Another Tamil man sets himself on fire

ANOTHER Tamil man has set himself alight, the latest in a spate of self-immolation cases involving asylum seekers who fear being sent back to Sri Lanka.

THE 40-year-old man splashed himself with petrol and ignited it, but his housemates intervened and managed to put out the fire.

It happened late on Friday at a home in the Melbourne suburb of Noble Park, according to a statement from the Tamil Refugee Council.There were similar incidents in May, when Leo Seemanpillai burned to death outside his Geelong home, and also in April when a Sydney-based Tamil man also set himself alight but survived with burns to 75 per cent of his body.In the latest case, the man suffered burns to his legs and was taken by ambulance to Dandenong Hospital."We are very lucky on this occasion that the man's housemates were aware of what he was planning to do otherwise we may have had another death on our hands," council spokesperson Sri Samy said."I have had seven young men tell me in the past few weeks that they are thinking of doing this."They are fearful of being sent back to Sri Lanka and say they would prefer to die here than be sent back to torture, which is what the Australian government is doing to many Tamil asylum seekers."The man involved in this latest case came to Australia by boat in 2012, and he was on a bridging visa awaiting assessment of his asylum claim.He fled Sri Lanka, leaving his wife and daughter behind, after security police broke his legs.The council said last week he had learned his brother, held in a Sri Lankan prison for four years, had disappeared and was feared dead.The man feared the same fate if returned to Sri Lanka."The previous Labor government, and the current Coalition government, have sent back more than 1000 Tamil asylum-seekers under an enhanced screening process," Mrs Samy also said."That does not allow time for proper assessment of asylum claims."She called on Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to alleviate fear among Tamil asylum seekers by granting protection to genuine refugees.* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467

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Royals defend apartment spending

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Jamie's fruit and veg rotten

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Asylum seeker sets himself on fire

ANOTHER Tamil man has set himself alight, the latest in a spate of self-immolation cases involving asylum seekers who fear being sent back to Sri Lanka.

LIVE: Bomber blitz stuns Crows

ESSENDON burst out of the blocks with seven goals in the first quarter to build a commanding lead over Adelaide at Etihad Stadium. JOIN THE LIVE CHAT

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Hendra virus kills NSW horse

Hendra virus has killed a horse in northern NSW, causing authorities to quarantine a property. Source: AAP

HENDRA virus has killed a horse in northern NSW, causing authorities to quarantine a property as they run tests on its stablemates and the five people who handled the animal.

IT'S the first case of Hendra discovered in NSW this year.

"The 31-year-old stockhorse gelding died overnight on Thursday after being found in a dam earlier that day and receiving treatment from a private veterinarian for very low body temperature," NSW deputy chief vet Therese Wright said in a statement."Three people who handled the horse plus the veterinarian and an assistant are being assessed and monitored by NSW Health."In recent weeks no horses have moved off the property, west of Murwillumbah, and there are no dogs or cats about, Ms Wright added.The paddock where the horse was kept "has regular flying fox activity," she said.Horses are believed to contract the Hendra virus from feed contaminated by urine, saliva or birthing fluids from flying foxes."Do not place feed and water under trees and cover feed and water containers with a shelter so they cannot be contaminated from above," Ms Wright said.Hendra virus was found in four horses and a dog across four separate mid-north coast properties last year."Winter is the season when horses have been infected with Hendra in NSW in the past so now is the time to get a vaccine booster for your horse," Ms Wright said.In Queensland four people have been killed by Hendra virus since 1994.And in December councils across the state were given permission to trim trees and use smoke, lights and loud noises to drive flying fox colonies away from urban areas without needing a permit."If a horse becomes sick, owners should contact their veterinarian immediately," Ms Wright warned.

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Thai govt to mediate in Aussie's case

THAILAND'S foreign ministry is pressing for a mediated settlement in a bid to end a legal conflict between the Royal Thai Navy and an Australian journalist who faces a possible lengthy jail term over defamation charges.

ALAN Morison, originally from Melbourne, and Thai reporter Chutima Sidasathian face jail terms of up to seven years on the charges of criminal defamation and breaches of the Computer Crimes Act.

The charges came after Morison, editor of the online English language news service, PhuketWan, in July last year republished excerpts of a Thomson Reuters report alleging the involvement of Thai navy personnel in the trafficking of ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.The navy later launched a case against Morison and Chutima, but only recently began legal proceedings against Thomson Reuters and its reporters, who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.Morison and Chutima made brief court appearances last month, but no pleas were entered. Their next court appearance is scheduled for March 18, 2015.But a senior Thai foreign ministry official, Songsak Saicheu, director-general of the Americas Department, says the ministry is working closely with the Thai navy and the Australian embassy in a bid to settle the matter out of court.Mr Songsak told reporters the four-way consultations would include the navy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Australian embassy, and Morison."So the navy is ready to consider any possibility that if anything can be settled out of court, of both parties are satisfied with the conversation, with the deal, together it can be possible," Songsak said.Thailand's National Human Rights Commission had also taken steps to mediate between the journalists and the navy. But talks previously scheduled for May 23 were scuttled a day after the Thai military staged a coup d'etat.The foreign ministry's stance comes as Thailand is under pressure from the US over its rights and human trafficking performance in recent years, and faces a possible downgrade with the release of the State Department's 2014 "Trafficking in Persons" report.Morison welcomed the Thai ministry's intervention in the case."Any possibility of an outcome at which we could all walk away content would be excellent," Morison told AAP."It would be great. If the (Thai) foreign ministry is working behind the scenes and taken note of what's been said in Washington that would be fantastic. That's really good news," he said.The Thai National Human Rights Commission has rescheduled a mediation meeting of the parties for July 7.

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WA Police charge former hostel warden

CHILD abuse squad detectives have charged a 69-year-old West Australian man, who is currently in prison, with two additional charges relating to historic child sex offences.

POLICE allege the offences occurred between 1975 and 1988 when the offender was a warden at a regional WA hostel.

He is expected to appear in the Katanning Magistrates Court on July 15.

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PM not concerned about ministers' safety

Last updated: June 20, 2014

THE government isn't concerned about the safety of its members, despite reports four ministers have had their security detail beefed-up, the prime minister says.

Palmer sues Seeney for $1.1m

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Man exposes himself to teen girl

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Baby in HIV test after breast milk mix-up

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Cop facing drug charges

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Rudd hired ex-Obama staffers

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Palmer sues Seeney for $1.1m

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Chobani yogurt 'not Greek' — lawsuit

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Late Mail: News on Hoppa, Hodko, Gal, Scott

WILL Hopoate and Paul Gallen set to play, Trent Hodkinson in massive doubt, Matt Scott and Michael Jennings out for six weeks.

South Melbourne pub ahead of its time

REVIEW: O'CONNELL'S calls itself "the original gastronomic pub". I'm not able to verify the accuracy of that, but one thing's for sure: this is a corner hotel that sets the bar very high.

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Labor, coalition fight for rural affection

IF you believe Labor, they are the party for farmers and rural Australia.

IF you believe the government, that's a complete joke.

Parliament took a country tone on Thursday when Labor's agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon brought on debate about the budget's impact on regional Australia.He was concerned about the fuel excise hike's impact on rural residents, which he says will go down as the Abbott government's "worst broken promise".Mr Fitzgibbon is behind Labor's new "country caucus" made up of regional MPs and senators who will influence party policy on rural issues.Labor has long been a champion of the bush, given it was partly born out of the shearing sheds of rural Queensland, Mr Fitzgibbon told AAP."Country Labor has been successful in NSW and it can be successful nationally," he said in a statement.But the coalition is having none of that.Liberal MP Dan Tehan derided Mr Fitzgibbon's topic for debate, given it came just after its country caucus was publicly announced."That's why we have this (debate) here today," he said."What an absolute joke."Mr Tehan said the country caucus came too late."You all should be ashamed of yourself, starting in the year 2014 a regional caucus and coming in here telling us who should stand up for regional and rural Australia."Nationals deputy leader Barnaby Joyce joined in the derision.If there was a friend for regional Australia, it was clear which side of the chamber they would find them in, he said.

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Carr dishes up conundrum for NSW govt

EIGHT years after ending his reign over NSW, Bob Carr is still giving the state Liberals a headache.

THIS time, he's forced Premier Mike Baird to reconvene a "slimmed-down" joint sitting of parliament.

The procedure is so the former premier and foreign minister can be excused from the Senate and return to private life.Mr Baird was left with a conundrum after Mr Carr decided to retire from federal politics despite winning his Senate seat last year.The premier received legal advice that Mr Carr's resignation wasn't constitutional and a joint sitting of the NSW parliament was needed to replace him.But the problem was parliament was on Thursday preparing to close its doors for its winter recess and not planning to sit again until August, well after the July 1 date of the new Senate term.The premier eventually decided to hold a very short joint sitting session in July, which would only last a few minutes, to sort the issue out.Once that happens, Labor's Deb O'Neill will formally replace Mr Carr in the Senate.

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Ferry fraudster Smith 'had no choice'

Last updated: June 19, 2014

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No straights here — just gays

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Therapy need sent abuser abroad: Marists

Last updated: June 18, 2014

THE former head of the Marist brothers in Australia has denied he made a hasty decision to put a prolific child sex abuser on a plane to Canada three days after it became known police were investigating him.

Machete-wielding men spark siege

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Blog: Qld lead after torrid start

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Celebs that get mistaken for other celebs

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Blog: Qld lead after torrid start

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Men and makeup? Yep, it's a thing

DON'T be surprised if you bump into a bloke next time you're shopping for makeup. More Aussie men use skincare and makeup in their grooming routines.

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PM Abbott steps up budget pitch

The Abbott government plans to send out almost 2.5 million newsletters to win over pensioners. Source: AAP

THE Abbott government is planning to send out almost 2.5 million newsletters to win over pensioners on controversial budget measures.

BUT Labor, which has taken a solid lead in the polls on the back of budget unrest, has criticised the campaign as misleading.

The News for Seniors newsletter - which was also produced under Labor - will include information on age pension payments, the change of indexation from 2017, the rise in the pension age and the introduction of the Medicare GP co-payment.Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told parliament the government would be wasting taxpayer money if it went ahead with the newsletter."Does the prime minister seriously expect the people of Australia to believe him when he said this is an honest budget?" he said on Wednesday.Prime Minister Tony Abbott said any letter that went to pensioners would only include truthful information, unlike that being peddled by Labor.He pointed to a newsletter from Mr Shorten which said the carbon tax would be abolished under Labor."He is a serial deceiver of the Australian people," Mr Abbott said.Labor frontbencher Stephen Jones told parliament the Liberal MP for the NSW seat of Hume, Angus Taylor, had issued a newsletter stating: "The GP co-payment will not apply to those who cannot afford to pay.""PM, why are you, your MPs and ministers continuing to tell falsehoods about the budget?" Mr Jones asked.Mr Abbott said the co-payment "should hardly hurt at all", but would make the health system sustainable.The prime minister and Treasurer Joe Hockey described the budget as facing a "crisis" if Labor did not back budget-related bills.Labor and the Greens on Wednesday rejected for a second time a government bill abolishing the Clean Energy Finance Corporation funded by the carbon tax.Under the constitution, the government can use the rejection to trigger the dissolution of both houses of parliament and call an election.Mr Hockey said the government would bring the carbon tax repeal bills back to parliament next week.Greens leader Christine Milne challenged the government to bring on an election."If you are so convinced that ignoring climate change is the way to go, go to an election on it," she said.The prime minister also moved to head off an internal battle over his paid parental leave scheme.Mr Abbott is under fire from some coalition colleagues who want to make the leave scheme less generous or delay it until the economy improves."There's quite a lot of time to put legislation in parliament," he said, adding the government's immediate priority was to repeal the carbon and mining taxes and legislate the budget.

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Australia 'on notice' to protect reef

Leonardo DiCaprio has spoken of the devastation he's witnessed on the Great Barrier Reef. Source: AAP

THE World Heritage Committee has given Australia seven months to prove it is protecting the Great Barrier Reef or risk having the reef listed as in danger.

UN cultural agency UNESCO warned Australia of the "serious decline in the condition" of the reef and said "a business as usual approach to managing the property is not an option".

UNESCO's annual World Heritage Committee meeting in Doha on Wednesday called on Australia to submit a report on its actions by February 1, 2015.A decision will be assessed on whether Australia has implemented a list of recommendations set out by the committee in 2012.In documents presented at the meeting on Wednesday, UNESCO raised particular concern about the approval in December of the Abbot Point coal port and allowing the dumping of three million tonnes of dredge waste within the marine park waters.Any in-danger listing for the reef would admit Australia to an undesirable club that includes the likes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has all five of its World Heritage sites on the danger list.The committee welcomed progress made by Australia, specifically around water quality and its endorsement of a 2013 Reef Water Quality Protection Plan.Australia's intention to restrict future developments to current port blueprints along the Queensland coast was also commended.But the committee added that because the Queensland Ports Strategy could not be applied retrospectively, Australia needed to ensure developments outside these areas are not approved.It requested Australia ensure the decision to dump the spoil offshore wouldn't impact the reef's "overall universal value" and was the least damaging option available.WWF-Australia spokesman Richard Leck, who attended the Doha meeting, says the committee has effectively put Australia on notice to prove it is protecting the reef."The committee has stood firm on the need for stronger reef protection," he told AAP."They've really put the government on notice that they need to lift their game."Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche says the committee has delivered a vote of confidence in Australia's management of the reef."The decision is global acknowledgment that Australia is on track to deliver a long-term plan for conservation of the Great Barrier Reef's outstanding universal value," he said.Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the World Heritage Committee had recognised the significant work and progress made by the state and federal governments in managing and protecting the reef.He said protecting the reef was an "ongoing challenge" but he's confident Australia is up to the task.The state and federal governments jointly contribute $180 million a year to protecting the reef, including work toward improving water quality, he said.Mr Hunt said the decision to approve the Abbot Point project complied with Australia's obligations under the World Heritage Convention and was subject to rigorous environmental assessment.

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Bitcoin faces biggest threat yet

THE bitcoin digital currency system is in danger of losing its credibility as an independent payment system because of the growing power of a group that runs some of the computers behind it.

IN recent weeks, a British-based "mining pool" called GHash has amassed nearly half of the Bitcoin computing power and has briefly gone over 50 per cent. Miners operate the computers that keep track of bitcoins and create additional coins.

Miners pool their computing power to spread the financial risk of their operations. If GHash amasses more than half of the computing power devoted to bitcoin, it could in theory control the flow of transactions, freeze people out of the network and keep all future bitcoins for itself.Although GHash says it's committed to preserving bitcoin as a trustable technology, the mere fact that one player can amass majority control could undermine trust in the currency, which is worth only what people are willing to pay for it."The entire premise of bitcoin relies on the fact that no single authority would control the majority of the mining power," said Ittay Eyal, a Cornell University researcher who studies bitcoin vulnerabilities.The value of bitcoins has fallen 6 per cent in a week to around $US600 ($A649) as the threat posed by GHash has become clearer, although the decline is within the range of normal fluctuations for the volatile currency.Bitcoins allow people to send money over the internet without going through banks. This means transaction costs are low, but it also means they're useful for illegal activities such as money laundering and drug sales.Bitcoins have also become a target of speculators betting on a continued run-up in the currency. Its value has grown a hundredfold over two years.From a technical standpoint, bitcoins are sequences of numbers, painstakingly produced by computers churning through millions of calculations. Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a virtual public ledger, known as the blockchain. Miners are in charge of maintaining the blockchain. As their computers perform the calculations to do that, the process rewards them with newly minted bitcoins.A single mining computer might take years to produce a single block of coins, and there's no way to know when that might happen. In pools, miners divide the bitcoins they create among themselves in proportion to the work done, providing with them with a steadier stream of income. The pools aren't created to threaten the trust placed in bitcoin; it's a side effect of the pool's growth.GHash is controlled by a British company, CEX.IO Ltd. The company said in a statement on Monday that it wants to protect bitcoin, but it doesn't want to turn away people from the pool or impose other temporary solutions to back away from the 50 per cent threshold.GHash said it's arranging a "round table" meeting of key players in the bitcoin system in July to "with the aim of discussing and negotiating collectively ways to address the decentralisation of mining as an industry".

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Most trusted also the most abused

New figures show assaults on Australia's paramedics are set to reach record levels in 2014. Source: AAP

THEY have retained their status as Australia's most trusted professionals.

BUT paramedics are still among the most attacked and abused workers, according to new figures that show assaults on NSW ambos are set to reach record levels in 2014.

Since January 1, there have been 81 physical and verbal assaults on NSW paramedics - many of them carried out by boozed-up patients who lashed out at the very people trying to help them.The figures for the first half of 2014 are already well on course to surpass the 133 assaults on NSW paramedics recorded in 2013. There were 89 assaults in 2012.It comes as paramedics were named Australia's most trusted professionals for the 10th year in a row in Reader's Digest annual trust index, published on Monday.Firefighters were second, followed by rescue volunteers, nurses and doctors.But trust for paramedics is clearly not translating into respect from all quarters of the community.Among the more appalling attacks on paramedics in recent months, a female ambo was punched to the ground and kicked by a man she was trying to treat in Sydney's CBD in February.And in March, four paramedics were attacked in 24 hours.The incidents included a 50-year-old man who punched a paramedic in the face near Ryde and a man who punched a paramedic in the stomach after trying to break into an ambulance at Campbelltown.Two paramedics were threatened by a 33-year-old man who tried to punch them as they treated him at a Dee Why home.The Ambulance Service of NSW welcomed the retention of its `must trusted' status but said the attacks must stop."Even though the community trusts paramedics more than any other group of people, paramedics themselves can unfortunately be assaulted physically or verbally while trying to perform their job," it said.

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French train workers clash with police

Last updated: June 17, 2014

FRENCH riot police have fired tear gas at striking train workers, who hurled bottles and blocked traffic in anger over a bill to reform the state-run railway system.

Panther cleared of striking charge

SOUTH Adelaide's Peter Rolfe is free to front Central District on Saturday after being cleared of a striking charge by the SANFL tribunal.

MasterChef teen vs cooking giant

IT was a David and Goliath moment on MasterChef tonight, with one of the show's young guns facing off against a pro. So who won? (SPOILER ALERT)

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Afghan bomb kills 11 amid vote fraud claim

Legal brothels on struggle street

CHEAP street walkers are soliciting on Queensland streets at night, leaving legal brothels battling to stay afloat.

QLD News

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Tollbuster Bob never pays to ride

A DEFIANT pensioner has made a stand against electronic road tolls and appears to be getting away without paying anything at all.

QLD News

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England's embarrassing World Cup injury

ENGLAND'S players escaped without injury in the match against Italy, but the same can't be said for the team's unfortunate physio.

World Cup

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Cherry-Evans out of time as Hunt firms

DALY Cherry-Evans appears unlikely to play for Queensland in Origin II after failing to train in a crucial Sunday morning opposed session.

Maroons

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Aboriginal boy in nappies locked in police van

A photographer from News Corp Australia's Centralian Advocate, Justin Brierty, took this photo outside a notorious block of Alice Springs flats on Thursday afternoon.

NSW

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Nicole Kidman for top Shanghai honour

NICOLE Kidman is to be honoured with an outstanding contribution award at the Shanghai International Film Festival in China.

HUGH Grant and John Woo will present the Australian actress with her latest accolade at the opening ceremony on Saturday, while artist Qin Yi will honour actor and director Jiang Wen with the Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Film Award.

Kidman will be hoping the festival will be a better experience than her visit to Cannes last month, when her new film Grace of Monaco was savaged by critics.Kirsten Dunst, John Cusack, Hayden Christensen, Jackie Chan, Tony Leung, Li Bingbing and Korean superstar Rain are expected to attend the opening gala, according to The Hollywood Reporter.The film festival will open with a restored version of 1964 movie Two Stage Sisters and close with Transformers: Age of Extinction.A jury led by actress Gong Li will decide the winner of the Golden Goblet from the 15 films in competition.

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Get out of Iraq now, warns Bishop

Australia ready to help with humanitarian crisis in Iraq, but no troops envisaged says Julie Bishop. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS have been told to leave Iraq immediately by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who has described the escalating crisis as deeply disturbing.

INSURGENTS from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have taken a swathe of mostly Sunni Arab territory in northern Iraq in an offensive that has brought fighting to within 80km of Baghdad.

The worsening crisis prompted Ms Bishop to urge Australians to leave "immediately".

"The airport in Baghdad is still open. Commercial flights are still operating out of Baghdad," she told the Ten Network. 

"But if Australians must stay in Iraq, they must ensure that their personal circumstances and their security is absolutely safe." 

The Australian embassy in Baghdad would be "very constrained" in the support it could provide, she said. 

On Saturday US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered an aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf as President Barack Obama considers possible military options, after he ruled out sending troops into Iraq. 

Speaking to reporters in Houston, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he would wait to see how the US responds to the situation before developing an Australian response. 

Ms Bishop said the US would take the lead when it came to any military action. 

"I didn't envisage a circumstance where we would be sending in troops," she said. 

"But we certainly stand ready to support the humanitarian crisis should a request be made." 

She defended the 2003 military intervention in the country, which she supported as a member of the Howard Government. 

"I thought Saddam Hussein was one of the worst dictators on the planet at that time. His removal was a good thing," she said. 

Greens leader Christine Milne said following the US into Iraq was not going to "fix" the violence in the country. 

"We do not want to follow the United States blindly as John Howard did (in 2003)," Senator Milne told ABC Television. 

"Clearly it didn't work last time in Iraq and it won't work this time." 

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