No tsunami risk from Tongan quake

A 6.3-MAGNITUDE earthquake has struck off the coast of the Pacific Island nation of Tonga but experts say there is no threat of a tsunami.

The quake reportedly struck in waters northeast of the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa, at about 7pm local time (1600 AEST) on Saturday.

Geoscience Australia reports the impact could have been felt by people more than 600-kilometres away.

Seismologist Marco Maldoni said residents of the island nation would definitely felt shaking after the movement of tectonic plates and that that part of the world was prone to earthquakes.

"That earthquake itself happened where the Australian plate meets the Pacific plate," Dr Maldoni told AAP on Saturday.

"Thankfully this is a non-tsunamigenic earthquake - something that can potentially generate a tsunami."

Dr Maldoni said that in the past five years there had been about 200 earthquakes within that area, with another one occurring near Tonga at a magnitude of 6.2 as recently as Friday.

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Hard line on boats paying off: Morrison

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says the government's tough stance on asylum seekers is working. Source: AAP

NO people-smuggling venture had succeeded in landing asylum seekers on Australia for more than four months, the government says.

In the latest update on Operation Sovereign Borders, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday that vigorous border protection activities was deterring illegal boat arrivals, even into the post-monsoon period when weather conditions usually improve.

Mr Morrison said the practice of turning back unauthorised boats remained in effect.

"Anyone seeking to enter Australia illegally by boat will be faced with the same policies those who previously attempted illegal entry met," he said in a statement.

Mr Morrison said no one had reached Australia since December 19 and that continued this month. But 3351 on 47 boats arrived in April 2013 under the former Labor government.

The latest Operation Sovereign Borders operational update says there are now 1281 in the processing centre on Manus Island and 1177 on Nauru, making a total of 2458.

Another 1405 remain on Christmas Island. During the last week, eight asylum seekers were transferred to Nauru.

Seven unauthorised maritime arrival transferees were voluntarily returned to Iran.

Since Operation Sovereign Borders started on September 18, 220 asylum seekers have voluntarily returned to their home countries.

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NSW fisherman drowns trying to save wife

A SYDNEY rock fisherman who jumped into rough seas to save his wife has died and his mate is feared drowned.

The two men, 24 and 26, were part of a group of six that travelled to the NSW Central Coast from Sydney on Friday to go rock fishing.

The friends, some of whom are students, were on a notoriously dangerous rocky ledge at Wybung Head, near Lake Macquarie, when a woman was swept into the ocean by a wave.

The woman's husband and a friend entered the water to rescue her but disappeared. The woman survived after being washed back onto the rocks.

A major search operation was sparked about 6:30pm on Friday when the men failed to resurface.

Police say no one in the group was wearing a life jacket.

A helicopter winched the woman from the rock ledge while paramedics and police rescued three other people.

The emotional woman and her supportive friends returned to Wybung on Saturday as the Westpac Life Saver Helicopter, police and surf life savers searched for her missing husband and friend.

The husband's body was pulled from the ocean at 9am.

"The wife is absolutely devastated as you can imagine," Tuggerah Lakes police acting Inspector John Dooley told AAP.

The search has been called off but will resume at 8am on Sunday.

Local fishermen say the stretch of coast is treacherous and catches many people off guard.

"At that actual location, the people who go rock fishing aren't prepared for the danger of the sport," Peter Trenear, of Pelicans Wharf Fishing Tackle, told AAP.

"For the inexperienced, it can be life threatening."

Mr Trenear said he was washed off rocks in the same area about six years ago and had to be plucked from the ocean by a rescue helicopter.

"It was so easy, the water caught me by surprise," he said.

Insp Dooley said police had carried out several rescues and body recoveries at the spot over the years.

He warned people planning to rock fish to wear life jackets and check ocean conditions.

"You must be appropriately equipped to go down on these rock ledges," he said.

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Woolworths investigates deadly mushrooms

WOOLWORTHS has advised any customers who may be feeling ill after recently buying mushrooms from an ACT supermarket to seek immediate medical attention following a possible Death Cap mushroom poisoning.

ACT Health is investigating three cases of possible poisoning by Death Cap mushrooms which may have been purchased from a Woolworths in the suburb of Dickson.

Three patients from the same household attended Canberra's Calvary Hospital in the last 48 hours with symptoms of Death Cap mushroom poisoning.

"This appears to be an isolated incident and there have been no other recent reports of Death Cap mushroom poisoning in the ACT," the territory's chief health officer Dr Paul Kelly said.

In a statement on Saturday night, Woolworths advised that customers who feel ill to follow ACT Health's recommendations and seek immediate medical attention.

ACT Health also advised people who bought mushrooms from Woolworths Dickson around April 17 to throw them away as a precaution.

Woolworths says it is not aware of any other cases.

"We take customer safety very seriously and are working closely with our supplier and ACT Health to investigate the claims," the company said.

In Canberra in 2012, a man and a woman died and two others were poisoned but recovered after consuming a meal which contained Death Cap mushrooms.

"People are reminded not to pick and eat any wild mushrooms. It can be extremely difficult for even experienced collectors to distinguish Death Cap mushrooms from other edible mushrooms," Dr Kelly said.

The highly toxic Death Cap mushroom is a native to Europe but has spread around the world, with populations observed in Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide. It resembles a common edible variety used in Chinese cooking.

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Royals provide 'different' Anzac touch

The royal couple joined a record crowd of 37,000 for the Anzac Day commemorations in Canberra. Source: AAP

IT was the personal touch from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge which impressed Dick and Janice Middleton.

The handwritten message on the wreath of red poppies placed at the Stone of Remembrance was simple but said all that was required.

"Never forgetting those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom".

The note is signed William and Catherine.

The royal couple laid the wreath at a solemn national Anzac ceremony in Canberra, in which Prime Minister Tony Abbott thanked them for their attendance.

"Your presence reminds us of all our comrades in arms," he said.

The Middletons from Engadine in Sydney praised the couple as "so casual and so friendly with everyone".

The pair, Dick having completed national service with the air force in 1956, and Janice wearing her uncle Merv's medals from World War I, said the royal couple had lifted the service at the Australian War Memorial.

"They're not the royals of old," said 77-year-old Dick.

"It's written in their own hand - very plain and casual.

"It just shows a different approach."

William, who was a lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, wore two service medals and a sprig of rosemary to the late morning service.

The Duchess dressed in a grey tweed trench coat and a poppy broach that Emma, the wife of Australian Victorian Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, gave her at a reception on Thursday night.

The couple also visited the tomb of the unknown soldier and placed a poppy on the Wall of Remembrance, where they were visibly moved by the sea of red flowers.

The national service was the second attended by the Duke and Duchess on Friday, after they surprised all by joining a record crowd of 37,000 at the Canberra dawn service.

The couple had not been expected at the memorial so early, but made a discreet entry just after 5am.

The final duty on William and Kate's 10-day visit to Australia was to plant a sapling, cultivated from seeds collected in Gallipoli following the Battle of Lone Pine.

For Prince William, who served in the RAF for more than seven years, the tree had a special family connection.

Prince Henry the Duke of Gloucester - who later went on to serve as Australia's governor-general after World War II - planted the original pine at the war memorial in October 1934.

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More peace, less Simpson says Tas governor

TASMANIAN Governor Peter Underwood has told Hobart's Anzac Day ceremony Australia needs to understand the truth of its involvement in war.

Mr Underwood has called for peace studies centres to be funded and for the Anzac centenary in 2015 to be a designated Year of Peace.

The governor is renowned for his strongly worded anti-war Anzac Day addresses, and last year implored Australians to avoid glorifying the centenary.

More than six thousand people have attended Hobart's dawn service while seven thousand in Launceston didn't let near-freezing temperatures deter them.

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Smaller crowd falls silent at Gallipoli

THIS year's dawn service at Gallipoli was billed as a dress rehearsal for the 2015 centenary but a smaller-than-expected turnout made it a very intimate affair.

Some 4400 mostly Australian and New Zealand pilgrims were at North Beach 12 months out from the 100th anniversary when 10,500 people will be crammed on to the site.

The crowd on Friday was reminded that reverential silence on the often eerily quiet Turkish peninsula is a tribute to the diggers who died in 1915.

Veterans' Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson said the soldiers who landed at Anzac Cove 99 years ago were, by their own admission, ordinary men.

"They did not seek glory, nor did they want their actions to be glorified - for it was they who quickly came to know the true horror of war," the minister said as the sun rose over the Gallipoli cliffs.

"That these ordinary men, however, did extraordinary things is beyond doubt."

Senator Ronaldson said the Anzacs left a vanquished fighting force but "were victorious in helping forge the identity of our two new nations".

"As the dawn of this new day breaks over the peninsula our tribute to the spirit of Anzac is a reverential silence," he said.

Some 8700 Australians died during the eight-month campaign alongside 2700 New Zealanders.

It's estimated up to 87,000 Turks lost their lives.

The modern Turkish nation, too, was built partly on the back of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's success as a commander at Gallipoli. He went on to become the republic's first president in 1923.

Young Australian Erinn Cooper camped out overnight to represent her father and grandfather at the dawn service.

The 22-year-old comes from a military family - her father served in East Timor and Iraq while her grandfather fought in World War II.

"It's really mind-blowing to be here," she said.

"Anzac Day is our biggest day of the year. It's a really big thing in our family."

Ms Cooper considered applying for the centenary in 2015 but decided the ballot was too risky.

"Coming this year was something we could actually make happen."

Organisers saw this year's service as a dress rehearsal for 2015.

But while the crowd will be much bigger next year, it will also potentially be more manageable.

Authorities know exactly who's coming because the event is ticketed.

Further, the pilgrims will be older on average because 1600 passes were set aside for direct descendants and veterans.

In 2015, only 25 per cent of visitors will be under 35, whereas usually 60 per cent are in that age group.

Australian authorities think it's likely Prince Charles will attend the centenary service in Gallipoli although his spokeswoman has told AAP it is "too early to say".

Prince William this week revealed he was looking forward to "taking part in next year's Gallipoli centenary" along with wife Kate and brother Prince Harry.

That led to speculation they'd be at North Beach but a palace spokesman has clarified they could attend any number of Anzac ceremonies anywhere in the world.

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HMAS Darwin makes record heroin bust

Australian HMAS Darwin has seized a record one-tonne haul of heroin from a vessel off Kenya. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN warship HMAS Darwin has seized more than a tonne of heroin valued at almost $290 million from a smuggling boat off Kenya.

The record 1032kg haul was discovered aboard a dhow in the Indian Ocean, about 27 nautical miles east of Mombasa, Defence says in a statement.

Darwin's crew spotted the vessel on Wednesday and a boarding team discovered 46 sacks of heroin hidden among bags of cement.

HMAS Darwin's Commander Terry Morrison said the seizure removed a major source of funding for terrorist and criminal networks.

"The search tested the steel of Darwin's boarding parties who were working in difficult conditions throughout the night," he said in a statement.

Darwin is taking part in the UK-led Combined Task Force 150.

It's one of three multinational task forces conducting security and counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf region.

Coalition Maritime Force (CMF) director of operations, Australian Captain Craig Powell, said the heroin haul was the largest in the history of the CMF, with a street value of about $289 million.

Australian warships have destroyed large quantities of heroin, hashish and amphetamines during patrols off Africa in the past year.

Drugs are destroyed by dumping them in the sea, and crews of smuggling vessels are sent on their way.

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Younger veterans to lead Perth Anzac march

YOUNGER post-Vietnam military veterans will be brought to the front of the Anzac Day march in Perth, one of three firsts for this year's annual commemorations.

Returned and Services League of Western Australia president Graham Edwards said they would lead the ex-military contingent, only marching behind senior veterans in cars.

With the focus of Anzac Day being World War I for the next four years - given November 2014 marks 100 years since Australian troops departed for the four-year conflict - this year's march was a good time to shine the spotlight on former servicemen from more recent hostilities, Mr Edwards said.

In another first, the RSLWA has held daily Last Post ceremonies at Kings Park's State War Memorial this week in a bid to cap ever-swelling crowds on the Anzac Day public holiday. More than 40,000 people are expected to attend on Friday.

Crowds of up to 500 people have been attending the 15-minute sunset services since they started on Sunday, with the final ceremony to be held on Thursday.

Mr Edwards said the sunset ceremonies would return in 2015.

"Anzac Day itself is getting so big, people tell us that they felt like they've lost the important connection that's there," he told AAP.

"We hope that these (sunset) services will continue to grow and people will become involved in them, because that's what it's all about."

On Thursday at 5.30pm, a service will be held at Blackboy Hill in Greenmount, where West Australian World War I troops trained before marching to Midland, catching a train to Fremantle and setting sail.

The rest of the convoy, from New Zealand and other parts of Australia, left from Albany.

"While there's a strong focus on Albany as there should be, we can't lose sight of the fact most West Australians left from Fremantle and they joined the convoy after," Mr Edwards said.

And on Friday, the dawn service at Kings Park will be broadcast live for the first time.

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Tasers rolled out across country Victoria

Officers in all 24-hour police stations in regional Victoria will be given Taser stun guns. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of Tasers will be rolled out in police stations across regional Victoria following a trial of the stun guns.

Officers in all 24-hour stations in country Victoria will get Tasers after police trialled the devices in six major regional centres.

Deputy Commissioner for Regional Operations Tim Cartwright said police were still taking a "softly softly" approach to Tasers given community concerns about their use.

Mr Cartwright said officers had drawn Tasers about 60 times but only fired them on seven occasions during the trials over the last four years.

There were no serious injuries when the Tasers were fired, he said.

He said it was difficult to distinguish between the use of capsicum spray and Tasers but there had been a continuing decline in injuries to officers and the people they dealt with.

"At the same time, the number of confrontations has increased quite markedly," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"Typically we see people either on drugs or alcohol or with mental illness or a combination of factors trying to do harm to themselves or others.

"Given the number of confrontations that we have we've been very pleased with the results."

Mr Cartwright said metropolitan officers would not be equipped with Tasers as the critical incident response and special operations group teams already carried the devices and were on hand in those areas 24 hours a day.

He said in the long run Victoria Police would want all officers to be equipped with Tasers.

"We've been very careful in our approach and continue to be careful in our approach but it is another opportunity for our members to minimise the risk to themselves and members of the community."

The rollout of 580 new Tasers to 24-hour stations in 29 regional areas will cost $13.5 million.

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Brisbane's southside on measles alert

Brisbane's southside is on measles alert after a man was diagnosed with the infectious disease. Source: AAP

BRISBANE'S southside is on measles alert after a man was diagnosed with the highly infectious disease.

It's likely he was infectious when he visited the Underwood Marketplace shopping centre between 9am and 11.30am last Thursday, health authorities say.

Public health physician Dr Kari Jarvinen says people who were at the shopping centre around that time should immediately contact their GPs.

Residents in Logan and Brisbane's southside should be particularly vigilant for symptoms, he said.

A red, spotty rash and other measles symptoms, including a fever, cough and runny nose, usually appear 10 days after infection.

Dr Jarvinen said that given the large numbers of people potentially exposed to the latest infection, further measles cases could emerge in Brisbane over the next few weeks.

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Cancellations on Everest as sherpas walk

ANOTHER major mountaineering company has abandoned its Everest expedition after a deadly avalanche killed 16 Nepalese guides, as the government strives to save the climbing season, a vital earner for the country.

New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants lost three people in last Friday's avalanche which struck a party of sherpas preparing routes for commercial climbers up the world's highest peak.

The company said in a statement late Tuesday that "after much discussion and consideration of all aspects, the tough decision has been made to cancel the 2014 expedition this season".

US-based Alpine Ascents International and the Discovery Channel, which intended to broadcast the first winged jumpsuit flight off the summit, have also scrapped their plans on the 8848-metre peak.

Hundreds of others at base camp who have paid tens of thousands of dollars face bitter disappointment after sherpas announced Tuesday they would abandon the season to honour their fallen colleagues.

That decision, which would wreck the season and lead to messy compensation claims, featured in crisis talks under way in Kathmandu between tourism officials, representatives of the sherpas and expedition leaders on Wednesday.

British mountaineer Phil Crampton, owner of climbing company Altitude Junkies, said immediate action was needed to "make expeditions possible this year".

He said a high-level government delegation will head to base camp on Thursday to present a document to the sherpas and address their concerns.

Before Tuesday's call to abandon the season, the guides had issued a string of demands to the government, including higher compensation for the dead and injured, an agreement to raise insurance payments and a welfare fund.

The government has offered to set up a relief fund for injured guides using up to five per cent of fees paid by climbers, while increasing life insurance payments by 50 per cent.

The amounts fall short of demands by the sherpas who want 30 per cent of climbers' fees to be earmarked for the fund and life insurance payments, set at $10,000, to be doubled.

The government, expected to earn at least $US3 million ($A3.21 million) this year from Everest climbing fees alone, has issued permits to 734 people, including 400 guides, for 32 expeditions this season.

Hundreds of anxious climbers remain at base camp, uncertain whether to leave or stay following the sherpas' announcement, with tensions running high.

New Zealand mountaineer Russell Brice, owner of top expedition company Himex, told AFP he hoped the government delegation's visit on Thursday would persuade sherpas to start climbing again.

"I hope the visit will calm tempers and the sherpas will understand the reasons for continuing the season," Brice said from base camp.

"They can continue their negotiations once the climbing season ends."

More than 300 people, most of them local guides, have died on the peak since the first ascent by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

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Dad left girl in burning car: WA police

A THREE-YEAR-OLD girl has been injured after being left in a burning car allegedly stolen by her father.

Police rescued the girl from the flames after the vehicle crashed into a barrier on the Great Eastern Highway in Perth's outer northeast suburbs on Sunday night.

The driver had run away leaving the girl in the burning car, police said.

He was found nearby in Midvale and was taken to Swan Districts Hospital for treatment to injuries received in the crash.

The girl is in Princess Margaret Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Police were first called to a home in the northern suburb of Ellenbrook just after 10pm on Sunday to deal with a domestic disturbance.

They learned that a 25-year-old man had left in an allegedly stolen vehicle with his daughter.

Officers found the car an hour later, but the driver failed to stop and police decided not to pursue because the child was in the car.

Instead, police monitored the vehicle which is believed to have hit another car before being found smashed into a concrete barrier.

The man allegedly failed a breath test at the hospital and was taken to Midland Police Station where he was charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear, aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm and criminal damage.

He was also charged with a number of driving offences, including stealing a motor vehicle and dangerous driving occasioning bodily harm.

He appeared at a bedside hearing at Royal Perth Hospital on Monday and was remanded in custody.

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16-year-old survives stowaway flight drama

AN FBI agent says a 16-year-old US boy who stowed away in the wheel well of a flight from California to Hawaii has no memory of the trip and is lucky to be alive.

The teen survived the trip halfway across the Pacific Ocean unharmed despite frigid temperatures at 38,000 feet (11,500 metres) and a lack of oxygen.

FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Honolulu said on Sunday night the boy was questioned after being discovered on the tarmac at the Maui airport with no identification.

"Kid's lucky to be alive," Simon said.

Simon said security footage from the San Jose airport verified that the boy hopped a fence to get to Hawaiian Airlines Flight 45 on Sunday morning.

The teen had run away from his family after an argument, Simon said. When the flight landed in Maui, the boy hopped down from the wheel well and started wandering around the airport grounds, he said.

"He was unconscious for the lion's share of the flight," Simon said. The flight lasted about 5 1/2 hours.

Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Alison Croyle said airline personnel noticed the boy on the ramp after the flight arrived and immediately notified airport security.

"Our primary concern now is for the well-being of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived," Croyle said.

Simon said the boy was medically screened and found to be unharmed.

"Doesn't even remember the flight," Simon said. "It's amazing he survived that."

The boy will not be charged and was referred to child protective services, Simon said.

In August, a 13- or 14-year-old boy in Nigeria survived a 35-minute trip in the wheel well of a domestic flight after stowing away. Authorities credited the flight's short duration.

Others stowing away in wheel wells have died, including a 16-year-old killed after stowing away aboard a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston in 2010 and a man who fell on to a suburban London street from a flight from Angola in 2012.

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NSW police breath-test 60,000 during blitz

ALMOST 60,000 people have been breath tested by NSW police who have issued more than 2000 traffic fines and charged 58 motorists with drink driving during the Easter road blitz.

They've handed out 910 speeding notices and another 1,500 tickets for other offences since Operation Tortoise began on Friday.

On Sunday afternoon, a 25-year-old man was breath tested after Deniliquin police saw him swerve onto the wrong side of the road.

He allegedly blew 0.261, more than five times the limit, and was charged with high-range drink driving and is due before Finlay Local Court in June.

A 19-year-old woman was on Sunday morning charged after being caught behind the wheel with an alleged blood-alcohol concentration of 0.163.

She also caught the attention of police while driving down the wrong side of a Cronulla road.

In the early hours of Monday morning a man, 24, was allegedly clocked speeding through a 80km/h zone at 140 km/h.

"The driver was issued a traffic infringement notice for exceeding speed by more than 45km/h and his licence was suspended for a period of six months," police said.

Traffic and highway patrol's commander Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said it's disappointing people were drink-driving despite consistent warnings from police.

"If you're going out to have a drink you need to find another way home, driving is simply not an option," he said.

Despite the heavy traffic only two people have died, down from three during Easter last year.

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Royals' quiet day makes news

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will spend a day of rest in Canberra before heading north. Source: AAP

THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were supposed to be having a day free of official engagements, spending the day in Canberra but it proved too tempting for the paparazzi.

The royal couple and their baby were photographed unawares in the ground of Government House at Yarralumla, with vision making news broadcasts across the country.

Kate was filmed taking a stroll with her son in the grounds, with the images showing Prince George being carried on his mother's shoulders, pushed in a buggy and on Kate's lap as the pair played together.

William and Kate were also filmed without their knowledge walking hand in hand along the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin, casually dressed in shirts, jumpers and jeans. At one point, Kate is captured giving an odd little kick.

The pictures taken on a rest day during their tour Down Under may be seen by aides as an intrusion into the couple's privacy.

Although there has been no official word from Kensington Palace, it was tweeted that the palace has requested that the media refrain from intruding on the family's privacy.

On Tuesday, William and Kate will tour Uluru.

The visit will be only their second night away from their son during their 19-day tour of Australia and New Zealand. George, who turns nine months on Tuesday, is expected to remain in Canberra with his nanny.

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