Sydney road and railway line reopen

A MAIN road and part of a railway line that were shut after a train malfunction on a level crossing in Sydney's northwest have reopened.

Garfield Road at Riverstone and the T1 western railway line between Mulgrave and Quakers Hill station are open but the Transport Management Centre says delays could still occur on trains in the area.

No delays are expected on local roads.

Supplementary buses are running and users of public transport are being asked to allow extra travel time.

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Man arrested after shots fired in Tas

A man is in custody after shots were reportedly fired in a Tasmanian street. Source: AAP

A MAN is in custody after shots were reportedly fired in a Tasmanian street.

Police received calls from the public reporting several shots being fired in the street by a man in Swansea on Tasmania's east coast, just before 5pm (AEDT).

Investigations are continuing.

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US man dies in Vic skydiving accident

A man has plunged to his death in a skydiving incident in Victoria's northeast. Source: AAP

A US citizen has plunged to his death in a skydiving incident in Victoria's northeast.

The man, 33, had a parachute malfunction and fell a considerable distance in Drysdale Road, Euroa, about 12.30pm (AEDT), an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said.

The man was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived and they tried to resuscitate him but he died at the scene.

Police said the man was a US citizen and they are in the process of notifying his family.

They will prepare a report for the coroner.

The Australian Skydiving Association has been notified.

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Severe storm warning for wind and hail

ANOTHER round of severe thunderstorms is set to pummel the southeast.

7.30pm: Sharon Wheatley said the earlier storm battered her property near Rathdowney.

"I was watching the clouds from the doorway and saw that one hailstone drop into the yard, nothing else, just that one, so I stuck a bucket over my head and ran out and grabbed it," she said.

"Gradually a few more dropped. There was no rain at first, just large hail dropping from the sky.

"I had to move from the doorway because they were smashing on the concrete outside and chunks were flying in at me. Then they just came down solidly for maybe 10 minutes or so."

"I had to move from the doorway because they were smashing on the concrete outside and chunks were flying in at me." Picture: Sharon Wheatley at Rathdowney

7.15pm: The weather bureau has warned that while one severe thunderstorm is skirting dangerously close to Brisbane's CBD, another one is brewing just over the NSW border.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Peter Otto said an earlier warning was still current for areas to the west of Brisbane, but the storm was unlikely to reach the city centre.

Further west, he said golf-sized hail stones have fallen on Mt Barney, with larger stones reported at Boonah.

"That storm is moving over the Ipswich area at the moment," he said.

"There is another cell south of the border that is likely to hit Rathdowney in the next half hour and it may head north after that. It's another very dangerous storm with large hail stones expected."

6.45pm: Very dangerous thunderstorms are forecast to affect Rosewood, Marburg, Lake Manchester, Upper Brookfield and Fernvale by 7.20 pm and Enoggera Reservoir, Enoggera, Mount Nebo, Highvale, Samford and Albany Creek by 7.50 pm.

Other severe thunderstorms in northern NSW are forecast to affect Mount Barney, the McPherson Range, Rathdowney, Maroon Dam, Kooralbyn and Lamington National Park by 7:50 pm.

Damaging winds and large hailstones are likely, with hail larger than golf balls reported at Boonah earlier.

6.20pm:  The Bureau of Meteorology has updated their thunderstorm warning, alerting residents that very dangerous thunderstorms were moving north.

The storms were detected on weather radar near Boonah, Aratula, Harrisville, Peak Crossing, Bundamba Lagoon and the area south of Amberley.

Very dangerous thunderstorms are forecast to affect Ipswich, Redbank Plains, Amberley, Rosewood, Marburg and Lake Manchester by 6:50 pm and Lowood, Fernvale, Mount Nebo, Highvale, Samford and the D'Aguilar Ranges by 7:20 pm.

Other severe thunderstorms were located near Bonalbo(NSW). Damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.

Hail larger than golf balls was reported at Boonah at around 5:40pm.

5.20pm: The weather bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning after storms were detected over the Scenic Rim region near Mount Barney, Laravale and Kooralbyn.

The southeast Queensland warning said damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.

Forecasters from the Bureau of Meteorology said the thunderstorms were moving in a northerly direction, with Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast put on alert.

The storms are predicted to hit Beaudesert about 5.30pm.

More to come.
 

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services advises that people should:
* Move your car under cover or away from trees.
* Secure loose outdoor items.
* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.
* Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.
* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.
 

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ACCC appeals in ANZ price fixing case

The ACCC is appealing a ruling clearing ANZ of alleged price fixing in the mortgage market. Source: AAP

THE competition watchdog is appealing a recent ruling by the Federal Court clearing ANZ of alleged price fixing in the mortgage market.

The Federal Court in November dismissed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) application.

The ACCC had alleged ANZ had required mortgage broker Mortgage Refunds to limit the size of refunds to customers arranging ANZ home loans, which amounted to price fixing as Mortgage Refunds was a competitor in the home loan market.

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Alleged killer feared death by fork

A Queensland man accused of murdering his wife was afraid she would kill him so he pushed her. Source: AAP

A QUEENSLAND man accused of murdering his wife was afraid she would kill him with a kitchen fork so he pushed her, causing her to fall onto tiles and die, a court has heard.

Klaus Andres, 70, has pleaded guilty to interfering with Li Ping Cao's corpse by dissolving her body in a wheelie bin of acid, but says her death was an accident.

On Tuesday, Andres told the Supreme Court the pair had argued about sex, money and their relationship in the kitchen of their Cairns home on October 30, 2011.

He says Ms Cao, 42, was screaming and that she scratched his face and then stabbed his hand twice with a fork.

Principal Crown Prosecutor Nigel Rees asked Andres if he feared for his life.

"Definitely, yes," Andres said.

"A person or Li Ping could kill me with a fork if she got the right position."

He later added: "I protected myself".

Andres says he pushed his wife on the chest with one hand and she fell to the ground and died suddenly.

He went to dial 000 but didn't make the call as he thought he would be blamed for her death.

"... in my opinion there is nothing that could be done (to revive Ms Cao)," he said.

In the days that followed he put her body in a wheelie bin, dissolved her body in acid and poured the remains down a storm drain.

Only Ms Cao's prosthetic teeth were found by investigators.

Andres admits lying to police, his family and Ms Cao's friends to cover up her death, but says he didn't mean to kill her.

Mr Rees told the court Andres murdered his wife because it would cost him a lot of money to divorce her.

"I never attacked Li Ping in the whole five years and I never assaulted her," Andres said.

He also denied an accusation that he suffocated his wife.

Andres says Ms Cao wouldn't be entitled to his assets as they had been transferred to a family trust.

Specialist forensic pathologist Professor Johan Duflou told the court there are a number of circumstances in which a person can die suddenly after a fall or blow, but it is rare.

He says it's possible wounds on Andres' hand visible after Ms Cao's death were caused by a fork.

"To me it's a possibility, but there's nothing there that specifically says fork to me."

The trial continues.

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BHP focussed on reducing expenditure

BHP Billiton boss Andrew Mackenzie has confirmed plans to cut capital expenditure by 25% this year. Source: AAP

BHP Billiton chief Andrew Mackenzie says his main aim is not growing volumes, confirming plans to cut capital expenditure by 25 per cent this year and further next year.

BHP will also continue to cut costs after reducing controllable cash costs by $US2.7 billion ($A2.97 billion) the 12 months to June 30, he said at an investor briefing in Houston in the US.

The comments highlight the difference in leadership between Mr Mackenzie and his predecessor Marius Kloppers.

When Mr Mackenzie took the reins as chief executive in May it was with a mantra of controlling cost inflation in a world of lower commodity prices.

On Tuesday he reaffirmed plans to increase production by 16 per cent in the 2013/14 financial year and next, but believes the resources giant can grow while returning cash to shareholders and spending less.

"My principle aim is not to grow volumes," Mr Mackenzie said.

"My principle aim is to create value and free cash flow."

Capital expenditure had been allowed to run too high in the past, he said, with a level of $15 billion more appropriate than the $U22 billion spent last year.

Rio Tinto said last week it planned to halve its spend to $US8 billion by 2015.

Of the forecast production growth between now and 2015, 69 per cent will come from iron ore and petroleum.

Those two divisions have dominated capital expenditure in recent years, due to growth in Western Australian iron ore operations and an expansion into US shale oil and gas.

With much of the costly investment work done, capital was falling and output rising in petroleum, Mr Mackenzie said.

He defended the expensive shale assets as a fantastic opportunity for the future.

BHP's energy portfolio, which includes oil, gas, coal and uranium, would also benefit from an estimated two-thirds jump in energy demand from Asia's emerging economies by 2030, Mr Mackenzie said.

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Carbon tax repeal hits Senate roadblock

The Senate has rejected the first of the government's carbon tax repeal legislative package. Source: AAP

THE federal government's plan to scrap the carbon tax has run headlong into a Senate roadblock, with the first bill rejected and little hope the upper house will decide on the full package of bills before next year.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called on the Senate to vote on his package of 11 bills to remove the carbon tax before parliament adjourns for its summer break on Thursday night.

But Labor and the Greens remain opposed to the bills, giving the government little chance of pushing its package through parliament until new Senators take their seats from July 1, 2014.

"Given that people feel very strongly about this, and a number of people are likely to speak, it's unlikely there would be a resolution on the suite of bills by the end of the week," Greens leader Christine Milne said on Tuesday.

Debate on the package has been tortuously slow, with the opposition and Greens opting for debate on each individual piece of legislation.

The first bill of the package was voted down on Tuesday when Labor and Greens joined forces to reject a bill to scrap the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) after a debate lasting more than 10 hours.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said abolition of the corporation was a priority for the government and a commitment Mr Abbott took to the September 7 election.

The government had the strong support of voters who rejected Labor at the election, he said.

"Labor takes the position they have flagged in this chamber today at their peril," he said.

The CEFC was set up by the Gillard government to help finance clean energy projects.

Labor has condemned its abolition, saying it returned about $200 million a year to the budget.

But Senator Cormann said abolition of the CEFC would save money, as the corporation had to raise funds at public debt borrowing rates that Labor senators had ignored.

CEFC chair Jillian Broadbent, a former member of the Reserve Bank of Australia board, last week pleaded with the government to reconsider its plan, saying the corporation had made a profit and helped curb carbon emissions.

Labor senators said the abolition of the CEFC would hurt the government's ability to reach its emissions reduction targets.

"It will cost the taxpayer more to shut this corporation down than Abbott says it will save," Labor senator Glenn Sterle said.

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said the Senate vote would allow the CEFC to continue its work.

"Unequivocally, the CEFC is a good thing - a vital part of Australia's strong climate laws, laws that are working to help cut Australia's pollution," the foundation's climate spokesman Jamie Hanson said in a statement.

The government could use the climate bills as triggers for a double-dissolution election if they are rejected a second time after a three-month interval.

Debate was adjourned on a second bill to abolish the Climate Change Authority, set up to recommend carbon emissions targets.

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US approves new hepatitis C drug

HEALTH officials in the United States have approved a highly anticipated hepatitis C drug that is expected to offer a faster, more palatable cure to millions of people infected with the liver-destroying virus.

The Food and Drug Administration says it has approved the medication Sovaldi from Gilead Sciences Inc in combination with older drugs to treat the main forms of hepatitis C that affect US patients.

Current treatments for hepatitis C can take up to a year of therapy and involve weekly injections of a drug that causes flu-like side effects, an approach only cures about three out of four patients.

Sovaldi is a daily pill that in clinical trials cured roughly 90 percent of patients in just 12 weeks, when combined with the older drug cocktail.

Between 3 million and 4 million Americans are estimated to carry the blood-borne virus, though most do not even know they are infected. Others have tested positive but are waiting for more effective treatments to become available. Hepatitis C symptoms may not appear until two or three decades after infection, though the virus can cause liver failure, cirrhosis and cancer if left untreated.

Dr Donald Jensen of the University of Chicago said he's optimistic that new drugs like Sovaldi will increase treatment of the disease, which is blamed for 15,000 US deaths per year.

"I'm hoping that these new, less toxic therapies will drive more people to get tested and more primary care physicians to test their patients, knowing that the therapy is going to be more effective and easier," said Jensen, who directs the university's center for liver diseases.

Gilead said it will price the drug at $US84,000 ($A92,282.34) for one 12-week supply. Patients with a less common subtype of the disease may need to take the drug for 24 weeks, raising the cost to $168,000 for one course of treatment. Drugs already on the market run between $25,000 and $50,000 for a course of treatment.

The approval comes as the US government urges all baby boomers to get tested for the disease. People born between 1945 and 1965 are five times more likely than other age groups to have hepatitis C, with many having contracted the virus by sharing needles or having sex with an infected person in their youth.

17.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

CCTV plan for Sydney gets go-ahead

A PROPOSAL for extra CCTV cameras in Sydney's busiest nightspots is set to become a reality after the City of Sydney Council endorsed the plan.

At a council meeting on Monday night, council unanimously carried the proposal to install the 10 new cameras in Surry Hills, the CBD and Kings Cross.

The push for extra security follows the one-punch death of teenager Thomas Kelly.

Mr Kelly died after he was king hit in Kings Cross in July 2012.

After the CCTV plan gained the rubber stamp, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said in a statement the new cameras would bring the total number in council's city network to 97.

"Our entire CCTV network is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we work closely with the NSW Police Force, regularly providing video footage and intelligence," she said.

Recently Ms Moore took a swipe at the state government, which she claimed was responsible for law and order.

She said council had stepped in to fund CCTV because no one else had.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said on Sunday co-operation between the state and city council had seen a reduction in violence in Kings Cross following Mr Kelly's death.

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Search on for new PNG Defence chief

PAPUA New Guinea's Defence Force Chief will have his term temporarily extended until a successor is found, prime minister Peter O'Neill says.

Brigadier General Francis Agwi made history during PNG's 2011-2012 political impasse by frequently denying high level political requests to declare martial law.

He refused to involve the armed forces in the 10 month, high-stakes battle between the Supreme court-backed former prime minister Sir Michael Somare and parliament-backed Mr O'Neill.

He was also briefly taken captive by a group of soldiers during a military mutiny sparked by supporters of Sir Michael.

"Agwi has shown professionalism and dedication in his years of service to the military and country," Mr O'Neill said in a statement on Monday.

"He led by example in maintaining stability in the force and I would like to thank him on behalf of the people of PNG for a job well done."

General Agwi's term as commander would have expired at midnight on Monday.

Mr O'Neill said the process to select the general's successor is underway.

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Tasmanian mine workers' names released

THE names of two men killed when they fell more than 20 metres down a mine shaft in western Tasmania have been released.

Queenstown men Craig Nigel Gleeson, 45, and Alistair Michael Lucas, 25, fell while doing maintenance work in a shaft at the Mt Lyell copper mine on Monday morning.

Tasmania Police said the second body had been recovered from underground and both would be taken to Hobart on Monday night.

The men fell between 20 and 35 metres, one man was brought to the surface but died on the way to hospital.

The other man died at the scene.

All operations at the mine were suspended until Tuesday morning, Copper Mines of Tasmania general manager Scot Clyde said.

"Our deepest sympathies are with the families of the two workers, their immediate work mates and also our other site employees who will be saddened by this tragic accident," Mr Clyde said in a statement.

The deaths are a blow to Queenstown, a remote mining community with a population of around 2000 people best known for its moonscape-like scarring from previous copper smelting.

The town last year commemorated the 100th anniversary of the North Mount Lyell mine disaster, one of Australia's worst, which killed 42 workers.

"It still has resonance and this will have resonance," Inspector Matthew Richman told AAP.

It was still unclear what had caused the fall, Insp Richman said.

"The coroner, Workplace Standards and police investigators are underground at the moment examining what happened," he said.

Tasmanian Minerals Council chief executive Terry Long said the deaths were the first in the state's mines since Larry Knight was killed in a rock fall that trapped two other miners in the Beaconsfield gold mine on Anzac Day 2006.

Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings offered her condolences.

"This is terrible news and our heartfelt sympathy goes to all those affected by this tragedy," Ms Giddings said in a statement.

"When people go to work we expect them to come home safely and our thoughts are with their loved ones at this time."

Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union state secretary John Short said it was a devastating day for the workers' families and the community.

"This is a close-knit community, and this is truly devastating news," he said.

Copper Mines of Tasmania is a subsidiary of Indian company Vedanta.

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