saturday to lash the Liberal leader.

"Like the Liberal state premiers in the eastern states, Colin Barnett is showing the people of WA a little preview of what they can expect from a Tony Abbott government," she said.

"You say as little as possible to get elected and you do your worst once you get there."

She lambasted Mr Barnett for cuts to education, closing wheat-belt rail lines, a 12.5 per cent increase in land tax and his government's failure to deliver a pledged redevelopment of Royal Perth Hospital.

"West Australians did not get the Colin Barnett they voted for," Ms Plibersek said.

Also at the conference, there were several references to the need for unity in the party, while Ms Plibersek paid tribute to Labor Senator Louise Pratt, who had endured weeks of stress waiting to find out whether she had retained her seat.

The Australian Electoral Commission will announce the results of the WA Senate recount and distribution of preferences after 2pm (WST).

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Furniture factory ablaze in Sydney

Fifty firefighters are battling a large blaze at a western Sydney furniture factory. Source: AAP

FIFTY firefighters are battling a large blaze at a western Sydney furniture factory.

Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) says no one is feared missing but the fire has spread into the roof of the single-storey factory on Warren Avenue, Bankstown.

The fire has been contained but crews were still working to extinguish the flames on Saturday evening.

One man has been taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation, a FRNSW spokesman told AAP.

"Firefighters have managed to protect adjoining properties," he said.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

YMCA a child safety industry leader: Hare

ALTHOUGH a childcare centre in Sydney where a pedophile worked has received a low national standards rating, the YMCA still describes itself as an industry leader in child safety.

YMCA NSW chief executive Phillip Hare told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Friday there had only been one audit into its Caringbah service where Jonathan Lord worked, and that was this year.

The YMCA has also been telling parents at Caringbah it had organised external audits of its services when in fact there had only been one audit conducted by the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC) in 2013 under new national regulations.

The Caringbah centre was rated on the second last rung of four National Quality Framework Standards.

Mr Hare also told the commission he only became aware of the Caringbah rating during the commission and agreed he should have been concerned about it, as it was the centre where Lord worked for two years.

The commission heard that the YMCA sent out a press release on October 20 saying it "was recognised in the industry and by external audits and peak bodies as a leader in child safety".

Senior counsel representing the commission Gail Furness said: "The external audit did not recognise you as an industry leader?"

Mr Hare repeated that the industry-leader claim was a comparative one and said there had been no intention to mislead people.

He agreed that to say "audits" was incorrect, as there had only been one.

Earlier, Mr Hare told the commission a critical incident review at the YMCA had not examined the period leading up to Lord's arrest, but concentrated on breaches of policy.

In reply to commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan, Mr Hare said he accepted it should have been done.

He said "it was clear it was an error" not to have included it and he took responsibility.

Mr Hare strongly defended the culture within the organisation and said there was no impediment to staff reporting concerns to managers.

Some staff have told the commission they did not feel they could raise concerns with management.

He told Justice McClellan he did not agree the YMCA needed someone to work with them on its processes, but then agreed he would consider it if the commission thought it necessary.

Mr Hare, who has worked with the YMCA since 1988 when he was 21, told the inquiry there was no discussion with him when a senior manager asked staff to sign a confidentiality agreement about a pedophile.

He also accepted that parts of the YMCA's opening statement to the commission could be misleading, including a claim that the organisation had not dealt with an incident of child sexual assault before Lord, when it had done so in the 1990s.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

China blames militant group for crash

A Chinese official has blamed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement for a suicide attack in Beijing. Source: AAP

CHINA'S top security official says the militant East Turkestan Islamic Movement organised an alleged suicidal vehicle attack that killed five people in the heart of Beijing this week.

Meng Jianzhu, chief of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the ruling Communist Party, named the group in an interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television when he was in the capital of Uzbekistan attending a regional security summit and seeking cooperation in counter-terrorism.

"The violent terrorist incident that happened in Beijing is an organised and plotted act. Behind the instigation is the terrorist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement entrenched in central and west Asian regions," Meng said, in a video footage aired on Thursday.

The SUV ploughed through bystanders, crashed and burst into flames near the Tiananmen Gate on Monday, killing three in the car and two tourists, including a Filipino woman, and injuring dozens.

Beijing police said the perpetrators were a man with an ethnic Uighur name, his wife and his mother. Police also have arrested five people - identified with typically Uighur names - on suspicion of conspiring in the attack and called it a planned terror strike - the city's first in recent history.

Uighurs are an ethnic minority residing mainly in China's northwest region of Xinjiang, and they have close cultural and language ties to Turkic peoples of Central Asia.

China believes the East Turkestan Islamic Movement aims to establish an independent East Turkestan in Xinjiang, and blames the group for the low-intensity insurgency in the region.

The United States placed the movement on a terrorist watch list following the September 11 attacks, but quietly removed it amid doubts that it existed in any organised manner.

Instead, human rights groups have questioned whether China uses the security threat as an excuse to suppress the Uighurs and said Uighur extremism has been fueled by China's heavy-handed policies in Xinjiang and discrimination against Uighurs by the country's ethnic Han majorities.

16.57 | 0 komentar | Read More