Austinville fire victim named

POLICE have named a man whose charred body was found after a suspicious fire in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Sultan Alamri's remains were found by bushwalkers after a fire burned through bush off Mount Nimmel Road at Austinville on October 17.

The 30-year-old was a Saudi national who had been residing on the Gold Coast since 2009.

Police had identified him last week, but did not release his name until his family had been notified.

Mr Alamri was last seen on the evening of October 6, and his body was located in bushland at Mount Nimmel Road, Austinville at midday on October 17.

Police said his body was very close to where the fire started, but the blaze was not the cause of death.

Anyone who has had contact with Mr Alamri over the past year, or who may have information on the whereabouts of the vehicle he was driving is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

It is believed Mr Alamri was driving a 2000 Model Red/Maroon Toyota Avalon Conquest Sedan, with registration 927 RXV.

Officers made extensive enquires after finding his body, including trawling through missing person's databases and interviewing the families of missing people, but failed to identify him.

After five days police let the media view jewellery found near the body in the hope that someone would recognise it.

The items included an imitation Gucci belt buckle, an earring with four separate diamonds, a sterling silver ring and a chain necklace believed to be made from nine-carat gold.

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73 at-risk children die in Queensland

A QUEENSLAND child who had been placed in the care of an alleged sex offender was one of scores of children known to the state's child protection system who died in the year to July.

The Queensland Child Death Case Review Committee's 2011/12 annual report shows 73 children - from babies to 17-year-olds - died in the year who were known to the Department of Child Safety, eight more than the year before.

Of the 73, 27 died of disease or morbid conditions, five died of sudden infant death syndrome and undetermined causes, 11 perished in transport incidents, five drowned, four were fatally assaulted, and six committed suicide, one of whom was just nine years old.

The committee commended the department for carrying out "sufficiently comprehensive" responses to 63 of the children while they were alive. It said a further six cases were sufficient but contained minor errors.

But the department's responses to four cases were found to be insufficient.

In one of the four cases, a child was placed, without adequate investigation, with a relative who had a history of sexual abuse allegations.

The department's response was found lacking in the other three cases because staff did not appropriately analyse the risks of domestic violence and substance misuses.

The report found the "actions or inactions of the service system were linked" to the death of a four-month-old child who died from a medical condition.

The baby had been classified as very high risk even before its birth because its siblings had extensive history with the department.

The department failed to visit the baby at home after its birth, despite knowing the home was rife with domestic violence, illicit drug abuse, physical harm and neglect of children's basic needs.

Of the 73 children who died, 61 were living at home, four were in hospital, four were with foster carers, one was in a residential facility, two were living independently and one was self-placed.

Many of the families had complex multiple issues. Some 42 children had one or both parents with a criminal history, 41 families had domestic violence issues, 40 parents misused substances, and 24 parents had mental health issues.

Eight of the children had contact with the youth justice system, with four having spent time in a youth detention centre.

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Sheep farmer calls for Pakistan boycott

PAKISTAN should be permanently boycotted as a market for Australian live exports, a West Australian sheep farmer says.

Bob Ilffa, from the Wheatbelt town of Newdegate, made the comment as the industry braced for an ABC Four Corners program on the recent inhumane slaughter of about 22,000 Australian sheep in Pakistan on health concerns.

The sheep were in limbo for over a month after they were rejected in Bahrain, but further health fears in Pakistan led to them being brutally killed - in some cases buried alive - in two stages.

The culls came after repeated proof by independent veterinarians that the sheep were healthy.

The Fremantle-based exporter Wellard expressed shock when the second cull was ordered on October 20, despite promises from local authorities a day earlier that the remaining sheep would be slaughtered humanely.

The pledge came after the company agreed to drop a court injunction seeking to overturn the government-ordered cull.

Wellard immediately suspended exports to Pakistan, which had only ever been considered a contingent market.

Sheepmeat Council of Australia said it was an isolated, unusual turn of events that led to a totally unacceptable outcome.

But Mr Iffla went a step further, saying he would never send sheep to Pakistan again.

"There's no way my sheep will ever be going to Pakistan," he told AAP on Monday.

Mr Iffla said he was in agreement with animal liberationists in calling for the Pakistan market to be snubbed, but did not believe an end to live exports elsewhere was feasible, given the need among many nations to secure protein via imports.

He said he was extremely disappointed with the way the sheep had been killed, especially considering a modern abattoir was readily accessible.

Instead, the animals were clubbed and had their throats roughly slashed in a dusty feedlot.

"Pakistan has done the wrong thing by the industry," Mr Iffla said.

"It's absolutely appalling behaviour by the Pakistanis, who I don't believe we can continue to deal with (the country) because it's just going to wreck the whole live animal trade."

Mr Iffla said his sheep were currently breeding so another wave of lambs was on the way, but after that, he would rethink his business, producing less meat or even focusing on agriculture.

"I don't know where we're going," he said.

"I'm certainly thinking of changing my program to some degree because if we can't make the profit out of live sheep in the manner that we have been, we're going to have to diversify into other areas."

The Queensland Greens reiterated calls to ban live exports, saying it was not within Australia's power to control what happened to livestock once they were outside the country.

Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon wants the federal government to end the trade through the Live Animal Export (Slaughter) Prohibition Bill 2012, but that appears destined to fail in the Senate.

Labor senator Glenn Sterle last month said the Greens were suggesting that with abattoirs back in the north and a boxed meat market in place, everything would be "tickety-boo".

Mr Iffla also said Australia should stop providing aid to Pakistan because of the cull.

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Prince jetlagged but in good spirits

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have left Longreach for Victoria. Source: AAP

THE Prince of Wales says it is worth feeling "a few sausages short of a barbie" from jetlag to be Down Under to celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee.

Sporting an Akubra he received at the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, Prince Charles told 300 guests at a community barbecue in Longreach of the fond recollections he has of the country, particularly the outback.

He said memories of funnel-web spiders, kangaroos and scorching heat on cross-country runs are still vivid from his time at Geelong Grammar School in Melbourne in 1966.

Charles said the "bonza barbie" was a great way to start the Australian leg of his Pacific tour with wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall after arriving in northern Queensland on Monday afternoon from Papua New Guinea.

"Even though ... I'm so jetlagged that I feel a few sausages short of a barbie, it is a great joy to be back in Australia again," he said to raucous laughter.

But he said a lot had changed since he first travelled to Australia, particularly attitudes.

"In those days... the place seemed to be full of people rushing headlong into bars to down whole lines of schooners before early closing," he said.

"Now the latest figures reveal Aussies attend more cultural events than any head of population, than any nation on earth, and they also read more books."

Queensland Governor Penelope Wensley told the crowd the couple chose the ideal location for their visit to the state, given rural areas were where Queensland spirit and mateship shone brightest.

Premier Campbell Newman publicly thanked the royal family for their support during the state's floods and cyclones in 2011.

The royal couple stayed to meet local families before departing for Victoria in preparation for the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

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Man swept away fishing for abalone

THE opening of the abalone fishing season in Western Australia appears to have ended in tragedy, after a 20-year-old Malaysian man was washed away into rough seas while trying to snare the rare marine delicacy.

Despite high winds and rough seas, dozens of people were on the shoreline at Yanchep Lagoon and Mullaloo north of Perth early on Sunday, as one of the world's shortest recreational fishing seasons opened.

And the fears of surf life savers, who posted personnel at both spots in case of emergency, were realised after 15 people had to be rescued from the waters - and one remained missing.

A massive search involving three helicopters, specialist police divers, local police and marine rescue volunteers was launched, and continued all day.

It is understood the missing man was not wearing safety equipment when he was washed away.

The search was hampered by winds reaching 30 knots and swells up to 2.5 metres high.

The search was set to continue until dark, and then recommence on Monday morning, depending on conditions.

Police said the man, who was in a group of four, went missing between 7:30am and 8am (WST) after getting caught in a rip.

The three male survivors, two aged 29 and the other 24, were taken to Joondalup Health Campus and kept overnight.

Yanchep Surf Life Saving Club president John Heesters said another four people had to be rescued in the first 10 minutes of the abalone season opening, with 12 rescued at the shoreline 55km north of Perth.

Three more were rescued at Mullaloo.

Abalone are reef-dwelling marine snails, and in Western Australia are the target of a lucrative export commercial fishery as well as the restricted recreational fishing season.

The Department of Fisheries decreed this year's season would consist of a one-hour window from 7am to 8am on the first Sunday of every month until March 2013.

A licence to fish for abalone is required, with about 20,000 recreational licences issued each year.

WA Emergency Services Minister Troy Buswell said it was essential for fishers to ensure their own safety.

"Our coastline is very dangerous in Western Australia. The sea is very unpredictable and people need to be extremely cautious," he said.

"The sad reality is a number of people are lost at sea on an annual basis in our state."

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Would-be immigrants die in shipwreck

ITALIAN coastguards have reportedly retrieved the bodies of three would-be immigrants from the Mediterranean between the Libyan coast and the Italian island of Lampedusa after their boat got into trouble.

Coastguards also assisted 62 men and eight women, one of them pregnant, who were taken to an Italian navy vessel and were expected on Lampedusa later on Sunday.

News agency ANSA did not give the nationalities of the three dead women or the people rescued.

Two coastguard ships were continuing the search 56km off the Libyan coast and 225km from Lampedusa.

Italian authorities moved after a call for help made by satellite phone, and informed colleagues in Libya and Malta.

The stricken boat was later spotted by a Maltese plane.

In September a boat carrying more than 100 Tunisian migrants sank off Lampedusa. Rescue services only managed to pull 56 people to safety and the others were lost at sea.

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US police chopper crashes, 2 dead

AUTHORITIES say an Atlanta police helicopter searching for a missing 9-year-old child has crashed in the city during the night, killing the two officers aboard.

Police spokesman Carlos Campos told The Associated Press by phone the helicopter went down about 10.30 pm Saturday at an intersection of two major highways in the city's northwestern reaches.

Campos said authorities did not yet know details of the events leading up to the crash.

He said they were working with federal aviation officials on the scene. He says no one was hurt or killed on the ground.

A photograph aired on a local TV newscast showed what appeared to be flaming debris in a roadway.

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Samsung sells 30m Galaxy S III smartphones

SAMSUNG Electronics says global sales of its flagship Galaxy S III smartphone have topped 30 million since its debut in May.

"The Galaxy S III continues to be a runaway favourite with customers around the world," JK Shin, head of Samsung's IT and mobile communications division, said in a statement on Sunday.

The third version of the Galaxy S series offers a more powerful processor that lets users watch video and write emails simultaneously as well as a large 12.2cm screen.

The company sold 56.3 million smartphones, including its flagship S III, in July-September, representing 31.3 per cent of the global market, more than twice as much as bitter rival Apple's share, research firm IDC said last month.

Samsung and US rival Apple have been embroiled in a long-running patent battle in 10 countries, including the United States and Germany, with the pair accusing each other of stealing designs and technology.

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Bomb kills Afghan police commander

OFFICIALS say a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan has killed a district police chief, as the insurgents increasingly target Afghan security forces amid the drawdown of foreign troops.

Ahmadulah Nazik, who is the administrator of Dand district in Kandahar province, said Rahmatullah Khan died on Saturday while trying to reach a police outpost under Taliban attack.

The killing comes a day after four policemen were shot dead in southern Helmand province by their own colleagues.

Taliban spokesman Qari Jusuf Ahmedi said the killers fled and joined the guerrillas.

The US-led NATO coalition is continuing its drawdown toward a planned withdrawal of the majority of combat troops in 2014.

Insider and other attacks have thrown doubt on the capabilities of the Afghans to maintain control after the transition.

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Navy frigate helps transport man

A SICK passenger has been airlifted from a cruise ship off the coast of Fremantle with the help of a navy frigate.

Crew on the MV Sea Princess contacted HMAS Toowoomba on Saturday morning to help transfer an elderly man suffering severe abdominal pains to hospital.

"We launched the ship's Seahawk helicopter at first light," said HMAS Toowoomba's commanding officer, Commander Brendon Zilko.

"The operation had a certain degree of difficulty as the Sea Princess doesn't have a landing pad, so we had to winch the patient off the deck and into the helicopter."

HMAS Toowoomba's doctor cared for the man as the helicopter flew 71 nautical miles to the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth.

The man is in a stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

"We are out here training for our next mission to the Middle East later this year," Cmdr Zilko said.

"I was very pleased with the way the crew handled a real-life emergency."

The MV Sea Princess has continued its passage to Adelaide.

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