Girl, 13, hit crossing Sydney road

A TEENAGE girl has been placed in a coma after she was hit by a car near Dee Why, on Sydney's northern beaches.

The CareFlight helicopter, police and paramedics rushed to help the unconscious 13-year-old after she was hit while trying to cross Warringah Road at Narraweena on Saturday night.

CareFlight director Ian Badham said helicopter operators wearing night vision goggles had to land at a nearby oval.

The Mona Vale girl was placed in an induced coma and onto a ventilator as she was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital, where she arrived in a critical condition.

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Pope set to begin Middle East pilgrimage

The Vatican has billed Pope Francis' first visit to the Middle East as a "pilgrimage of prayer". Source: AAP

POPE Francis has made an urgent plea for peace in war-torn Syria as he kicked off a three-day pilgrimage to the Middle East.

And he called for religious freedom to be upheld throughout a region ravaged by war and bloodshed, where a dwindling Christian population faces daily persecution.

After arriving to a red carpet welcome at Amman airport on Saturday he was later in the day to celebrate an afternoon mass in front of thousands of people at a stadium in the city.

The Pope's three-day tour will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories on a landmark first visit aimed at boosting ties with Muslims and Jews.

"Lasting peace for the entire region ... requires that a peaceful solution be found to the crisis in Syria, as well as a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the Pope said at the royal palace, ahead of a meeting with Syrian refugees.

Syria's civil war, which began in 2011, is estimated to have claimed at least 162,000 lives and forced another 2.7 million people to flee to neighbouring countries, 450,000 of them Christians.

Jordan's King Abdullah II told Francis his "humanity and wisdom" could contribute to easing the crisis confronting Syrian refugees and the burden on hosts countries like Jordan.

As his white car drove through the streets towards the royal palace, well-wishers waved Jordanian and Vatican flags and held up banners welcoming him, under the watchful eye of security guards.

Later on Saturday, Francis was to head to a site on the River Jordan where many believe Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. There he will hear first-hand accounts of the suffering in Syria from some of the 600,000 refugees hosted by Jordan.

The 77-year-old pontiff also urged respect for religious freedom in a region where the Holy See called for an end to the ongoing persecution of Christians.

"Religious freedom is, in fact, a fundamental human right and I cannot fail to express my hope that it will be upheld throughout the Middle East and the entire world," he said.

Although Christians were a minority within the region, their contribution was "significant and valued," he said.

Entering Amman's main stadium on open-topped white jeep, Francis was met by raucous applause as he smiled and waved at the crowds, his white skullcap flying off in the breeze.

"This pope is special. He only wants to see the poor and the diseased. He is the protector of the helpless," said 77-year-old Sister Rachel, highlighting his dedication to the downtrodden.

Early on Sunday, the pope will make a short helicopter ride across the Jordan River to Bethlehem, where he will begin a two-day visit to the Palestinian territories and Israel.

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Vic motorcyclist nabbed 100km/h over limit

A MOTORBIKE rider has been caught travelling at almost 100 km/h over the speed limit in the middle of Melbourne's premiere restaurant strip.

The rider reached a speed of up to 133 km/h in the 40 km/h-zone on Lygon Street, in Carlton.

He was stopped by police about 4.20pm and his motorbike was impounded for 30 days.

The 24-year-old man is facing charges including conduct endangering life, and he must appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on August 25.

Victoria Police said it was among the highest speeds ever detected on Lygon Street, which is usually busy with pedestrians and traffic and especially so on a Saturday afternoon.

"I find it abhorrent that someone would endanger other people with such stupid behaviour," Melbourne Highway Patrol Acting Sergeant Michael Ingram said in a statement.

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Man who helped create GI Joe dies

DONALD Levine, the American toy company executive credited with developing the world's first action figure, GI Joe, has died aged 86.

He died of cancer early on Thursday at a hospice on Rhode Island, said his wife, Nan. They were just about to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.

Levine shepherded the toy through design and development as toy company Hasbro's head of research and development.

He and his team came up with an 28cm articulated figure with 21 moving parts, and since the company's employees included many military veterans, it was decided to outfit the toy in the uniforms of the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, with such accessories as guns, helmets and vehicles.

Levine, who served in the Army in Korea, said he got the idea for the moveable figure as a way to honour veterans.

GI Joe hit the shelves in time for the 1964 Christmas shopping season and soon became a big seller at $US4 apiece.

It remained popular until the late 1960s, as opposition to Vietnam intensified and parents shied away from military-related toys.

Hasbro countered in 1970 by introducing "Adventure Team" GI Joes that played down the military connection.

Into the 1970s, GI Joes featured "lifelike hair" and "kung-fu grip" and were outfitted with scuba gear to save the oceans and explorer's clothing for discovering mummies.

Over the decades, GI Joe has spawned comic books, cartoons, two movies starring Channing Tatum, and a GI Joe Collector's Club and its annual convention - GIJoeCon - held in Dallas in April.

Levine's funeral will be held on Sunday at Temple Beth-El in Providence. He is survived by his wife, three children and four grandchildren.

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College didn't lobby for funds: Abbott

Tony Abbott has described questions about his daughter Frances' scholarship as "dirt digging". Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says he wasn't lobbied by a friend to allow private colleges to access government subsidies.

The federal budget introduced direct financial grants for students taking courses in private colleges and TAFEs.

Les Taylor, chairman of the Whitehouse Institute of Design in Sydney, has made donations to the NSW Liberal Party and has known Mr Abbott for many years.

He has also given Mr Abbott, when he was opposition leader, clothing on two occasions which have been declared on the members' interest register.

However, an institute scholarship worth up to $60,000 given to one of Mr Abbott's daughters, Frances, has not been declared on the register.

Mr Abbott has previously declared other matters relating to his children, such as trips, accommodation and tickets to sporting events, on the public register.

Mr Abbott said questions about his daughter's scholarship was "a bit of dirt digging" and that she had earned it on merit.

"I think families should be left out of it," he told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

Asked whether he was personally lobbied by Mr Taylor for private college subsidies, Mr Abbott said: "No, I wasn't."

Mr Abbott said he had complied with the parliament's disclosure rules.

The Whitehouse Institute is a member of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training, which before the budget lobbied the government for extending commonwealth supported places beyond public universities.

In a statement on Friday, the institute said it would not disclose details of individual scholarship decisions because it had a duty to protect the privacy of former and current students.

It awarded all scholarships on merit.

"At no time has the institute lobbied the prime minister on issues of education policy or the accreditation of Whitehouse courses," chief executive Ian Tudor said.

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Principal didn't consider kids' protection

A FORMER Perth headmaster has told a royal commission he didn't factor in the protection of children when deciding against sacking a teacher later convicted of sex abuse.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child sexual abuse also heard on Friday the headmaster, known as WD, did not seek advice from child protection experts or the police when confronted with a series of concerns about the teacher's behaviour in 2004.

The inquiry is investigating how the exclusive independent school, which cannot be named for legal reasons, dealt with the teacher known as YJ.

In 2009, YJ was dismissed from the school, arrested and convicted of molesting five students between 1999 and 2008.

"When you considered the ramifications and the ramifications of any decision whether to keep YJ at the school or dismiss him, did you factor in the protection of those children," counsel assisting Sophie David asked WD.

"The simple answer to your question is no," he said.

The children Ms David was referring to were named in a teacher's 2001 letter of concern about YJ's behaviour.

The commission has heard of a series of concerns raised by teachers and parents about YJ's behaviour towards students between 1999 and 2004.

The 2001 letter kept on YJ's file raised concerns he was touching students on the thigh, and stomach, and giving children cash gifts.

Later, a teacher known as WH found YJ in a class room with a boy on his knee and his hand "high up" on a child's thigh.

WH made a formal complaint about the incident in 2004.

WD then found a series of notes and a letter on YJ's file raising similar concerns but not alleging outright sexual abuse.

YJ was given a last warning about his behaviour in 2004 but not dismissed, and YJ refused to sign the official warning.

WD was asked if he sought expert advise from child protection specialists or the police.

He replied no to both questions but said he did seek industrial advise from the Independent School Teachers Union, and ethical advise from the Association of Independent Schools of WA.

However, no report was lodged with the state's now defunct teacher's registration body, the West Australian College of Teaching (WACOT).

Nor did he speak to any of the children mentioned in YJ's file.

Two of YJ's five victims were abused during WD's tenure.

WD acknowledged there was a potential risk to the child mentioned, but not named, in WH's complaint by keeping YJ on.

"The flip side to that coin was that if I was to dismiss the member of staff on the evidence that I had at that point in time, then I was potentially consigning that person to exiting the profession," he said.

The commission also heard excerpts from a report by Prof Stephen Smallbone, an expert witness critical of the school's handling of YJ.

His report said there was a systemic failure to stop YJ continuing behaviour that had on numerous occasions been documented as serious breaches of school policy.

Prof Smallbone also said there was a serious failure by the school to piece together the information concerning YJ's behaviour, and to act on it.

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Orphan bear cub charms police in Oregon

POLICE in southern Oregon have held an unlikely suspect: a well-behaved black bear cub.

Police Chief Don Brown says a teenage boy and his parents brought the cub to the police station in a large plastic storage bin on Monday.

The boy found the cub whimpering in the bushes outside his house in the town of Myrtle Creek.

He said the mother bear was nowhere in sight.

Still, Brown said it was dangerous to pick up the cub, because the mother bear could have spotted him and attacked.

Adult female black bears can weigh up to 135 kilograms.

The 5.4-kilogram female cub was "very well behaved" while spending the night at the station, Brown said.

Police and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials looked for the cub's mother the next day using a device that mimics a cub's distress call, but couldn't find her.

Oregon is home to 25,000 to 30,000 black bears.

Myrtle Creek, 145 kilometres south of Eugene, has an abundance of wildlife, "but nobody has brought in a bear in the last nine years I've been here," the police chief said.

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UK drivers admit motorway tailgating

Motorway tailgating is a major worry for most UK motorists, a new survey shows. Source: AAP

MOTORWAY tailgating is a major worry for most motorists but many admit to doing it themselves, according to a survey.

Of 1000 drivers, a total of 57 per cent owned up to leaving less than a two-second gap between themselves and the next vehicle, the research from road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line found.

A total of 28 per cent admitted to tailgating monthly or more often, with men being worse offenders than women.

Yet the poll also revealed that 95 per cent of drivers worry about tailgating with 44 per cent concerned every, or most, times they drive on a motorway.

The poll also showed that 60 per cent break the 70mph (112km/h) motorway speed limit by 10mph or more, with almost 30 per cent doing so at least monthly.

As many as 69 per cent of men, and 53 per cent of women, do 80mph or more on motorways, with 36 per cent of men and 22 per cent of women speeding regularly.

Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: "Almost all drivers are concerned about the danger posed by other people tailgating on motorways, and yet a shockingly high proportion admit driving too close and speeding themselves.

"Traffic laws are not just for other people; all drivers can help make our motorways safer."

Rob Miles, director of motor trading at Direct Line, said: "Driving too closely to the car in front of you is asking for trouble. Drive too closely at speed and motorists risk not only their own life but other road users' lives too."

Simon Sheldon-Wilson, traffic management director for the Highways Agency, said: "Safety is our top priority and we are committed to continuing to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.

"Congestion on our roads is estimated to cost the economy 3 billion each year, and a quarter of this is caused by the 430,000 incidents we deal with annually.

"As many as 14 per cent of casualties on our roads are caused by people tailgating. That's why we're reminding people to stay safe and keep at least a two-second gap from the car in front."

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Speeding and tailgating intimidate other motorists and can cause accidents that cost lives.

"We take these issues very seriously and last year we increased the fines for speeding offences and introduced a new fixed-penalty offence to make it easier for police to target tailgating drivers."

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Bali crash victim arrives in Australia

AN Australian man who was critically injured in a motorcycle crash in Bali has arrived safely in Melbourne and is receiving hospital treatment.

There were concerns Nicho White, who has not roused from an induced coma, would not survive his medivac flight from Indonesia.

"Nicho has arrived safely after a very long and tedious medivac flight," Ian McGill, Mr White's stepfather, told AAP from Bali late on Thursday.

"A specialist friend of ours said there was a likelihood he wouldn't survive the flight, so surviving the flight is a big step."

His plane, carrying life support equipment and a medical team, had to fly at low altitude and at low speed.

It touched down at a Melbourne airport shortly before 8pm and Mr White was then taken by ambulance to The Alfred Hospital.

The 43-year-old suffered massive head and other injuries when his motorbike collided with a 4WD vehicle in Bali last week.

Mr White did not have medical insurance and a fundraising campaign has covered the massive cost of returning him to Australia.

"It goes without saying we're incredibly grateful for the generosity of everyone ... We're overwhelmed," Mr McGill said.

"We don't really know what we're up for financially, to be honest, but we have raised enough to cover the medivac which was about $90,000."

The fundraising campaign had support from high-profile friends in fashion, music and sport - including band The Cat Empire and swimmer Michael Klim.

Mr White's mother, Lyn McGill, was also flying to Melbourne on a domestic flight and will touch down late on Thursday.

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Thailand's army launches coup

THAILAND'S army chief says the army is taking control of the government to "restore order and push through political reform", Sky News reports.

The head of the Thai Army made the announcement on TV with senior military officers surrounding him, The New York Times reports.

The coup came after the introduction of martial law on Thursday.

more to come ...

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Port Hedland strike halted for 30 days

Fortescue Metals has warned it could cut jobs if a threatened strike at Port Headland goes ahead. Source: AAP

A POTENTIALLY damaging strike that could have shut down operations at Australia's largest export port has been called off.

But the possibility of a future strike is still on the cards, with unions set to make another bid for industrial action after June 30.

Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) members employed by tugboat operator Teekay at Port Hedland in Western Australia voted last week to walk out if they were unable to agree to pay and conditions with the firm.

Imminent strike action was averted late Thursday when the union agreed to halt industrial action against Teekay for 30 days.

No settlement was reached over leave and wages but the union said it took industrial action off the table to allow negotiations to proceed.

However, it wants to reserve the right to strike after the 30-day cooling off period if no settlement has been reached.

On Friday, it will put in an application to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to extend the period in which it can take protected industrial action by 30 days.

It will continue to hold informal talks with Teekay and will appear before the FWC on June 5.

The agreement between the union and the tug operator breaks an 11-month deadlock in talks over pay and leave entitlements.

The prospect of a strike had worried mining giants BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, both of which were at threat of losing sales.

BHP, which contracts Teekay, warned a strike would cost up to $700 million and flagged using legal action to prevent the strike.

Fortescue Metals had threatened to stand down workers if they went ahead with the strike.

The fractious situation also caused the federal government to weigh in.

Government officials were sent to Port Hedland to monitor the situation in a bid to protect Australia's most valuable export industry.

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US to end to door-slot mail for millions

15 million addresses in the US will no longer get mail delivered to the door under proposed new laws Source: AAP

MILLIONS of people in the United States will no longer get mail delivered to their door but will have to go to communal or curbside boxes instead under a proposal advancing through congress.

The Republican-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on an 18-13 party-line vote, approved a bill on Wednesday to direct the US Postal Service to convert 15 million addresses over the next decade to the less costly, but also less convenient delivery method.

Democrats objected to the plan, and efforts in recent years to win its adoption have failed.

"I think it's a lousy idea," Democrat Representative Stephen Lynch said.

Other lawmakers said it wouldn't work in urban areas where there's no place on city streets to put banks of "cluster boxes" with separate compartments for each address.

People with disabilities who have difficulty leaving their homes could get waivers, and people who still want delivery to their door could pay extra for it - something Lynch derided as "a delivery tax."

The measure falls far short of a comprehensive overhaul most officials agree is needed to solve the postal service's financial problems.

The committee's chairman, Republican Darrell Issa, acknowledged that at the outset but said it "provides an interim opportunity to achieve some significant cost savings."

Converting to communal or curbside delivery would save $US2 billion ($A2.16 billion) annually, Issa said, quoting from estimates that door delivery costs $US380 annually per address compared with $US240 for curbside and $US170 for centralised methods.

He said less than one per cent of all addresses nationwide would undergo a delivery change annually and that communal boxes offer a safe, locked location for packages, doing away with the need for carriers to leave packages on porches and subject to theft and bad weather.

The Postal Service reported a $US1.9 billion loss for the first three months this year despite continued cost-cutting, a 2.3 per cent rise in operating revenue and increased employee productivity.

Package business has risen but the service struggles with inflationary cost increases and a continued decline in first-class mailing as people move to the internet for letter writing and bill paying.

Postal officials have asked repeatedly for comprehensive legislation giving them more control over personnel and benefit costs and more flexibility in pricing and products.

Though various legislative proposals have been advanced, Congress has not been able to agree on a bill with broad changes.

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Regulation focus of Iowa global insurance

INSURANCE companies, trade groups and regulators are gathering in Iowa to discuss the industry's major issues.

As the three-day Global Insurance Symposium is set to get underway in Des Moines, plans to regulate firms like banks and impose national or even international oversight are at the fore.

The gathering includes top insurance officials from Germany, India, Japan and the United States. It was organised by Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart, who oversees a division regulating more than 200 insurance companies based in Iowa.

The financial services industry employs 4,200 workers in the state at companies that include ING Life Insurance, Metlife, Nationwide, Principal Financial Group and Prudential.

As insurance increasingly becomes a global business, one of the biggest concerns is an effort to set international standards for insurance regulation.

Most other countries have a centralised government regulatory system, unlike the United States where the insurance industry is largely regulated on a state-by-state basis.

Each state has a commissioner responsible for making sure companies retain sufficient capital to remain financially healthy and are appropriately serving consumers.

Some US and international regulators have advocated for regulations that closely resemble those imposed on banks.

"From our perspective, one-size-fits-all-bank-centric world doesn't work in insurance," Gerhart said.

"Insurance is not banking, so that's what we're working on. That will be a theme repeated over the next day and half."

The Great Recession of 2007-2009 brought new financial regulation for US banks and some of it spilled over into the insurance industry, said Leigh Ann Pusey, the CEO of American Insurance Association, a trade group representing 300 property-casualty insurers.

Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, which forces banks to comply with strict regulations on reporting, cash reserves and investment guidelines. The law also set up a Federal Insurance Office in the US Department of Treasury.

It is seen as the first step toward federal government regulation of insurance, a worry for many in the industry who say states have safety regulated insurance for more than 140 years.

Critics say the fragmented nature of the state-based regulatory system makes it more expensive and difficult for companies that sell insurance nationally to comply with 50 different regulatory schemes.

They also argue that as the industry gravitates toward a globalised insurance market an overall federal regulatory system makes more sense.

Pusey, who plans to participate in a panel discussion at the Des Moines symposium, said the Financial Stability Board, the international panel established by the G-20 working toward global financial standards, is bank-centered and moving too quickly.

"I think the industry globally, not only here in the United States, is sort of very worried about more bank-centric approach to views of capital," she said.

"There's a pace here that is both unrealistic and dangerous leading to potentially unintended consequences."

Strict bank-style requirements that insurance companies hold certain levels of restricted cash in reserve could reduce the ability of insurers to cover policy and claims obligations and might prompt some to cut back their business, reducing insurance available on the market, she said.

"I think consumers should be paying attention both to making sure they are still protected as they are today and that nothing undermines that system that the US has designed," Pusey said.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, like many governors in states with a major insurance presence, is protective of the state-based regulatory system.

"What's important is for the international people to know the tremendous benefit of the state-regulated insurance industry that we have in America compared to the disaster they have in Europe," he says.

Speakers are to include Mike McRaith, director of the Federal Insurance Office; Ben Nelson, the former Nebraska governor and US senator who is now the CEO of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Naruki Mori, assistant commissioner for international affairs of the Japan Financial Services Agency; and T.S. Vijayan, chairman of Indian Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

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Vic police protest over staff shortages

Police in Geelong have staged a rare public rally to raise awareness of staff shortages. Source: AAP

A SHORTAGE of frontline police in Victoria's second largest city has driven frustrated officers to stage a rare public protest.

About 200 off-duty officers and concerned locals attended the rally in Geelong on Tuesday.

The Police Association Victoria secretary Ron Iddles said it was prompted by a 30 per cent reduction in frontline police over four years.

In 2010, Geelong had 120 officers available for routine patrols and to respond to community incidents but in 2014 the figure was 84.

This was despite an overall increase in police numbers in Victoria, Senior Sergeant Iddles told AAP on Tuesday.

"If you add on to that an increasing population in the Geelong area then what we're asking is for less police to do far, far more," he said.

"Police are fairly resilient and don't like to take public action but it has got to the stage where they are frustrated, they are anxious, and they are not delivering the amount of service that the Geelong community needs."

Sen Sgt Iddles is calling on police command to increase officer numbers and return to Geelong officers who had been rostered on to special task forces in Melbourne.

"We've got to get community policing right before we do the extra," he said.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay on Tuesday agreed there had been changes to bolster police ranks at the divisional level and this had impacted on station numbers.

Policing had to move on from a time when "every policeman knew their local crooks and they'd catch them for doing local burglaries", Mr Lay told Fairfax Radio.

"Crime rates, particularly around deceptions, around organised crime, around family violence, are increasing significantly," he said.

"Putting police in police stations isn't necessarily going to be able to resolve those issues."

Mr Lay said improved mobile technology was the key to enabling more police spend less time at their desks and more time on patrol.

Victorian Premier Dennis Napthine also said his government was delivering on a 2010 election promise to add 1700 extra police officers.

"It's up to the police commissioner and the police command to allocate those resources across the state to meet the needs of making our community safer," Dr Napthine told Fairfax Radio.

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Budget to drag on growth

The RBA has flagged the budget as one of several factors dragging on economic growth. Source: AAP

IN the minutes of its latest meeting, the RBA warned that "fiscal consolidation" could drag on growth.

And so it could.

The RBA reckons economic growth picked up to be about in line with the long-run average in the March quarter.

But slower growth lies ahead "given expected slower growth in exports, the decline in mining investment and the planned fiscal consolidation," the RBA said in the minutes.

The fiscal consolidation - in other words, efforts to reduce the budget deficit - is a theme that's been running ever since the budget was allowed to head into deficit to stave off the worst effects of the global crisis of 2008.

Last financial year, the 12 months ending June 2013, public sector spending fell by 1.3 per cent after allowing for inflation.

In the national accounts, where this figure comes from, public sector spending - or final demand as its more properly known - includes the spending the public sector does on its own behalf.

That includes investment in buildings and equipment, along with spending on inputs used in the delivery of the goods and services the public sector provides.

Those inputs include the labour used in staffing government offices and other workplaces.

But it doesn't include the money passed on to other sectors, like pensions, other welfare payments or subsidies to businesses, which are part of the income of the households and businesses receiving them.

That fall in public demand, unprecedented in the 54-year history of the national accounts, had a lot to do with Australia's disappointing economic growth and employment outcomes since then.

This year, ending next month, public sector demand will rise by 1.75 per cent, before slowing to a growth rate of 1.5 per cent in 2014/15, according to last week's federal budget.

Two year of growth is a turnaround from the fall in 2012/13, but the growth is still relatively slow.

With economic growth of over three per cent needed to reduce the unemployment rate, that means the private sector will have to post growth rates well above "trend" to make up for the public sector.

And that's very unlikely.

Another way of looking at fiscal policy is through the budget balance.

The deficit is projected to fall from 3.1 per cent of GDP in 2013/14 to 1.8 per cent in 2104/15.

The difference - 1.3 per cent of GDP - represents a big block of spending power being taken out of the economy by the government and not put back.

As the RBA said in the minutes, it's not just this fiscal consolidation dragging on growth, but exports are heading for a flat spot and mining investment is on the skids.

And the boost from the lower Aussie dollar is fading as the exchange rate recovers.

No wonder the RBA is signalling a long while before the end of historically low interest rates.

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Italian rescue of nearly 500 migrants

THE Italian Navy has rescued nearly 500 migrants, including 100 children, in an all-night operation.

The Navy said in a release the migrants were rescued on Tuesday from two boats, tied together because one motor failed.

The operation off the Sicilian coast was complicated by rough seas, and the Navy first dropped life preservers into the boats before moving the migrants onto a Navy vessel. Most were from Syria, Egypt and Bangladesh.

Save the Children has expressed concern about the large number of unaccompanied minors arriving in the latest wave of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty, usually aboard unseaworthy boats.

More than 20,000 migrants have landed in Italy so far this year, 10 times more than the same period last year.

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Malawi holds presidential election

POLLING has started in Malawi's fifth elections since the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1994.

Voting started at 6am on Tuesday at most polling centres but some delayed opening by as much as three hours due to rains and late deliveries of polling materials.

Joyce Banda, Africa's second female president, is facing stiff challenges from 12 candidates.

Banda was vice-president and came to power in 2013 following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika.

Mutharika's brother, Peter Mutharika, is now challenging Banda.

Others running for president include Atupele Muluzi, son of another former president, and retired pastor Lazarus Chakwera.

Malawi has been hit by corruption scandals, with police in November arresting a former justice minister on suspicion of involvement in the shooting of the country's budget director.

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Colombia arrests bus driver after crash

COLOMBIAN authorities have arrested the driver of a bus that crashed and killed 31 children.

The youngsters burned to death on Sunday after the bus caught fire and exploded in the north of the South American country as they returned from church services.

Another 25 people including one adult were seriously burned in the blaze in Fundacion, a town in the department of Magdalena, according to the Red Cross.

"The driver has been arrested, he turned himself in to authorities and we expect him to explain himself at a hearing this morning," a local police spokesman said.

The driver had initially fled the scene, and angry locals went to his home and threw rocks at his windows.

Investigators are looking into a number of potential causes of the crash, which prompted President Manuel Santos to travel to the scene and offer his condolences.

Among the possibilities being explored is that the driver used contraband petrol to refuel the bus and that this may have led to the explosion.

Red Cross official Cesar Uruena said on Sunday the injured - taken to area hospitals - suffered second and third-degree burns, and many were in critical condition.

The children aboard the bus were between the ages of one and eight and returning home after a religious service, Fundacion Mayor Luz Stella Duran told reporters.

Magdalena police said the blast happened around noon and the fire was so intense they had problems determining the number of casualties.

Duran said survivors reported the bus driver had been handling a container with petrol aboard the vehicle. Police initially blamed the fire on a mechanical problem.

Santos travelled to Fundacion after a final re-election campaign rally Sunday in Bogota ahead of the May 25 presidential vote.

"The entire country is in mourning for the death of these children," he said upon arriving in Fundacion, accompanied by his wife.

Santos said the government would pay for all hospital and funeral expenses relating to the accident.

The bus, which was being used by an evangelical church group, caught fire one block away from the church where the children had earlier attended services.

The Red Cross said it was sending four psychologists and two volunteer specialists to help the wounded and the relatives of those killed.

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One dead, two injured in Vic car crash

A PASSENGER was killed and another man is in a life-threatening condition after a speeding car crashed into a Victorian residential garage.

Three men were out getting food when the driver lost control and hit a pole before smashing into the garage of a Dromana home on Sunday night.

Police say the back-seat passenger who was killed, a 28-year-old Somerville man, was not wearing a seatbelt.

The driver, 31 and the other passenger, 27, were airlifted to The Alfred hospital with head injuries. Ambulance Victoria spokesman Paul Bentley said the two men were trapped in the car for about an hour.

There were reports that one of those men had also died, but police said on Monday that he was in a life-threatening condition.

Police were unable to confirm the identity of this man.

Detective Inspector Bernie Rankin said the car was well above the speed limit in the lead up to the accident.

"The driver for some inexplicable reason is exceeding the speed limit and the consequences have been rather dire," Det Insp Rankin said.

"It is a situation that is totally avoidable."

Drugs and alcohol are not thought to have been a factor but have not yet been ruled out.

No one was inside the house at the time of the crash.

In a separate accident, a driver died after a two-car collision at Pimpinio, near Horsham, on Monday afternoon.

A 42-year-old man died at the scene and the other driver, in his late 60s, suffered minor injuries.

Both drivers were the only occupants of their cars.

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George Harrison's guitar brings $657K

GEORGE Harrison's 1962 Rickenbacker guitar has sold for $US657,000 ($A710,850) at auction.

Harrison purchased the guitar in 1963 at Fenton's Music store in Mount Vernon, Illinois, while visiting his sister.

The Julien's Auctions sale of rock 'n' roll memorabilia was held on Saturday at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.

Harrison had the guitar refinished from a Fireglo red to black to match John Lennon's Rickenbacker.

Other items in the sale included Lady Gaga's 1990 Red Rolls-Royce Corniche III. It sold for $US125,000.

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UK child abuse probe goes to Australia

THE UK's largest ever public inquiry into institutional child abuse is to travel to Australia to interview alleged victims transferred from Northern Ireland.

More than 100 children were removed from church-run residential homes in Northern Ireland, most to Western Australia after the war. An investigation chaired by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart is examining whether they were physically, sexually or emotionally harmed during their journey.

Lawyers and support staff are expected to pay their second visit to the antipodes next month ahead of public hearings in September, Sir Anthony said.

He added: "The inquiry will examine the operation of the child migrant scheme in the context of children from Northern Ireland institutions who were sent to Australia.

"Before that module can start, we have to complete our preparatory work for it and a major part of that involves a second team from the inquiry going from Northern Ireland to Australia to speak to those applicants who were not seen during last year's trip."

The treatment of children, orphaned or taken away from their unmarried mothers, in residential homes run by religious orders of nuns or brothers is a key concern of the investigation being held in Banbridge, Co Down. It is considering cases between 1922, the foundation of Northern Ireland, and 1995.

A panel chaired by Sir Anthony and established by Stormont's power-sharing devolved government has to decide whether children might have been physically or sexually abused or emotionally harmed through humiliation. It may also include simple neglect, not feeding or clothing people properly.

The Nazareth House Children's Home and St Joseph's Home, Termonbacca, were run by the Catholic Sisters of Nazareth nuns in Derry. Those allegedly abused there have been giving evidence since the start of the year. The religious order has already issued a public apology and a senior member is due to give evidence this afternoon.

Sir Anthony said he expected public hearings relating to those institutions to be concluded by early next month.

The inquiry has heard from 70 witnesses and more than 18,000 documents have been placed before it relating to this stage of its work alone. Inquiry staff had to consider a great many more documents than that to decide which were relevant.

A separate Acknowledgement Forum is running for those who do not want to give evidence in public and representatives from that body are also travelling to Australia.

Open oral testimony is due to finish in June 2015, with the inquiry team to report to the Executive by the start of 2016.

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Eastern Ukrainians rap Kiev in talks

Lawmakers and officials from eastern Ukraine have criticised the fledging central government. Source: AAP

LAWMAKERS and officials from eastern Ukraine have poured criticism on the fledging central government, accusing it of ignoring legitimate grievances of the regions which have been overrun by pro-Russia militia.

One eastern leader said last weekend's unofficial referendum in favour of independence "expressed the will of the people".

The criticism came in the second round of European-brokered talks intended to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.

The country's caretaker government came to power in February following the ouster of Kremlin-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych after months of protests in Kiev.

Moscow and many in Ukraine's east have accused the new government of intending to trample the rights of eastern Ukraine's Russian-speakers.

On Saturday, politicians from the east implored the government to believe that - apart from the pro-Russia gunmen - a large sector of the population had lost hope in the interim administration in Kiev.

The second round of talks followed hours after sustained gunfire was heard throughout the night near the eastern city of Slovyansk, the stronghold of pro-Russia fighters, after forces loyal to the Kiev government moved in to protect a television tower.

Separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions held hastily arranged referenda last weekend and declared independence following the vote, which went in favour of sovereignty.

The round-table talks in the eastern city of Kharkiv did not feature any of the insurgents, whom Kiev describes as terrorists.

The insurgents say they are willing to discuss only the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops and the recognition of the independence of the regions.

"The referendum doesn't have any legal consequences," said Valery Holenko, chairman of the Luhansk regional government.

"But it has expressed the will of the people, which cannot be discounted. People genuinely went en masse to the referendum. This was a protest vote."

Holenko said the devolution of powers that the government is offering was no longer enough and that as a first step in appeasing eastern Ukrainians the government has to stop its "anti-terrorist operation" in the east.

Acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who was often busy with his iPad while some of the eastern lawmakers were making passionate speeches, called on the eastern leaders to resist the armed men and support the government's efforts to devolve powers to the regions.

"You have got in your home, in Luhansk and Donetsk, armed terrorists who are funded by Russians and those who fled Ukraine and want to seize our land," Yatsenyuk told the gathering.

"We're not going talk to robbers and terrorists. They will not be telling the Ukrainian people how to live in our country."

Yatsenyuk urged the eastern leaders to disarm the insurgents, "regain the power and start a political dialogue".

Reacting to calls to make Russian a second official language, Yatsenyuk said the government will support the equal status of Ukrainian and Russia in Russian-speaking regions but sees no need for other legal protection.

Reacting to the fighting overnight near Slovyansk, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning what it described as a sharp escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine, and accused Kiev of using the talks as cover for military operations against its citizens.

As on Wednesday, Saturday's talks included officials, lawmakers, business people and religious leaders from across the country, but no representatives of the separatists from Donetsk and Luhansk.

Oleksandr Bandurka, a Communist party lawmaker and police general from central Ukraine, said that these negotiations make no sense because "we're not talking to those who oppose us. We cannot ignore them".

Ukraine's first president, Leonid Kravchuk, who is chairing the talks, angrily reacted that "no one in the world talks to killers and terrorists. Putin doesn't talk to terrorists".

Russia has pushed for the federalisation of Ukraine, since that would allow Moscow to retain influence over areas in Ukraine dominated by Russian-speakers.

Many in western Ukraine and in the capital favour closer ties to Europe and fear being pulled back into Moscow's orbit.

Attempting to end the talks on a conciliatory note, Yatsenyuk quoted Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko and told the leaders from eastern Ukraine: "We are ready to embrace you and hope that you are too."

The next round of talks is expected on Wednesday in the central city of Cherkasy.

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Greek water referendum 'not sanctioned'

Some Greek mayors say they will hold a referendum on whether to privatise the Thessaloniki Water. Source: AAP

GREECE'S second largest city, and 10 of the other 13 municipalities comprising the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area, will hold a "referendum" on whether to privatise the Thessaloniki Water Authority (EYATH), despite a government warning that it considers the vote to be illegal.

The first round of elections for municipal and provincial councils takes place on Sunday.

The municipalities and the head of the northern Greek province of Central Macedonia, a member of the ruling conservatives, oppose the sale of the water authority, which the government is committed to, as part of the fiscal reform program agreed upon with Greece's creditors, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Interior Minister Yiannis Michelakis, in a circular, has warned the mayors that they could not set up polling booths inside the regular polling stations to hold their referendum.

A Thessaloniki prosecutor has also warned that using the official election rolls in the "referendum" is a crime punishable with prison.

The official response has angered the mayors, who have vowed to go ahead with the referendum anyway.

"We had informed the government six months ago (of the referendum) and we expected a response sanctioning it .. .the referendum will go ahead, whether they like it or not," Simos Daniilidis, mayor of the Thessaloniki suburb of Neapolis-Sykees and head of the Union of Thessaloniki County Municipalities, said.

Daniilidis added that the mayors will set up polling booths on the footpaths outside polling stations and use resident registers supplied by the municipalities.

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Iran's Zarif says nuclear deal 'possible'

IRANIAN Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday that clinching a final nuclear deal with world powers is still "possible" despite a tough round of talks this week.

"Agreement is possible. But illusions need to go. Opportunity shouldn't be missed again like in 2005," Zarif said on Twitter, referring to Iran's long-stalled dispute with world powers over its disputed nuclear program.

Iran and six world powers ended a fourth round of nuclear talks in Vienna on Friday with "no tangible progress".

Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany - known as the P5+1 group - want Iran to radically scale back its nuclear activities, making any dash for an atomic bomb virtually impossible and easily detectable.

The parties want to clinch a deal by July 20, when a November interim deal expires, under which Iran froze certain activities in return for some relief from crippling Western sanctions.

In return for further concessions, the Islamic republic, which denies seeking an atomic weapon, wants the lifting of all United Nations and Western sanctions, which have caused major damage to its economy.

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Record floods lead to Bosnia landslides

floods triggering landslides and covering homes, have left hundreds of people homeless in Bosnia. Source: AAP

LANDSLIDES in Bosnia have left hundreds of people homeless, while thousands more have fled homes in neighbouring Croatia and Serbia as Balkan countries battle the worst flooding since modern records began.

Throughout hilly Bosnia, floods are triggering landslides covering roads, homes and whole villages. About 300 landslides have been reported, and stranded villagers often are being rescued by helicopter.

"The situation is catastrophic," Bosnia's refugee minister, Adil Osmanovic, said on Sunday.

Three months' worth of rain fell on the region in a three-day burst, creating the worst floods since rainfall measurements began 120 years ago.

Observed from the air, almost a third of Bosnia chiefly in the northeast resembles a huge muddy lake, with houses, roads and rail lines submerged.

Officials say about a million people - more than a quarter of the country's population - live in the worst-affected areas.

The hillside village of Horozovina, close to the northeastern town of Tuzla, was practically split in two by a landslide that swallowed eight houses. More than 100 others were also under threat.

"I am homeless. I have nothing left, not even a toothpick," said one resident, Mesan Ikanovic.

"I ran out of the house barefoot, carrying children in my arms."

Ikanovic said 10 minutes separated him and his family from likely death. He carried his seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son to safety.

While water levels are receding in some parts of Bosnia, land flanking the Sava River remains submerged, and water levels there are still rising in many areas. Hundreds of people have been plucked by rescue helicopters from flooded towns and villages.

The mayor of Orasje made a special appeal for help. The town is caught between the Sava on one side and another flooding river, the Bosna, on the other.

More than 10,000 already have been rescued from the town of Bijeljina, in northeast Bosnia. Trucks, buses and private cars were heading north with volunteers and tonnes of aid collected by people in cities outside the disaster zone.

In Sarajevo, volunteers went from door to door collecting whatever people would donate.

The Bosnian Army said it was evacuating people with helicopters and has 1500 troops helping on the ground. But many roads remain closed by floods and hundreds of landslides. Bridges have been washed away and this has left many towns and villages completely depending on air lifts.

Helicopters from the European Union, Slovenia and Croatia also are aiding rescue efforts. They are deployed in areas around five cities in central and northeastern Bosnia where the situation is considered the most dangerous.

In the eastern sections of neighbouring Croatia, two people are missing and hundreds have fled their homes as the Sava River also breached flood barriers there. The overflowing river rolled over villages and farm land in the relatively flat terrain.

In Serbia, more than 20,000 people have been forced from their homes. Officials there feared more flooding later on Sunday as floodwaters travel down the Sava and reach the country.

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