More N Korean sabre rattling over drills

NORTH Korea has warned the top US commander in South Korea to cancel upcoming drills aimed at deterring Pyongyang's military provocations.

Pyongyang's official media say the warning was sent to General James Thurman on Saturday.

The US and South Korea earlier notified the North of their plans to begin the annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises next month.

North Korea calls the joint drills a prominent example of US hostility against it.

Pyongyang says the hostility compelled North Korea to conduct its February 12 nuclear test.

US officials are negotiating in the UN Security Council for tougher sanctions against North Korea for the test, the country's third since 2006.

Washington stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea in a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

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Pakistan bus crash kills 17, police say

PAKISTANI officials say a bus carrying a wedding party has veered off a narrow road and plunged into a canal in the country's northwest, killing at least 17.

Police officer Asif Sharif said on Saturday 11 people were still missing since Friday's accident, near the city of Peshawar.

The dead included nine women and five children.

Sharif says all the victims were relatives of the bride, and were on way to the nearby city of Mardan when the bus ran off a road made slippery from rain.

He says rescuers were still trying to recover the bodies of 11 missing people.

Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for traffic accidents.

Roads and vehicles in the country are poorly maintained, and there is little respect for traffic rules.

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One dead after WA wheatbelt town fight

ONE man is dead and another has been charged with murder after a fight in Western Australia's central wheatbelt.

Police say two men had started fighting in a home in Koorda, a township about 240km northeast of Perth.

A 46-year-old man, identified by police as Gavin John McMaster, died at the scene at about 1.30am (WST) on Saturday.

Police arrested a 64-year-old man and later charged him with murder.

He will appear in the Northam Magistrates Court on Monday.

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Premier praises Coonabarabran volunteers

NO lives were lost in the Coonabarabran fires because emergency workers fought so hard, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has said at a community barbecue to thank 300 firefighters and volunteers.

The January fires razed the surrounds of Coonabarabran in northern NSW, destroying 50,000 hectares of land, 53 homes and 120 buildings.

After a tour of the scorched fields and hills surrounding the town, Mr O'Farrell said on Saturday it was "extraordinary to see how cruel and random fire is, taking certain homes and not others".

"What's remarkable is ... no lives were lost," he told reporters in Coonabarabran on Saturday.

"It's a tribute to the volunteers."

Mr O'Farrell said it was important to thank emergency service workers, particularly the volunteers.

"As much as we value the paid emergency services, we couldn't do the job that's required, that was necessary at Coonabarabran, without the support of volunteers."

"We couldn't enjoy the lifestyles we do without their ongoing commitment."

Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzgibbons said education programs, hazard reduction schemes and community teamwork were the "first and foremost" reasons why no one died.

The local mayor, Peter Shinton, who is also a geologist, said the fire was so significant that locals had been spotting new rock formations previously hidden by dense vegetation.

To help the community recover, the NSW government has donated $25,000 to the local council, in addition to disaster relief funds available from state and federal governments.

People affected by the fire will be able to claim $1,000 assistance packages.

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Tas, WA leaders battle over GST

THE West Australian and Tasmanian premiers have traded harsh words, with Lara Giddings saying the mining-rich state's push for a greater share of the GST goes against the spirit of Federation.

The GST is currently distributed using the "horizontal fiscal equalisation" system, which aims to ensure states and territories have enough money to provide services such as education and health of the same standard.

But WA Premier Colin Barnett has been pushing for the GST to be distributed on a per capita basis, saying the state is being ripped off.

Tasmania's Labor Premier says the Liberal leader is crying poor "despite rolling in the massive royalties of the mining boom".

"It's often forgotten that as recently as 2007, Western Australia was in the same position as Tasmania - a net beneficiary of GST, propped up by NSW, Victoria and Queensland," Ms Giddings told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

"If you shift resources to Western Australia, it has to come from somewhere and it will come from Tasmanians, the state that can least afford to give money to the richest state.

"That a Tasmanian living in Launceston or Hobart or Burnie or Devonport should have a different level of service when it comes to education, police, health than someone in Subiaco or Fremantle or indeed Kalgoorlie, it's just wrong to think that there should be two streams of Australians in this nation.

"It's just not Australian. That's not what Federation is about."

Mr Barnett fired back, saying: "she should look at the Tasmanian economy".

"They should be doing a lot, lot better," he said.

"You know when I leave this job maybe I'll go down and hire myself out for a year to run Tasmania.

"It wouldn't take much to get the Tasmanian economy moving."

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Vic hospital dispute a disaster: Abbott

Tony Abbott says he'd like to fix Victorian hospital funding problems but can't make a commitment. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says a coalition government would like to reverse funding cuts to Victoria's health system but can't make a commitment until it knows what fiscal position it will inherit.

The Victorian and federal governments have been involved in a funding stoush that has forced hospital bed closures and elective surgery cancellations around the state.

Mr Abbott said the stoush was a disaster for Victoria's public health system.

"It's a disaster that will tragically be in place before there can be a change of government," he told Fairfax Radio on Wednesday.

Mr Abbott said the coalition would like to reverse the cuts if it was elected but that would depend on fiscal circumstances.

"Until we've seen the final budget figures it's difficult to give a commitment," he said.

"My firm intention, whenever we are looking for savings, is to look for savings in the bureaucracy rather than to inflict savings on frontline services.

"I'd be surprised if we couldn't do just as good a job with fewer public servants in Canberra."

Victorian Health Minister David Davis has accused the federal government of using an incorrect estimate of Victorian population figures to cut $475 million from the state's health budget over four years.

But Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says commonwealth funding to Victoria is increasing by $900 million over the next four years and Victoria has taken more than $600 million out of its health system.

Mr Davis has maintained the federal government should have used Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population growth estimates of 1.4 per cent for 2010-11.

Instead, it used flawed figures of just 0.3 per cent over the same period, he said.

Australian Greens health spokesman Richard Di Natale said he was not surprised by the backflip, which came on the eve of a Senate inquiry into the funding disputes with Victoria and Queensland.

Senator De Natale successfully pushed for the inquiry earlier this month. It will hold its first hearing in Melbourne on Thursday.

"Instead of standing up to the mining companies and raising money through a decent mining tax, the federal government tried to get away with ripping money out of the hospital system by blaming it on the states," Senator Di Natale said in a statement.

"I expected the government was set to be embarrassed by some damaging testimony tomorrow.

"While I am pleased that the funding has been restored, it is a real shame that it took this kind of pressure for the government to take responsibility."

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Horsemeat fears spread to Hong Kong

FEARS over a Europe-wide food fraud scandal concerning horsemeat sold as beef have spread to Hong Kong with an imported brand of lasagne pulled from shelves.

Hong Kong authorities revealed on Wednesday they last week ordered a top local supermarket chain to remove the lasagne made by frozen food giant Findus, one of the firms at the centre of the scandal.

The product was imported from Britain and made by French firm Comigel.

Western food is popular in the Asian financial centre, which has a large population of expatriates.

Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety urged locals not to consume the item, which it said "might be adulterated with horsemeat which has not undergone tests for veterinary drugs".

The product had been sold at supermarkets run by ParknShop, one of the biggest supermarket chains in the southern Chinese city and owned by tycoon Li Ka-shing.

"The product was removed from our stores last week following the government's instructions," a ParknShop spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday.

The chain has about 280 stores in Hong Kong and the neighbouring gaming hub of Macau.

A spokeswoman at the government's food and environmental hygiene department said authorities would monitor the food fraud scandal closely but only one contaminated product had so far been sold in Hong Kong.

Neither the supermarket nor the government could give the number of the Findus frozen beef lasagnes that were recalled in the city.

It is understood no similar action regarding suspect food has so far been taken in Indonesia, the Philippines or Malaysia.

Concerns about horsemeat first emerged in mid-January when Irish authorities found traces of horse in beefburgers made by firms in Ireland and Britain and sold in supermarket chains including Tesco and Aldi.

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Combet writes off leadership talk

Labor MP Greg Combet has written off speculation over the party's leadership as "media excitement". Source: AAP

KEY Labor frontbencher Greg Combet has written off speculation over the party's leadership as "media excitement".

The breaking of the agreement between the Australian Greens and Prime Minister Julia Gillard and a dive in the polls for Labor have renewed talk of a change of leadership ahead of the September 14 election.

But caucus members have differing views on which strategy to take - the prime minister standing firm, a "bloodless" replacement of Ms Gillard by Kevin Rudd, or the less likely option of workplace relations minister Bill Shorten.

However the prevailing view - held by senior ministers including Mr Shorten, Treasurer Wayne Swan, Senate leader Stephen Conroy and Mr Combet - is that they stick with Ms Gillard.

Mr Rudd has consistently ruled out a challenge following his failure to win a caucus ballot in February 2012.

Asked whether Ms Gillard's leadership was safe, Mr Combet told ABC Radio: "Of course it is."

"I'm a strong supporter of the prime minister and despite all of the media excitement we are getting on with governing," he said.

Mr Combet told the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) conference on the Gold Coast on Wednesday it was a "tough time" for Labor.

"We know that times are tough in the Labor Party and the government at the moment.

"I don't need to tell you about the polls, and some of the challenges we've got ... but when confronted with tough times, the tough get going.

"We've got to get going across the labour movement."

Suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson, who remains close to a number of caucus members in both the Rudd and Gillard camps, said it was a "challenging time".

"I don't think it's any secret that there is counting going on," he told AAP on Wednesday.

He said Mr Shorten and his AWU-right faction base was the key to the leadership.

"Once the AWU switches its view, it's all over," Mr Thomson said.

"But Shorten is a movable feast on this.

"Bill will do what is in Bill's interest and if he thinks he can save it, that is what he will do.

"But I wouldn't discount him bringing back Rudd.

"He will make sure he is on the winning side."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Labor was focused on bringing down the prime minister rather than governing.

"What is happening in the Labor party at the moment has nothing to do with the Australian people and everything to do with the faceless men who run the Labor party," he told reporters in Melbourne after touring a factory.

Asked about Mr Shorten's prospects, Mr Abbott said: "Bill has a very high opinion about himself."

Earlier, Mr Abbott signalled the coalition was preparing for a possible change of Labor leader.

Asked on Fairfax Radio if it had a strategy to deal with such an eventuality, Mr Abbott said: "That's a fair judgment."

Mr Shorten this week told the AWU conference Ms Gillard was a "tough leader for tough times".

"I know from my conversations with plenty of people we're united in terms of supporting Julia Gillard as leader," he told delegates.

Left-faction powerbroker and minister Mark Butler said the party was locked in behind Julia Gillard.

"I'm not for turning," Mr Butler told ABC radio.

"I think we've made it clear ... this matter was resolved 12 months ago in February.

"I think Kevin (Rudd) himself has probably now run out of metaphors for cooling things down."

Mr Butler said the solution to the government's poll woes was to focus on good policy.

"I'm confident that if we do that in the lead-in to the election we will be very competitive at the election," he said.

However, the minister conceded that some caucus members were backgrounding journalists about the leadership.

"It's important we all focus on the issues that affect the daily lives of voters ... rather than the internal machinations of one party or another and the several dozen opinion polls that we are going to have to endure between now and September," Mr Butler said.

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We've cleared the air on Labor deal: Milne

AUSTRALIAN Greens leader Christine Milne says she's "cleared the air" by attacking the federal Labor government for walking away from its agreement with the minor party.

Senator Milne has accused Labor of choosing to support big miners and no longer honouring the agreement to work together to promote transparent and accountable government in the national interest.

At the National Press Club on Tuesday, she said it had been very obvious for a while that Labor had walked away from the deal.

Among the examples she cited were the government's refusal to fix the mining tax, its decision to allow mining in the Tarkine in Tasmania, to expand coal seam gas mining and to cut single parent welfare.

"All of these actions undermine that fundamental agreement," Senator Milne told Sky News.

"I thought it was time we just cleared the air, said they've walked away and frankly the response from some of them shows they have walked away."

Asked if the agreement was still in place, Senator Milne said it was "on paper".

"But you can see from the Labor party's point of view it is not, and in a parliamentary scenario it is important to be very clear about the relationships," she said.

Senator Milne the Greens would still support supply bills and oppose no-confidence motions.

But it was dishonest of the government to pretend it was working in the public interest with the Greens, she said.

"The policies they are coming out with are the antithesis of that," she said.

Senator Milne later told ABC TV the Greens' 2010 deal to support a Labor minority government was with Ms Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan.

If Labor was to change leaders and potentially return to Kevin Rudd, Senator Milne said it would be "new territory".

"If they are not there, then there is no agreement," she said.

"Whoever Labor were to elect to the leadership, it would be up to them if they wanted to negotiate a new agreement or not."

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Armenian president wins second term

ARMENIAN President Serzh Sarkisian has celebrated a crushing victory in elections for a second five-year mandate but his rival alleges violations and observers say the polls lacked competition.

Sarkisian, a shrewd former military officer in power since 2008, won Monday's polls in the small ex-Soviet state nestled in the Caucasus mountains between Turkey and Iran with 58.64 per cent of the votes.

His nearest rival, former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian trailed in a distant second place with 36.75 per cent of votes, the central election commission said after counting results from all precincts.

"These elections have again shown that the Armenian people can unite and take the right decision at the most important moments," Sarkisian told supporters at his campaign headquarters on Tuesday.

"I am proud and hope that all who did not vote for me understand the choice of the majority and we develop the country under a stable situation," he said.

Hovannisian's camp alleged a range of sometimes bizarre electoral violations, including the use of "disappearing ink" to allow multiple voting.

"These were shameful elections with a huge number of violations," said Hovannisian's spokesman Hovsep Khurshudian.

Hovannisian said Sarkisian should acknowledge the elections were a victory not for him but for the Armenian people.

"The people were victorious by making clear their will in the elections," he told reporters during the count.

Observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said the elections were an improvement on past polls but lacked genuine competition.

"Competition is critical if Armenia is going to live up to the aspirations of its people for a vibrant and engaging democracy," said Tonino Picula, the head of the mission."

The observers said the voting process was well organised but confirmed the inking of passports "did not provide the intended safeguard against multiple voting as the ink could easily be wiped off."

The authorities had been hoping for a peaceful and internationally-praised process that would improve the country's chances of European integration.

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