Firies save homes from large bushfires

LATEST:FIREFIGHTERS have brought a huge bushfire under control after residents had been advised to leave homes for their own safety.

At 5.34pm, the Department of Community and Safety advised the Watch and Act alert for Sunshine Acrews and Nikenbah near Hervey Bay had been cancelled.

There is no longer any threat to properties after the bushfire around Vanderwolf Road and Barrenjoey Road, Nikenbah and Pindari Crescent and Barrenjoey Road, Sunshine Acres was brought under control.

Authorities said fire crews will remain on scene to strengthen containment lines and will continue to patrol the blaze tomorrow.

Residents in the area are expected to be affected by a large smoke haze tonight, and are advised to close windows and doors and keep medication close by if suffering from a respiratory condition.

Motorists traveling in the area are advised to drive to conditions.

5.18PM: FIREFIGHTERS are still battling a blaze that has burned an area the size of almost 180 football fields near Hervey Bay.

The fire broke out at Nikenbah just before 3pm and was expected to affect parts of Sunshine Acres.

A Department of Community Safety spokeswoman said about 200ha of land had been burned and residents were urged to enact their bushfire plan.

Those who decide to stay and defend their property should take precautionary measures including:

• Put on protective clothing
• Drink lots of water
• Move car/s to a safe location
• Close windows and doors and shut blinds
• Bring pets inside and restrain them (leash, cage or secure room) and provide water
• Wet down fine fuels close to buildings
• Remove garden furniture, doormats and other items
• Seal all gaps under doors and screens
• Fill containers with water - eg bath, sinks, buckets and wheelie bins
• Have ladders ready for roof space access (inside) and against roof (outside)
• Have generator or petrol pump ready
• Check and patrol outside for embers and extinguish any spot fires and seek shelter as the fire front arrives.

Residents are advised to call Triple Zero (000) if their property comes under threat.

For regular updates, switch on your local radio station or visit the Rural Fire Service Queensland website at ruralfire.qld.gov.au or at fire.qld.gov.au.

EARLIER: A LARGE, fast moving bushfire is burning near Hervey Bay with residents advised to leave their homes for their own safety.

The Rural Fire Service has told residents near Old Rifle Range Rd at Nikenbah to enact their bushfire plan and to leave now if their plan is to do so or if they don't have a plan.

They have been told that leaving is the safest option.

A Department of Community safety warning said only people who had well prepared and defended homes should stay with fire fighters making no guarantees every home can be protected.

Currently, 15 fire crews are working to contain the blaze which is burning near Booral Road and Pindari Crescent at Sunshine Acres.

"Residents should not expect a firefighter at their door," the warning read.

They have warned that property may be consumed by the fire at Nickenbah with the chance power, water and mobile phone supply may be lost in the area over the coming hours while the fire rages.

The fire broke out about 2.45pm at Vanderwolf Rd at Nikenbah and is travelling quickly in a north west direction.

It is expected to effect the areas of Old Rifle Range Rd and Barrenjoey Rd at Nikenbah.

Fire fighters are having difficulty controlling the fire and are warning that spot fires may occur ahead of the fire front and embers are being thrown from the fire.

The Department of Community Safety is warning residents it will be very hot and windy as the fire approaches and it could make breathing, hearing and seeing difficult.

Police are asking motorists to stay away from Booral Road at Sunshine Acres due to the fire.

Motorists are also being urged to not travel to the area.

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UK island swimmer going strong

AN endurance swimmer has made good progress through the night in her attempt to become the first person in nearly 30 years to swim solo, non-stop, around the Isle of Wight.

Anna Wardley is undertaking the challenge as part of her bid to complete circumnavigations of five islands.

The 37-year-old, from Gosport in Hampshire, set off yesterday at 10.31am from Ryde Sands and is expected to complete the 56.4-mile swim in about 30 hours.

Only three people have completed the feat, with the last successful attempt in 1984.

She has passed the famous Needles landmark and is making her way round to the east side of the island this morning.

Heather Ewing, spokeswoman for the challenge, said: "She's looking good this morning, although her arms are looking a bit tired and it has got to be hurting by now. That said, she's very cheerful and demanding a bacon sandwich if any are made for the support team."

Wardley said before setting off: "It's been nearly 30 years since this challenge was last successfully completed, so I'm under no illusions how tough it will be.

"There will be a time when I'll be swimming against the tide through the night, almost on the spot for hours. I'll also see the sun set and rise, and we'll be racing against the clock to reach critical points to beat the tide.

"However just knowing people are thinking of me and willing me on will definitely help when the going gets really tough, and it's a huge boost knowing that I'm raising money for such fantastic charities."

Wardley is attempting the swim under the rules of the British Long Distance Swimming Association wearing just a standard swimming costume, goggles and a swimming cap.

It is the culmination of her two-year Five Island Swim Challenge raising funds for the Samaritans, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Sail Africa, with her target set at STG50,000 ($A85,470).

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UK island swimmer going strong

A UK endurance swimmer has made good progress in her attempt to swim around the Isle of Wight. Source: AAP

AN endurance swimmer has made good progress through the night in her attempt to become the first person in nearly 30 years to swim solo, non-stop, around the Isle of Wight.

Anna Wardley is undertaking the challenge as part of her bid to complete circumnavigations of five islands.

The 37-year-old, from Gosport in Hampshire, set off yesterday at 10.31am from Ryde Sands and is expected to complete the 56.4-mile swim in about 30 hours.

Only three people have completed the feat, with the last successful attempt in 1984.

She has passed the famous Needles landmark and is making her way round to the east side of the island this morning.

Heather Ewing, spokeswoman for the challenge, said: "She's looking good this morning, although her arms are looking a bit tired and it has got to be hurting by now. That said, she's very cheerful and demanding a bacon sandwich if any are made for the support team."

Wardley said before setting off: "It's been nearly 30 years since this challenge was last successfully completed, so I'm under no illusions how tough it will be.

"There will be a time when I'll be swimming against the tide through the night, almost on the spot for hours. I'll also see the sun set and rise, and we'll be racing against the clock to reach critical points to beat the tide.

"However just knowing people are thinking of me and willing me on will definitely help when the going gets really tough, and it's a huge boost knowing that I'm raising money for such fantastic charities."

Wardley is attempting the swim under the rules of the British Long Distance Swimming Association wearing just a standard swimming costume, goggles and a swimming cap.

It is the culmination of her two-year Five Island Swim Challenge raising funds for the Samaritans, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Sail Africa, with her target set at STG50,000 ($A85,470).

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Pakistan releases senior Taliban figure

PAKISTAN has released its most senior Afghan Taliban detainee Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior official told AFP, in a move welcomed by Kabul who hope it will encourage peace talks with the insurgents.

Baradar, a one-time military chief often described as the militants' former second-in-command, was the most high-profile detained Taliban commander in Pakistan.

"Yes Baradar has been released," Omar Hamid, a spokesman for Pakistan's interior ministry told AFP, without elaborating on the circumstances of the release.

Afghanistan's High Peace Council (HPC) welcomed the release and thanked Pakistan's government.

"We welcome his release. And we thank the government of Pakistan that showed goodwill and answered positively to the request of Afghanistan government," Mohammad Esmail Qasimyar, senior member of HPC, told AFP.

"Baradar is someone who has always been eager to join peace negotiations, and we hope he joins peace talks soon. We are optimistic about it, he is still an influential figure, and the Taliban still respect him," Qasimyar said.

Pakistan's foreign ministry on Friday said that Baradar's release would facilitate Afghanistan's reconciliation process with the Taliban as a NATO combat mission there winds down.

However, the Taliban's spokesman in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid said they could not yet confirm the move.

"We only heard through the media that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will be released. We have not received any official confirmation about his release," Mujahid told AFP in Kabul.

The Afghan government has long demanded that Islamabad free Baradar, whose arrest in January 2010 saw Pakistan accused of sabotaging initiatives to bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan.

He was arrested in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, reportedly in a secret raid by CIA and Pakistani agents, in an operation that was described as a huge blow to the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan until a US-led invasion in 2001.

At the time of his detention, Baradar was reported to have been the Taliban's second-in-command, the right-hand man of the supreme commander Mullah Omar.

He was the most senior member of the Taliban held after US-led troops invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, bringing down the Islamist regime.

His release brings to 34 the number of Taliban detainees that Pakistan has freed since last year, in what Afghan officials hope will encourage peace talks with Taliban insurgents.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had asked Pakistan to help open direct dialogue between his government and the Taliban, who consider Karzai an "American puppet" and have refused to hold discussions with his government.

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Man arrested over boy's 'pogo stick' death

A MAN has been charged with 25 counts of child abuse in relation to the pogo-stick death of seven-year-old boy in Sydney's south.

The 29-year-old was arrested by homicide squad detectives on Friday at 5pm (AEST), police said, following the boy's death at a house in Oatley in May.

Emergency services were called to the home on May 21 around 6.30am after receiving reports the boy had injured himself.

When they arrived, they found the dead boy with head injuries.

Members of his family told police he had fallen off a pogo stick and hit his head a day earlier.

The charges against the 29-year-old include child neglect and the production of child abuse material.

It's alleged the man repeatedly abused the boy in early 2013 and incited others to assault him, and withheld food and water.

Police will also allege the man produced a video containing child abuse material.

No charges have been laid over the boy's death.

The family is reportedly known to the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.

The man has been refused bail and will appear at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday (September 21).

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Body of US pilot found in Chinese lake

DIVERS have found the body of a US stunt pilot whose plane crashed into a lake in northeast China while attempting a tricky manoeuvre in the rain, the head of the team searching for him says.

David Riggs, whose US pilot's licence had been suspended, had been missing since Tuesday's accident outside the city of Shenyang in which his young female Chinese translator died. Riggs was in China to take part in an air show and was apparently rehearsing one of his tricks when the accident occurred.

Zhang Fang said Riggs' body was found during a search of the bottom of Lake Caihu by divers from the Dalian branch of the Beihai Rescue Bureau.

"It's likely he was killed on impact, but we don't know for sure yet," Fang said by telephone from the accident scene on Friday.

Riggs' high-performance single-engine Lancair 320 plane broke into pieces after hitting the lake and some parts had been recovered, including one of its two seats. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. The plane was not equipped with a "black box" recorder because of its small size.

Zhang said Riggs crashed while attempting a stunt in which the wheels of his plane were to drag along the lake surface at high speed. He had just taken off in a light rain, but there was no indication he had violated any flying regulations, Zhang said. Other reports said Chinese officials had urged Riggs not to take off, but Zhang said he had no information about that.

Riggs was a well-known Hollywood stunt pilot, and the centre of considerable controversy over a string of legal problems and penchant for self-promotion.

Riggs' website touts his credentials as a holder of several aviation speed world records, but doesn't mention the fact his US pilot's licence had been suspended twice.

The first time was after buzzing the famed Santa Monica pier in Los Angeles in his Vodochody L-39 Albatros jet trainer. Riggs was sentenced to 60 days of community service and 60 days in jail for reckless flying.

He lost his licence again in November for selling rides in his plane without permission. The prosecution came after a plane piloted by a business partner crashed, killing both people on board.

Riggs had a stack of other legal problems, including convictions for bank, wire and passport fraud. He aroused such contempt among some pilots that a website - aviationcriminal.com - was devoted to chronicling his misdoings.

His website describes him as CEO of California-based Mach One Aviation, Inc and as a "Hollywood stunt pilot, movie producer and world aviation speed record holder". It said his aerial performances had featured in movies and television shows including Iron Man, Jarhead, and the James Bond film Casino Royale.

Despite his licence suspension, he was hired by the organisers of the AOPA-China Fly-In 2013 air show as one of its star attractions.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said other US flyers scheduled to take part in Friday's opening ceremony had pulled out of the show. Pilots and aircraft from Sweden, France and Lithuania were due to take part in the show.

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Howes would be good senator: Shorten

Labor's Bill Shorten says AWU boss Paul Howes (L) could make a very good contribution to parliament. Source: AAP

PAUL Howes may have disqualified himself from any NSW Senate race before the starter's pistol fired, but Labor leadership hopeful Bill Shorten says the union boss would have been an asset to parliament.

There is much speculation former foreign minister Bob Carr will step down from the Senate, creating a vacancy in NSW.

Mr Howes, the Australian Workers Union national secretary, was being talked up as a candidate to fill that seat.

But he said on Thursday he wouldn't stand because he didn't want to divide the Labor party.

Mr Shorten, Mr Howes' immediate predecessor in the AWU job, pointed out that Senator Carr hadn't yet confirmed he was leaving parliament.

But he said Mr Howes and the AWU did good work.

"I think Paul is a very good union leader and if he chose to come into parliament he'd make a very good contribution," he told Sky News on Friday.

"What he's done is demonstrated that he's interested in the interests of the many, not just the few.

"He's put the interests of the party ahead of perhaps his own particular interests at the moment."

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Bodies of drowned devotees found in India

RESCUERS say they have found 17 bodies of Hindu devotees who were swept away in the Yamuna River during a religious festival in the Indian capital.

Fire official SL Sharma says the devotees drowned during a ceremony immersing clay statues of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha into the river at the end of a 10-day festival.

Sharma says the bodies were recovered on Thursday, a day after thousands of devotees thronged the river banks celebrating the birth of Ganesha, who is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.

Millions of Hindus install Ganesha statues in colourfully decorated homes and specially erected temporary structures across India and worship them before immersing them in lakes, rivers and the sea.

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Abbott gets to work on stopping the boats

Tony Abbott has defended his plan to turn back asylum seeker boats, amid criticism from Indonesia. Source: AAP

THE Abbott government insists it will honour its election promise to stop asylum seekers arriving by boat despite Indonesian opposition to its controversial plan to turn back vessels.

Mr Abbott says the coalition "absolutely, totally" respects Indonesia's sovereignty despite comments by Indonesian MP Tantowi Yahya that the turn-back policy is "offensive", "illegal" and could jeopardise good relations between the countries.

"I have no argument with anyone in the Indonesian establishment or parliament," Mr Abbott said in Sydney on Thursday.

"My argument is with people smugglers and my point to the people smugglers is 'the game is up'."

Mr Abbott said he is confident his coalition government will be able to work effectively with Indonesia, as former coalition governments had done.

Not everyone in Indonesia feels the same.

"The policy which is going to be implemented by Mr Abbott clearly ... annoys our sovereignty as independent country," Mr Yahya told ABC television.

And Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said last week that Jakarta was opposed to Mr Abbott's plan to turn boats around - as well as his proposal to buy Indonesian fishing boats to stop them falling into the hands of people smugglers.

Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite says Mr Yahya's comments accurately reflect the Indonesian government's position on Mr Abbott's policy.

"This is quickly turning into a diplomatic disaster for the new government," Mr Thislethwaite said.

But Australian National University foreign policy specialist Andrew Carr says the Indonesian MP's remarks may really be aimed at a domestic audience.

"This is an issue that does have some resonance with the Indonesian population," Dr Carr told AAP.

"Traditionally, that has not been as much a factor in (Australia's) international relations with Indonesia and I don't think it will be a major factor here."

Mr Abbott will use his first international trip as prime minister to visit Jakarta to hold bilateral talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on September 30. Trade and people smuggling are expected to be at the top of the agenda.

Mr Abbott repeatedly said during the recent federal election campaign he wanted his first international visit as prime minister to be to Indonesia and that his government would be focused on Asia.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of Army Angus Campbell was formally tasked on Thursday with leading operations against asylum-seeker boats under Mr Abbott's Operation Sovereign Borders policy.

The former SAS commander will report directly to immigration minister Scott Morrison and coordinate the 16 departments and agencies that deal with refugee boats.

Mr Morrison met with Lieutenant General Campbell shortly after his appointment.

"The Australian people want that stopped and they have tasked this government to get that job done," Mr Morrison said in Canberra.

"We won't let them down."

Lieutenant General Campbell replied: "There's some work to do."

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