Cops search for escaped detainee in shops

Police are still looking for a detainee who escaped from Serco guards in Perth's city centre. Source: AAP

POLICE have locked down a large part of Perth's city centre as they continue to search for a detainee who escaped from Serco guards while being transported.

A police spokesman told AAP it was not a Corrective Services matter and the person on the run was not a prisoner.

It is understood the detainee was being transported by Serco guards, possibly from Royal Perth Hospital, and escaped custody, running west along Murray Street.

Police have cordoned off the area and are searching for the detainee inside shops including the Myer department store and the Perth Cultural Centre.

Comment is being sought from the Immigration Department.

It has been a difficult time for Serco following a string of embarrassing escapes for the company contracted by the state government for prisoner transport and by the federal government for the transportation of detainees.

There have been four break-outs from the Yongah Hill detention centre in the past five months.

Two men also recently escaped from a prison van in Geraldton and a third man escaped from a Joondalup hospital while under the guard of Serco officers.

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2 bodies found after migrant boat sinks

GREEK officials say the bodies of a woman and an 11-year-old boy have been found a day after a fishing boat crammed with immigrants capsized in the dark, leaving 12 people feared drowned in the Aegean Sea.

A coastguard statement says the two bodies were found on Tuesday by authorities on the nearby Turkish coast.

The crippled vessel, whose engine failed as it was trying to reach Greece illegally, was being towed by a Greek patrol boat when it overturned.

Wednesday's statement says photos of the bodies were identified by some of the 16 survivors. Their nationalities were not announced.

The United Nations refugee agency has expressed dismay at the accident, urging Greece to investigate the circumstances.

Greek authorities say the boat capsized during a panic after two passengers dived overboard.

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Teen charged over attempted home invasion

A TEENAGER accused of threatening a middle-aged couple with a shotgun during an alleged attempted home invasion on the NSW south coast has been charged.

The 16-year-old allegedly pointed the gun at a man, 54, and a woman, 53, when they answered his knock on their Wollongong door in the early hours of Saturday.

"The male tried to gain entry, however, the occupants managed to close the door," police said in a statement.

On Tuesday police arrested the teenager at a Wollongong home.

He was charged with offences including special aggravated break and enter.

Bail has been refused for the teenager, who is due before Port Kembla Children's Court in late February.

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Big issues to deal with in Aust: Buttrose

AUSTRALIA has come a long way since Federation, but there are still many important issues to resolve, outgoing Australian of the Year Ita Buttrose says.

Attitudes towards the elderly, Aborigines, refugees and those suffering dementia could be improved, as could education, social reform and opportunities for women to make Australia a better and fairer nation, Ms Buttrose said during a half-hour speech on Tuesday in Sydney.

Australia should celebrate its development as a society and "the great social policies of which we should be so proud", she told a packed auditorium at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Ms Buttrose was optimistic about the future but she also expressed some worries during the 18th Australia Day address.

"I worry that our preoccupation with balanced budgets will lead to the chipping away of the things which protect the most vulnerable."

"As one of the wealthiest nations in the world, this would be unforgivable."

Ms Buttrose, the first female editor of a major metropolitan newspaper and the first woman director of News Limited Australia, reiterated her support for a legislated "quota system" to ensure a fairer representation of women on company boards.

A law should be introduced in Australia, similar to that passed in Norway in 2003, requiring companies to have women comprise at least 40 per cent of their senior executive, she said.

A passionate advocate against ageism and discrimination against dementia sufferers, Ms Buttrose said she would continue her work despite losing the "influential platform" of being Australian of the Year.

"I've never not found a way to make my point of view heard," she told reporters after the speech.

"It's very handy if you're on television. It's also handy if you're able to write for a living."

And after a busy year with formal duties and a busy media schedule, Ms Buttrose isn't slowing down.

She's working on a new book, but wasn't letting any details slip.

"No author worth their salt reveals their book beforehand," she said.

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UN makes 'mistake' on Iran: Russia

THE UN chief's decision to rescind the invitation to Iran to join this week's Syria peace talks was a mistake but not a catastrophe, Russia's foreign minister said Tuesday.

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SA fires continue, but Barossa gets Tour

Firefighters are continuing to battle SA blazes, which have destroyed 16 homes and 33 buildings. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS are still battling blazes across South Australia, which have been estimated to have caused $10 million worth of property damage.

But the Country Fire Service (CFS) says that only the Bangor fire in the Southern Flinders Ranges remains subject to a watch and act alert.

Premier Jay Weatherill on Monday afternoon visited the firegrounds at Eden Valley in the Barossa.

After being briefed by the CFS, he told journalists that property losses included 16 homes, 33 other buildings, about 18 vehicles, kilometres and kilometres of fencing and about 1700 head of stock.

Preliminary estimates put the damage loss at around $10 million, the premier said.

State forest loss in the state's mid-north was in the order of $7 million, he added.

The government was providing assistance and support to people at the 200 affected farm properties.

He repeated his thanks to the volunteer firefighters, saying their extraordinary and courageous effort meant many losses were averted in the face of a very frightening fire.

"There have been some incredible saves, but also some tragic losses," Mr Weatherill said.

Tour Down Under organisers earlier confirmed that stage one of the race would go ahead after earlier fears it might have to be cancelled due to the bushfires.

The two races are in the Barossa region and will finish at Angaston.

The premier said this was great news for people in the Barossa who had put up with a "very frightening and, in some cases, damaging experience" and who would now get to celebrate the race.

"It would have been a cruel thing if it was taken off them, just at a time when it was going to bring a lot of money into the economy," he said.

The race also would give them something happy to focus on, he added.

More than 445,000 hectares of grass, scrub, forest and bushlands has been burnt since fires started last Tuesday.

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Firefighters escape serious injury in NSW

FIREFIGHTERS in northern NSW have had a lucky escape from one of their trucks that caught alight in a sudden wind change.

Crews were protecting properties around Moree on Monday evening when a sudden wind change blew a fast-moving grass blaze towards a truck parked between homes and the fire front.

"The truck was engulfed in a matter of seconds, with firefighters quickly abandoning their vehicle and seeking refuge nearby from the fire," Fire and Rescue NSW commissioner Greg Mullins said in a statement.

"Trucks and equipment can be replaced but people cannot and I am thankful that no one has been injured in this incident."

There have been no confirmed property losses in the area.

A replacement vehicle has been sent from the New England region.

Firefighters will continue to battle the three-hectare fire throughout Monday night.

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World-first Vic fire station-refuge opens

RESIDENTS would be protected from a bushfire inferno more intense than Black Saturday at a dual fire station and refuge in an at-risk Victorian community, according to the premier.

The Blackwood community fire refuge and Country Fire Authority fire station is a first-of-its-kind concept that packs a double punch - fighting blazes and shielding locals forced to flee.

Opening the centre on Sunday, Premier Denis Napthine said he hoped it would never need to be used as a last-resort refuge, but said it was built to cope with hellish conditions.

"We're advised this would withstand as a refuge for people to save lives in the extreme conditions of the ilk of Black Saturday," he said.

"This is a facility that will survive Black Saturday-plus.

"We emphasise this is a last-resort facility. People should have their local fire plans, they should leave early and live but if they're trapped, if there's no other alternative, this will ... save the lives of people here in Blackwood."

The facility is one of three refuge centres set up in fire-prone Victorian regions, along with Warburton East and Ferny Creek, following a recommendation from the bushfire royal commission.

The Blackwood centre is the only one that serves a dual purpose, in what Dr Napthine said was a world first.

He said emergency services chiefs from California had toured the Blackwood station as they looked to cope with their own intense fire season.

The opening of the refuge, north of Melbourne, comes days after the state sweltered through 40C-plus days.

Dr Napthine said the response of Victoria's emergency services, health department and its citizens to the heat spell was far superior to a similar stretch in 2009.

"That is because of the changes that have been made in emergency management with an all-agency approach, with the team working together to provide better information to the community," he said.

"It's a better response which has saved lives this last week, I've got no doubt about that."

The Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 killed 173 people.

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Hundreds gather at Phil Everly memorial

ABOUT 200 people have listened to songs and tributes at a memorial service for Phil Everly in Kentucky.

Several singers including country musician Marty Brown performed songs by the Everly Brothers with a band, and others gave tribute speeches.

Phil Everly died on January 3 at age 74. With his brother, Don Everly, the duo had 19 Top 40 hits between 1957 and 1962. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Before the memorial, Diana Sue Taylor, a cousin of Everly's, perused memorabilia from the duo's career.

"I'm so happy to see so many family, friends and fans of my cousins come together for such a joyous occasion. Looking at all the memorabilia brings back so many fond memories," she said.

Carol and Phil Brammer, two fans and memorabilia collectors from St Louis, also came to the service. They were donating 12 posters to the Muhlenberg County Music Museum, which is dedicated to musicians who have ties to the area.

"I'm just such a big fan of the Everly Brothers and have been collecting their stuff for many years," Carol Brammer said.

"As I get older I want it to be somewhere that it will be cherished and loved."

The memorial service was held at the Merle Travis Music Centre in Powderly near Central City, where the Everly Brothers entertained for years at a homecoming benefit. Their family had deep ties to the area.

The Everly Brothers began the homecoming concerts in 1988 and continued through 2001 to help raise scholarship money and funds for other projects.

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Conditions ease as SA sees property loss

TWELVE homes have been lost in South Australia as thousands of hectares lay scorched across the state.

But easing weather conditions have enabled firefighters to gain the upper hand on a large blaze in the Eden Valley on Saturday night.

Residents of the small town of Truro were issued an emergency warning on Saturday afternoon, as the large fire made a run towards the Sturt Highway.

The SA Country Fire Service (CFS) warned that the blaze, which has burnt through more than 22,500 hectares since Friday, was putting lives and homes at risk.

But by about 8pm (CST) the CFS had downgraded the alert to a watch and act.

However, the CFS said weather conditions were erratic, so people should remain vigilant.

The downgrade came after about 160 firefighters were supported by nine aircraft at the fire throughout Saturday, a CFS spokesman told AAP.

The fire was one of five out-of-control blazes in the state.

Also of concern was a fire at Bangor in the southern Flinders Ranges, where the CFS said conditions were continually changing.

A watch and act alert was issued in the afternoon, with residents urged not to return to the area until advised.

But the CFS spokesman said crews had experienced a "pretty reasonable day", with milder conditions allowing firefighters to get the better of some blazes.

"We have had a day where we have been able to consolidate a lot of fires and nothing new has kicked off."

Five homes have been lost in the Bangor blaze, with two destroyed in the Billiat park region and five lost in Eden Valley.

However, the CFS said the number could increase as damage assessment crews were deployed.

There has been substantial stock losses.

Premier Jay Weatherill said it would be an achievement if the state came through the fires without loss of life or substantial property loss.

For those who have been affected, disaster relief assistance would be made available.

"For those people who have lost their homes and other property including livestock, this will be devastating," Mr Weatherill said in a statement on Saturday.

"We will respond to each and every one of those families to make sure that they have the support they need to be able to cope with the losses that they've suffered."

CFS assistant chief officer Rob Sandford said while firefighters had gained the upper hand, he called on people to remain on alert.

"Anywhere where we have had a fire in the last seven days, people need to be vigilant because whilst the threat may have reduced with the cooler temperatures, the wind is still reasonably strong and gusty," he told the ABC.

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