Apartment blocks evacuated in east Sydney

ABOUT 60 people have been evacuated from two apartment blocks in Sydney's east after a fire broke out at an electrical substation.

The apartment blocks in Maroubra have been evacuated as a precaution after the adjoining substation caught fire.

The fire is not spreading, but the 15 firefighters at the scene can't enter the substation until energy authorities kill power, an emergency services spokesman told AAP.

"We're not going to send anyone in because all sorts of nasty things can happen at a substation," he said.

There's no indication of what caused the blaze at this stage, but it's not belive to be deliberate.

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14 Sri Lankan asylum seekers sent home

A MAN making his second bid for asylum was among 14 asylum seekers sent home after allegedly hijacking a ship off the coast of Sri Lanka, the federal government says.

Speaking in Sydney, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the 14 asylum seekers left Cocos Islands on a plane bound for Sri Lanka at 1pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

He said the group, which also included three children, had all been on the Chejan - a fishing trawler that was allegedly hijacked on October 13 off the Sri Lankan coast.

The boat had been missing until it was intercepted on Thursday north-west of the Cocos Islands by ACV Hervey Bay.

He said the government had decided to remove all but one of the alleged 15 hijackers because they faced "serious charges in Sri Lanka".

"The government took the view that it's appropriate that they face those charges and the removal occur as soon as possible," Mr Bowen told reporters.

"The Australian government took the view that the Sri Lankan government should be able to cooperate and these people should be able to face these charges."

He said the government was not pressured by Sri Lanka to remove the group and did not say why one of the alleged hijackers had not been expelled.

He also denied the government had acted overly secretively on the issue.

"I don't think there's been secrecy, we've been progressing their removal and that entails conversations with other governments and it entails steps being put in place," he said.

The group included one man who had already been removed from Australia after a previously failed asylum bid, Mr Bowen said.

"I'm very clearly now, we are showing that if they return again we have steps available to us which we will implement," he said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the Chejan should never have reached Australian waters.

"Labor has gambled on our borders by allowing alleged pirates to enter our waters and be given the opportunity to make a protection claim," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship confirmed on Saturday that seven more Sri Lankan men had returned home voluntarily from Christmas Island.

They departed Perth on Friday on a commercial flight for Colombo.

Mr Bowen said he expected even more people return home in the future as the government's policy of offshore processing takes effect.

People who opt to depart voluntarily can receive individual reintegration support to assist with their return through the International Organisation for Migration.

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Hajj pilgrims stone devil for second day

HUNDREDS of thousands of Muslim pilgrims from all over the world, grouped by nationality, stoned the devil in Saudi Arabia's Mina valley on Saturday, as the Hajj reached its final stages.

Security forces were heavily deployed in the stoning area and first aid teams remained on high alert around the three adjacent pillars representing Satan.

Men, women and children from 189 countries moved easily from one pillar to the next shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest) as they hurled pebbles at the stone walls.

They walked in groups carrying their national flags so no members would get lost in the massive crowds.

As many prayed during and after the stoning, others were taking pictures on their mobile phones of themselves next to the pillars.

The photographing was criticised by members of the security forces who said through loudspeakers: "How are you people stoning Satan and taking pictures with him at the same time?"

The ritual, which takes place in the kingdom's usually deserted Mina valley and comes to life only during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, began on Friday with the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday as the faithful began by stoning the largest pillar, Jamrat al-Aqaba.

Mina used to be the most dangerous phase of the Hajj and the most problematic for the Saudi authorities, marred by deadly stampedes in the past as well as by fires in tent camps.

In the past few years, however, tents have been fire-proofed and gas canisters and cooking are now banned.

The stoning area has also been expanded to avoid overcrowding.

The ritual is an emulation of Abraham's stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade the biblical patriarch from obeying God's order to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.

According to the authorities, 168,000 police officers and civil defence personnel were mobilised for this year's Hajj.

For the stoning, they organised specific times of day for groups of pilgrims to perform the ritual.

More than three million registered pilgrims are taking part in the rituals which will finish on Monday.

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Woman dies after her car rolls on highway

A WOMAN has died after the car she was in rolled on the Bruce Highway in central Queensland.

Police said the accident occurred at Clairview about 3.40pm (AEDT) on Saturday and that no other vehicles were involved.

They said two passengers in the car sustained injuries that were not life-threatening.

Police are currently investigating at the scene.

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Death toll tops 100 in Burma ethnic strife

THE death toll from recent ethnic violence in Burma's western state of Rakhine has surpassed 100, an official says, as the government warned that the strife risks harming the country's reputation as it seeks to install democratic rule.

Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing said 112 people had been killed in clashes that began on Sunday between members of the Buddhist Rakhine and the Muslim Rohingya communities. He said 72 people were reported injured, including 10 children.

The government announced earlier that almost 2000 homes had been burned down in the conflict.

In June, ethnic violence in the state left at least 90 people dead and destroyed more than 3000 homes. About 75,000 have been living in refugee camps ever since.

The mob violence has seen entire villages torched and has drawn international calls for government intervention.

The long-brewing conflict is rooted in a dispute over the Muslim residents' origin. Although many Rohingya have lived in Burma (also known as Myanmar) for generations, they are widely denigrated as intruders who came from neighbouring Bangladesh to steal scarce land.

"As the international community is closely watching Myanmar's democratic transition, such unrest could tarnish the image of the country," said a statement from the office of President Thein Sein published on Friday in the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper.

"The army, police, and authorities in co-operation with local people will try to restore peace and stability and will take legal action against any individual or organisation that is trying to instigate the unrest," the statement warned.

A statement issued late on Thursday by the office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the latest violence as "deeply troubling". He called on Burmese authorities "to take urgent and effective action to bring under control all cases of lawlessness".

The crisis has proven a major challenge to Thein Sein's government and to opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticised by some outsiders as failing to speak out strongly against what they see as repression of the Rohingya.

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Malala's family join her in Britain

The family of 15-year-old Pakistani shooting victim Malala Yousafzai have visited her in hospital. Source: AAP

THE family of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban, have visited her in hospital after arriving in Britain, a spokeswoman says.

The 15-year-old's mother, father and two brothers arrived in the city of Birmingham in central England on Thursday and went straight to see her at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

"Her mum, dad and her two brothers are here in the UK," a spokeswoman for the hospital told AFP on Friday.

"They visited last night."

After flying into Britain's second city, they were given a police escort through Birmingham to the hospital.

In an attack which outraged the world, Malala was shot on a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of Pakistan's Swat valley on October 9 as a punishment for campaigning for the right of girls to an education.

On October 15 she was flown from Pakistan to Birmingham in a medically-induced coma, and taken to the highly specialised hospital where staff have extensive experience of treating British soldiers seriously wounded in Afghanistan.

The hospital said Malala was still comfortable and continued to respond well to treatment.

She has received thousands of goodwill messages from around the world since she was attacked.

The bullet, which grazed her brain and came within centimetres of killing her, travelled through her head and neck before lodging in her left shoulder.

It will take weeks to months for Malala to defeat an infection in the bullet track and recover her strength enough to face surgery.

Her skull will need reconstructing either by reinserting bone or using a titanium plate.

While she was being treated in the UK, her parents and two younger brothers had remained in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, under government protection. They met Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday before flying to Birmingham.

The girl's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, dismissed news reports that his family was placed under house arrest over fears they might seek asylum in Britain.

"I feel (like) laughing at these rumours," he told Pakistan Television in his first televised public statement since his daughter was attacked in the northwestern district of Swat on October 9.

"We were kept here like royal guests and routinely allowed meetings with close relatives but we could not meet many because of security risks."

The Taliban have threatened to again attack the teen, this time killing her, for criticising them and promoting what they claim are Western views.

Malik saluted Yousafzai for her continued struggle to promote education for girls, saying she asked her father to bring her textbooks.

"When Malala will return after recovery, I will ensure that 100 per cent security is provided to her to avoid any incident."

Pakistani authorities have identified Taliban sympathiser Attaullah Khan, 23, as the main suspect behind the shooting as Yousafzai travelled in an open-backed school van with several pupils, two of who were also wounded.

Khan allegedly planned the attack after a meeting with the former Swat Taliban leader Maulvi Fazullah in Afghanistan, the Express Tribune newspaper reported on Friday, quoting unnamed officials.

Islamabad has repeatedly alleged that Fazullah is hiding in the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan after fleeing a 2009 offensive by Pakistani troops trying to wrest control of Swat and its neighbouring districts from the rebels.

Fazullah's rebels have been blamed for several recent cross-border strikes against government and civilian targets in Pakistan.

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FedEx to open $US100m Shanghai cargo hub

Global delivery company FedEx announced plans to open a new $A97.24 million cargo hub in Shanghai. Source: AAP

GLOBAL delivery company FedEx has announced plans to open a $US100 million ($A97.24 million) air cargo hub in China's commercial centre of Shanghai, betting on stronger growth in the world's second largest economy.

US-based FedEx Corp on Thursday signed an agreement with Shanghai's airport operator to set up the international express and cargo hub to be completed in early 2017, according to a company statement.

"Demand for FedEx shipping services, both to and from China, is expected to increase," said Michael Ducker, chief operating officer of FedEx Express, the express delivery arm of the group.

"By expanding our infrastructure in Shanghai, we will be equipped to handle increased volumes in Asia," he said in the statement.

The hub will also help service trade between China's developed eastern coast and the United States and Europe, the statement said.

China, the world's largest exporter, has been hurt this year by weakness in overseas economies including debt-saddled Europe, a major trading partner.

In the first nine months of this year, overall trade - both imports and exports - was $US2.84 trillion ($A2.76 trillion), up 6.2 per cent from the same period in 2011, off the government's target of 10 per cent annual trade growth for 2012.

The new FedEx hub at Shanghai's main international airport, Pudong, will triple the capacity of its current facility, by processing up to 36,000 items an hour, the statement said.

FedEx now serves Shanghai with 68 flights a week, it said.

Li Derun, president of Shanghai Airport Group Co. Ltd, said the venture will help Shanghai boost its role as a regional shipping and logistics centre, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

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Anglo-American CEO to step down

CYNTHIA Carroll will step down as chief executive of mining company Anglo American Plc after almost six years in the job, the company has announced.

Carroll, who is to leave the company as soon as a successor is found, made no reference to reports that some investors had lost faith in her leadership following a series of controversial events including a series of strikes in South Africa and a dispute in Chile.

Anglo American shares on Friday opened 1.8 per cent higher in London at 1,890 pence.

Carroll, a 55-year-old American, was appointed chief executive in 2007. She was the first non-South African and first woman to lead the company.

"It is a very difficult decision to leave, but next year I will be entering my seventh year as chief executive and I feel that the time will be right to hand over to a successor who can build further on the strong foundations we have created," she said.

Trained as a geologist, Carroll started her career with Amoco. She joined Alcan in 1989, rising in 2002 to the posts of president and chief executive officer of Alcan's primary metals group.

Carroll will also be stepping down from her roles as chairman of De Beers, an appointment announced earlier this month, and of Anglo American Platinum.

Anglo American posted a record operating profit of $US11.1 billion ($A10.79 billion) in 2011. In that year it paid $US5.1 billion for the Oppenheimer family's 40 per cent stake in De Beers, raising Anglo's stake to 85 per cent.

In the first half of this year, operating profit slumped by 38 per cent and net profit fell 70 per cent as the group was hit by lower commodity prices and higher costs.

Anglo American also became embroiled in a dispute with Chile when it announced in 2011 that it had agreed to sell its 24.5 per cent stake in Anglo American Sur, its copper assets in Chile, to Mitsubishi for $US5.4 billion. That sale was challenged by Codelco, Chile's state-owned copper miner, which had an option to take a 49 per cent stake.

Codelco and Anglo American resolved the dispute in August as Anglo reduced its holding in AA Sur from 75.5 per cent to 50.1 per cent, while a Codelco-Mitsui joint venture took a 29.5 per cent interest.

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Sharp Corp. shares tumble

SHARP Corp. shares have tumbled after a report the struggling consumer electronics giant lost 400 billion yen ($A4.85 billion) in the first six months of its fiscal year.

The Japanese company's expected shortfall, reported in the Nikkei business daily, was nearly double an earlier forecast for a 210 billion yen loss and underscores an increasingly dire outlook for the century-old firm.

Sharp's Tokyo-traded shares lost 4.19 per cent to 160 yen by the close.

The firm's share price plunged to four-decade lows in August when it reported a quarterly loss of about $1.76 billion, prompting Standard & Poor's to cut its credit rating to junk status.

The Osaka-based maker of Aquos-brand televisions has struggled amid fierce overseas competition and a strong yen, with the bigger-than-expected loss tied largely to writedowns of its LCD panel inventories caused by weak demand and heavy restructuring costs, the Nikkei said.

A Sharp statement responding to the Nikkei story said only that the company had not officially announced any changes to its earlier earnings projections. Its half-year results are due on November 1.

Sharp, which has seen its mainstay television, liquid crystal display and solar panel products struggle, has promised to return to the black in the next fiscal year starting in April.

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Albany bushfire investigation imminent

AN investigation into a bush blaze near Albany that left a firefighter with life-threatening burns is set to begin within a week.

The bushfire at Two Peoples Bay began on October 12 and was fully extinguished five days later.

A 45-year-old firefighter was badly hurt in the blaze, suffering burns to 60 per cent of her body, and was in a critical condition for several days.

She is now in a critical but stable condition, a Royal Perth Hospital spokesman said.

Another firefighter, a 24-year-old woman, received burns to 40 per cent of her body and remains in a stable condition.

Emergency Services Minister Troy Buswell said on Thursday the Fire and Emergency Services Authority, Department of Environment and Conservation and local government in Albany had appointed an independent person to undertake an investigation into fire.

"This person will be commencing work within the week," Mr Buswell said in an emailed statement.

It's already known that a sudden change in wind direction turned the fire on the truck carrying the two firefighters.

Mr Buswell told parliament on Thursday that the women would have been trained to stay inside the truck and cover themselves in a fire blanket, but training and resourcing for bushfires was constantly evolving.

He said he was "absolutely sure" lessons could be learnt from the Albany fire.

"Fires of that nature are a dynamic and volatile environment," he said.

"I believe that from just about every single fire event that we attend, we can learn something new so we do it better next time."

Mr Buswell warned that conditions were dry as the bushfire season approached.

"It's dry in the Great Southern, it's dry in the South West, it's dry across the metropolitan area," he said.

"In Mundaring, they are on the verge of stopping controlled burns because controlled burns in October are starting to crown - that's when the fire goes up into the top of the trees.

"So we have some big challenges."

AAP r

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