SNP urges UK memo leak inquiry

THE Scottish National Party leader has demanded a civil service inquiry into the leaking of a memo which claims she privately wants to see the Conservatives remain in power following the May 7 UK general election.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon described the allegation as "100 per cent untrue" and said she had written to Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood to demand a Whitehall probe into how the account of her conversation with the French ambassador was obtained by the Daily Telegraph.

She said the story was a sign of "panic" in Westminster over the surge in support for the SNP, and issued a challenge to Labour leader Ed Miliband to state publicly that he would work with the SNP to "lock out" Prime Minister David Cameron from government in the event of a hung parliament.Miliband described the memo - written by a UK civil servant - as a "damning revelation" that the SNP was saying one thing in public and another in private, which he said made clear that the only way for Scottish voters to get the Conservatives out of office was to vote Labour.The Labour leader again ruled out a formal coalition with the SNP, but declined to comment on the possibility of a looser agreement to co-operate if the election result is inconclusive.

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India mum 'bats croc to save daughter'

A WOMAN in India's Gujarat state successfully rescued her 19-year-old daughter from the jaws of a crocodile after a 10-minute battle, news reports say.

DIVALI Vankar was washing clothes on the banks of the Vishwamitri river near Thikariya Mubarak village in Vadodara district on Friday when a crocodile grabbed the teenager's leg, the Times of India newspaper reported.

The crocodile started pulling the girl into the river when Divali Vankar picked up a bat used to beat the washing and attacked the crocodile until it let go of the girl, a forest department official was quoted as saying.The girl was treated for injuries to her leg and was in stable condition, the report said."The mother said she saved her daughter by attacking the crocodile," forest officer Ashok Pandya was quoted as saying."We've asked the locals to stay away from the river but many still wash clothes in the river water," Pandya said.According to a Gujarat forest department census carried out in January, there are more than 200 crocodiles in the Vishwamitri river.

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Yemen battle for Aden 'leaves 185 dead'

Al-Qaeda insurgents have advanced into a major city in south-eastern Yemen, officials say. Source: AAP

FIERCE fighting for control of Yemen's main southern city Aden has left at least 185 people dead, including many civilians, a medical official says.

THE port city, a last foothold of supporters of absent President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, has been shaken by more than a week of clashes between Houthi rebels and loyalist militia backed by Saudi-led air strikes.

At least 185 dead and 1282 wounded from the fighting have been counted in hospitals in Aden since March 26, the city's health department director Al-Kheder Lassouar said.Three-quarters were civilians, he added.The toll does not include victims among the Houthi Shi'ite rebels and their allies who do not take their casualties to public hospitals, he said.It also excludes victims of air raids by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab countries that have been pounding rebel positions across Yemen since March 26 to try to prevent the fall of Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh, he added.Meanwhile, in the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa local residents said at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded in a separate airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition.Coalition jets targeted a camp manned by Houthi rebels in the eastern part of Sanaa, but one of their missiles mistakenly hit the village of Hajer Akash, the residents said."A search for survivors under the rubble is underway. Several of the injured people are in critical condition. The number of victims may increase," a resident said.Lassouar called on international organisations and Arab states participating in the coalition to provide emergency medical assistance to hospitals in Aden."Medicine stocks are exhausted and hospitals can no longer cope with the increasing number of victims," he said.The United Nations said on Thursday that 519 people had been killed and nearly 1700 injured in two weeks of fighting around the country.The UN Security Council is due to meet on Saturday to discuss a Russian proposal for humanitarian pauses in the Saudi-led air campaign, according to diplomats in New York.

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Thatcher alias revealed in US papers

Official papers reveal Margaret Thatcher had the pseudonym "Mrs Stone" when travelling to the US. Source: AAP

SO-CALLED "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher had the pseudonym "Mrs Stone" when travelling to the United States, newly-released official documents show.

A DECLASSIFIED US Department of State file shows the former British prime minister travelled under the name in 2002 when flying into Miami.

Thatcher remained popular in the US long after her resignation as prime minister in 1990.Thatcher's pseudonym was disclosed after a Freedom of Information request by Shawn Musgrave, projects editor at website muckrock.com.The document released on the website shows a message from the US embassy in London to the US Secretary of State, listed under the subject "protective security - travel of Margaret Thatcher to the US".It states: "Margaret Thatcher will travel to the US on 12/4/02 arriving at Miami International Airport on Flight BA 2013 1815 under the name of Mrs Stone. She will be accompanied by two armed police officers."

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Malaysia chopper crash kills all 6 onboard

A HELICOPTER has crashed outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian authorities say, killing all six people onboard.

AN MP who is also a former ambassador to the US and an aide to the prime minister are reportedly among the victims.

The Department of Civil Aviation said preliminary information showed that the helicopter crashed and burst into flames in Semenyih town on Saturday.Police said three charred bodies have been recovered so far.The Star English-language newspaper reported in its online edition that MP Jamaluddin Jarjis, a former envoy to the US, was among those on board.The report said the victims also included an aide to Prime Minister Najib Razak.Rescuers were still searching the crash site for other passengers and no further information was immediately available.

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WHO man in Thailand 'kept maid like slave'

A WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Thailand is being accused of keeping his Ethiopian maid in slave-like conditions, the maid's lawyer says.

YONAS Tegegn, an Ethiopian WHO official based in Thailand, is being accused of not paying the maid and confiscating her passport.

"After reviewing statements made by his maid, we have filed complaints of human trafficking and slavery with police," said her lawyer Surapong Kongchantuk, a human rights advocate at the Lawyers Council of Thailand.Police have yet to formally question Tegegn or his maid, Surapong said. Calls to Tegegn's office were not returned.The case came to light after the maid reportedly escaped from Tegegn's home inside a gated community where she was allegedly forced to work from 5am to midnight without pay for the last two years.In response to the allegations, the WHO released a statement on Thursday that it would take the accusations seriously.

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US man freed after 30 years on death row

AN American man who spent nearly 30 years on Alabama's death row has been freed after a decades-long fight to prove his innocence.

ANTHONY Ray Hinton, 58, was released on Friday morning from an Alabama prison. He hugged family members as he walked out, saying, "Thank you Jesus".

Hinton was convicted of the 1985 murders of two Birmingham fast-food restaurant managers. Crime scene bullets were the only evidence linking Hinton to the killings.However, prosecutors said new testing failed to show any of the bullets came from a revolver found in Hinton's home.Last year, the US Supreme Court sent the case back for a new trial. Prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges following the testing.

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North Korea fires 4 projectiles: South

SOUTH Korea's military says North Korea has fired four short-range projectiles into the sea.

SEOUL'S Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the projectiles with a range of 140 kilometres were fired on Friday into waters off North Korea's west coast.

North Korea regularly test-fires missiles, rockets and artillery.It has conducted a series of weapons tests since South Korean and US troops began annual military drills last month.North Korea has denounced the drills as a rehearsal for an invasion.South Korea and the US say the drills are defensive in nature.The training is set to end later this month.

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Cambodian cinema halts Furious 7 contest

A CINEMA chain in the Cambodian capital has apologised for what it called a "Fast and Furious Competition," which was criticised for encouraging participants to drive fast and post online photos of their speedometers.

LEGEND Cinemas had launched the competition ahead of the April 13 release of Furious 7 in Cambodia, the latest film in the blockbuster Hollywood franchise known for its high-speed driving and outrageous auto antics.

The cinema chain posted a message on Thursday on its Facebook page that called on drivers of motorcycles and cars to photograph their speedometres and post the pictures with the tagline, "I'm the fastest like (hash)Fast&Furious7".Di Lant, a cinema spokeswoman, said on Friday that the posting immediately drew complaints from people who misinterpreted the nature of the competition."It was purely a game. We were not encouraging people to commit traffic violations," Di Lant said. "But to avoid any misunderstanding, we have removed the advertisement."Within two hours of being posted, she said the campaign was taken down.A new message that was posted later Thursday said: "We do apologise for our Fast & Furious competition ... It was a shame that we made it happen."Cambodia's transportation ministry says that about six people die each day in traffic accidents on Cambodia roads.

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UK councillor's son 'travelling to Syria'

POLICE are searching the home of a British councillor whose son is one of nine Britons detained in Turkey on suspicion of trying to cross the border into Syria.

OFFICERS are now at the home of Shakil Ahmed, who represents the Kingsway ward on Rochdale Borough Council.

His son, Waheed, is among a group of five adults and four children being returned to the UK after they were stopped in Hatay province on Wednesday.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was providing consular assistance but was unable to confirm when the nine people, who are related, would reach British soil.

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Handbags stolen from Vic hospital patients

A homeless woman is wanted by police after handbags were stolen from Melbourne hospital patients. Source: AAP

A HOMELESS woman is wanted for questioning after handbags were stolen from Melbourne hospital patients.

REBECCA Cheryl Porter, 33, was due to appear in the Dandenong Magistrates Court last month charged with burglary but failed to appear.

Handbags and personal items have been stolen from patients in public hospitals and other areas around inner Melbourne, and police think Ms Porter can assist their investigation.She is known to frequent the Richmond, Fitzroy and Collingwood areas.A warrant has been issued for her arrest.

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Germanwings unaware of pilot's depression

GERMANWINGS says it was unaware that the co-pilot of its plane which crashed in the French Alps last week had suffered from depression during his pilot training.

INVESTIGATORS believe co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked his captain out of the Airbus A320's cockpit and intentionally crashed Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf into a French mountainside on March 24.

All 150 people on board the plane were killed.German airline Lufthansa confirmed on Tuesday that it knew six years ago that Lubitz had suffered from an episode of "severe depression" before he finished his flight training."We didn't know this," said Vanessa Torres, a spokeswoman for Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings, which hired Lubitz in September 2013.She declined to explain the discrepancy, citing the ongoing investigation. Torres noted that Lufthansa has said Lubitz held a "fully valid class 1 medical certificate" on the day of the crash.The news came as Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt and the German Aviation Association, which represents German airlines, announced the creation of an expert task force to examine what went wrong in the Germanwings crash.The panel will consider whether changes are needed to cockpit doors or pilot procedures for passing medicals and will discuss "the question of recognising psychological peculiarities," Dobrindt said.Aviation association chief Klaus-Peter Siegloch said the task force will work "very quickly" but "it is very important that we do not reach over-hasty conclusions.""We have no taboos about what the task force will discuss," said Siegloch, adding that any conclusions will be shared with international air safety organisations.France's air accident investigation agency has already said it will examine cockpit entry and psychological screening procedures.German prosecutors say Lubitz's medical records from before he received his pilot's licence referred to "suicidal tendencies" but visits to doctors since then showed no record of any suicidal tendencies or aggression toward others.The A320 is designed with safeguards to allow emergency entry into the cockpit if a pilot inside is unresponsive. But the override code known to the crew doesn't go into effect if the person inside the cockpit specifically denies entry.At the crash scene, investigators said Thursday they have found mobile phones amid the crash debris but the phones haven't yet been thoroughly examined.The French magazine Paris-Match and the German tabloid Bild say they have seen a mobile phone video from the final moments of Flight 9525. Authorities have said investigators have no such video but didn't rule out the possibility that some videos like that may exist.

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Taiwan's indoor LED-lit farms

CHANG Chen-kai is part of Taiwan's new generation of high-tech farmers that is harnessing the island's technological edge in light-emitting diodes to grow vegetables indoors under bright LED lights.

CHANG works in an air-conditioned "grow-room" at a plant factory operated by ARWIN, a biotechnology company, where plants grow in nutrient-filled water instead of soil and the temperature and humidity are controlled. LED lights imitate the cycle of night and day.

These high-tech indoor farms yield more crops per area than soil, and don't need traditional toxic pesticides. Plants grown under LED lights grow twice as fast because the intensity of lights and nutrients provided in the water, growers say."To grow vegetables in the water (under lights), you need less land," Chang said, and "you don't need pesticides."Such plant factories are gaining popularity for raising everything from common lettuce to the exotic ice plant, a thick leafy vegetable from South Africa that looks like it has water bubbles on its leaves and can fetch $US400 ($A527) per kilogram.In recent years, Taiwanese manufacturers have been able to produce cheaper LED lights that consume less electricity and give off light that mimics the intensity and spectrum of sunlight.TingMao Agricultural Biotechnology was an early pioneer, starting its plant factory in 2007, and today is the leading producer of LED-grown vegetables in Taiwan. It has also set up its own restaurant using vegetables from its factory to allow consumers to taste the vegetables themselves.But Lily Chang, a food writer and professor at Innovative Institute of Technology, isn't convinced that LED-grown vegetables are as nutritious as those grown in soil."Natural soil-based plants get nutrients from soil," she said, that are "extremely difficult for us humans to manufacture."Consumers should insist that the government to draw up regulations on the chemicals used in the water of LED-grown plants and hygienic standards, she said.

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Madonna to pen autobiography

Veteran pop star Madonna says she wants to write a tell-all memoir. Source: AAP

VETERAN pop star Madonna says she wants to write a tell-all memoir.

THE Like A Virgin hitmaker has previously published Sex, a coffee table book featuring a series of erotic photographs, and an array of children's books.

Now she wants to pen her life story."I'm sure I will one day," she told BBC Radio 2."(My albums) are just one slice of my life. If I wrote my book that would be from start to finish and that's a whole lot of ground to cover."I'd tell the stories I felt were valuable to tell, that were inspiring, that people could relate to. I'm a storyteller, that's what I think of myself as."

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New lizard identified by German scientists

SCIENTISTS in the German city of Bonn have identified a new type of large monitor lizard that can reach 1.20 metres in length, officials at the Alexander Koenig Zoological Research Museum (ZFMK) have announced.

THE carnivorous saurian, which bears the Latin name Varanus nesterovi, is related to the desert or grey monitor and lives in a very small area on the south-western edge of the Zagros region of Iran.

The lizard was named after the Russian scientist who originally discovered it on the Iraq-Iran border in 1914, but who was unable to describe it due to the confusion in his home country after the October Revolution, ZFMK Professor Emeritus Wolfgang Boehme said.The Smithsonian Museum in Washington in the US has had one of the lizards from south-west Iran in its collection since 1964, but was also unable to identify it.In the 1980s, Boehme discovered one of the three original animals collected by the Russian scientist in 1914 in the inventory of the St Petersburg Zoological Museum.Based on the four examples of the lizard - the three in Russia plus the one in the US - Boehme was able to identify the species with the help of two of his research students and two Russian colleagues.Almost all of the characteristics of Varanus nesterovi are particularly original and point to an ancient variety of monitor lizard.Boehme's team have already discovered 15 other types of monitor lizard.Varanus nesterovi was presented on Thursday in an article in the Russian Journal of Herpetology.

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Vic boy, grandma killed with shears: court

A woman has been charged with murdering a four-year-old boy and his grandma at a home in Melbourne. Source: AAP

A FOUR-YEAR-OLD Melbourne boy was stabbed to death in his bed with garden shears by a woman who had an affair with his grandfather, police allege.

CHINESE national Cai Liao, 45, is also accused of killing Alistair Mach's grandmother Mai Mach with the same weapon.

Liao allegedly bound and gagged her former lover Brian Mach, Ms Mach's husband, in their Albanvale home on Tuesday morning and then killed four-year-old Alistair as he lay in bed.She then allegedly waited about 10 hours for Ms Mach, 60, to get home from work before attacking and murdering her in the backyard.Police allege Liao had been in a relationship with Mr Mach, 61, for about three years, but he had recently called it off.She went to his Albanvale home about 6am on Tuesday - while he was babysitting his grandson Alistair and his wife was at work - and an argument erupted, Detective Leading Senior Constable Tony Harwood said."Brian was assaulted and subdued," he told an out-of-sessions court hearing on Wednesday."He's been bound and gagged. The accused entered a bedroom where Alistair was in bed, while carrying a large pair of garden shears."Det Sen Con Hardwood said Liao allegedly stabbed Alistair as he lay in bed, causing severe head and neck injuries, with a post-mortem revealing he had suffered more than 18 stab and slash wounds including defence wounds.Liao then allegedly waited for Ms Mach to arrive home from work, continuing to assault Mr Mach, who was tied up in the living room.Ms Mach drove into the rear yard of her home and was confronted by Liao as she approached the door, Det Sen Con Hardwood said."Mai Mach was chased into the backyard by the accused and attacked with the same pair of garden shears, also suffering extreme neck and head injuries," he said.She suffered more than 23 stab and slash-type injuries, he said, as well as having defence wounds.Det Sen Con Harwood said the alleged killing was witnessed by a neighbour, who called police.Mr Mach was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with minor injuries, requiring heavy sedation.Liao, who is in Australia on a tourist visa, has been remanded in custody to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.She faces two counts of murder and one count each of intentionally causing injury and false imprisonment.Expressionless, Liao declined to comment during the out-of-sessions hearing, only telling the bail justice that she takes blood pressure medication.Flowers and a toy have been placed outside the Mach's Albanvale home.Alistair, described as "bubbly" by family friends, was an only child.

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Bodies of WWII soldiers found in cave

SIX bodies, believed those of Japanese World War II soldiers, were discovered in a cave in the Pacific state of Palau, Radio Australia reports.

THE discovery was made on the island of Pelileu, where Japanese and American troops clashed in September 1944, by a team from non-governmental organisation Cleared Ground Demining, the report says.

"At that location was an anti-tank gun in a heavily fortified concrete bunker and it took a number of days actually to capture this fortified position," Steve Ballinger of the group was quoted as saying on Wednesday."It's my understanding that those were the crew, perhaps the officer and his men that were manning that gun," he said A number of US soldiers also died in the area, Ballinger said. World War II-era hand grenades and ammunition were found along with the soldiers' remains.ABC reported that the cave was re-opened for the first time in 70 years ahead of a visit to Palau by Japan's emperor and empress scheduled for next week.

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Singer Joni Mitchell hospitalised in US

US singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell has been hospitalised in Los Angeles. Source: AAP

CANADIAN singer Joni Mitchell, one of the symbols of the Woodstock generation, is in intensive care in a Los Angeles hospital, according to her website.

MITCHELL, 71, was found unconscious in her home on Tuesday but regained consciousness on the ambulance ride to a Los Angeles hospital, said a statement on her website.

"She is currently in intensive care undergoing tests and is awake and in good spirits. More updates to come as we hear them. Light a candle and sing a song, let's all send good wishes her way," it added.The news was broken by the celebrity website TMZ, which said emergency services came to the singer-songwriter's house on Tuesday afternoon.A representative of the singer did not immediately answer calls.Mitchell, whose real name is Roberta Joan Anderson, is known for hits including The Circle Game, Big Yellow Taxi and Help Me, among many others.She was one of the top musicians to come out of the 1960s music scene, along with the Doors, Neil Young, Carole King, the Eagles, the Mamas and the Papas and Crosby, Stills & Nash.Other artists have done cover versions of her songs, including Prince, Bjork and Janet Jackson, the Los Angeles Times recalled.She has received eight Grammys, the top prize in the US music industry. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.Mitchell says she suffers from an ailment called Morgellon's disease, which is described as a crawling, biting or stinging sensation all over the body.Some doctors say it is a real illness, while others call it a form of psychosis, whereby patients believe their skin is infected with parasites."I have a tremendous will to live," Mitchell told the Los Angeles Times in 2010.The paper reported that in recent years she had been a vocal advocate for people who suffer from the condition."I'm a polio survivor, so I know how conservative the medical body can be," she told the Times."In America, the Morgellons is always diagnosed as 'delusion of parasites,' and they send you to a psychiatrist. I'm actually trying to get out of the music business to battle for Morgellons sufferers to receive the credibility that's owed to them."One of Mitchell's best-known songs is Woodstock, a tribute to the huge, counterculture music festival held in upstate New York in 1969. It brought together an estimated 400,000 people and lasted three days.Mitchell had planned to perform at the festival, but huge traffic jams leading to and from the farm where it was held forced her to stay in New York for a TV engagement."So I stayed home in New York and I watched it on television all day and saw everybody there playing and singing. It was really a nice festival, I guess, from the looks of everything," she told an audience at a concert in 1970.Mitchell has performed the song herself, but it also became a big hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, as the folk group was known when accompanied by Neil Young.

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Abducted Qld teen still missing

Police are still searching for an 18-year-old Queensland woman who was abducted by her ex-partner. Source: AAP

A QUEENSLAND teenager abducted by her armed ex-partner on Tuesday morning still hasn't been found.

RELATIVES of Billy-Anne Huxham, 18, told police she'd been forced into a car at gunpoint outside a Caboolture home.

It's believed her ex-partner Carl Garry Chapman broke into the house and threatened her with the gun, before taking her with him.The 32-year-old is known to police.They believe she was taken in a Silver 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander with the Queensland registration number 789VNI.The car was spotted on the Bruce Highway at Kallangur several hours later.Police have serious concerns for Ms Huxham's welfare, Detective Acting Inspector Steve Windsor said, adding that the public should contact Crime Stoppers if they spot the pair given that "possibly firearms are involved".An investigation centre has also been set up at the local police station.

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Iraq claims Tikrit victory over IS group

IRAQ'S defence minister says security forces have achieved a "magnificent victory" over the Islamic State group in Tikrit.

KHALID al-Obeidi said on Wednesday that security forces have "accomplished their mission" in the monthlong offensive to rid Saddam Hussein's hometown of the militant group.

The US launched airstrikes last week in support of Iraqi ground forces.The battle for Tikrit, 130 kilometres north of Baghdad, is seen as a key step toward eventually driving the militants out of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

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Kerr: court dates distract his move south

RETIRED AFL premiership player Daniel Kerr says he's looking forward to playing football in Western Australia's south while waiting to face trial on violence charges.

KERR, 31, has previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of endangering the life, health or safety of a person after an alleged incident at a Glendalough home in November.

He appeared briefly in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday but the case was adjourned to May 19 and Kerr had his bail renewed.Kerr has moved to Denmark, in WA's Great Southern region, to play football with Denmark-Walpole and to do other work in the town.Outside court, Kerr, who attended with his father, said his legal proceedings were a distraction from his move south."Of course it is, I've got to turn up to court, I missed work today, but I understand it's something I have to do and it's something I have to get past," he told reporters.Arson squad investigators are still probing a suspicious fire at Kerr's Wembley home, which was confined to the rear verandah and smoke damage inside the house, causing about $100,000 worth of damage.Kerr said the house was "not great" and plans to fix it had been "put on the backburner" since his move south.The two-time Brownlow Medal runner-up spent four nights at Hakea Prison last year after his parents initially refused to sign off on a $5000 surety to release him on bail.

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Vic grandma, grandson fatally stabbed

A woman has been arrested after the discovery of two bodies at a Melbourne home. Source: AAP

A GRANDMOTHER and her four-year-old grandson have been found stabbed to death at a Melbourne home.

POLICE also found the woman's 61-year-old husband bound and gagged on the living room floor when they got to the Albanvale home on Tuesday afternoon.

A 45-year-old Chinese woman, who was at the Varsity Court address when police arrived, has been arrested and is being questioned.The Vietnamese grandparents were babysitting their grandson while his parents were at work, something they did every Tuesday.The grandfather is recovering from minor injuries in the Royal Melbourne Hospital.Detective Senior Sergeant Stuart Bailey said the Chinese woman had arrived at the couple's home earlier on Tuesday morning, and an "altercation" erupted after the grandmother got home about 5pm.Police found the 60-year-old grandmother dead in the backyard, fatally stabbed.Her grandson's body was found in a bedroom after his grandfather, who was tied up in the living room, asked how he was."The scene is quite horrific," Det Sen Sgt Bailey told reporters on Tuesday night.He said the boy's parents, who live at Maidstone, were obviously inconsolable and devastated.There are four grandchildren in total, but just one was at the Albanvale house at the time.Neighbours spoke of hearing a dispute at the address before the bodies were found.A woman, who wished to be known only as Nasma, said she had lived in the area for more than 16 years and was shocked when she heard a woman and child had been killed."It's scary," she told AAP."Something like that, it just doesn't make you feel safe."Homicide detectives will remain at the scene overnight, while several witnesses are assisting police at a nearby station.No charges have been laid.

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Man abducts teenage girl in Qld

A YOUNG woman from Queensland has allegedly been abducted by an armed man almost twice her age.

BILLY-ANNE Huxham, 18, was taken from her home on Gilbert St in Caboolture about 6am on Tuesday, police say.

They spotted a vehicle, which they believed Ms Huxham was in, on the Bruce Highway at Kallangur several hours later.They tried to intercept the car, but failed.Detectives believe it was being driven by 32-year-old Carl Garry Chapman, whom Ms Huxham knows."Police are concerned for the woman's safety as the man is believed to be armed," a police statement read.The car officers spotted is a silver 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander with Queensland registration 789VNI.

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Kiwi 'suspicious' at Bali customs: trial

A NEW Zealand man accused of smuggling drugs into Bali was sweating so much at customs that his jacket was soaking wet, the officer who X-rayed his bag has told his trial.

ANTONY Glen de Malmanche says he was unaware he was carrying 1.7kg of crystal methamphetamine when he arrived in Bali on December 1 last year to meet a woman he had met online.

His trial for charges carrying the death penalty began in earnest on Tuesday, after lawyers for the 52-year-old tried unsuccessfully to have it aborted over issues with the indictment.Ngurah Rai Airport customs officer Mario Leonard told the court de Malmanche arrived on a flight from Hong Kong around 2am and when his bag was X-rayed, it appeared suspicious.The New Zealander was told to wait until the other passengers had passed though and he then gave permission for the bag to be opened, the officer said."We only found one black jacket and then the bag was already empty,' he said."But when we had it X-rayed again, there was still this suspicious appearance, like a lump, while it was supposed to be empty because the jacket had been taken out."In a "checking room," de Malmanche witnessed all of the bag's contents taken from all of its compartments, Mr Leonard said.They then found a plastic bag wrapped with tape containing crystals that tested positive for methamphetamine, the court heard.Mr Leonard told the court that de Malmanche said he didn't know what the package was.He believed the man was not acting normally at the time."We can say that he was suspicious because the defendant's jacket was soaked wet because of sweat," he told the court."During the X-ray checking, the defendant put his jacket into his bag."In that cold airport, the defendant shouldn't have been sweating like that."The trial continues next Thursday.The case has attracted some high-profile lawyers to de Malmanche's defence, who will argue he is a victim of human trafficking, rather than a drug runner.

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Polar bear Knut's baby brother christened

EIGHT years after Knut drew millions of visitors to the Berlin Zoo, the polar bear's baby brother has been christened at a zoo in the north-eastern German town of Rostock.

THE cub, now four months old and living with his mother Vilma, was christened "Fiete" on Tuesday after nearly 3,000 name suggestions were submitted at the zoo.

Rostock mayor Roland Methling, who has been named the cub's godfather, conducted the christening by spraying the four-month-old cub with water from a fire hose.The polar bear shares a father with Knut, the polar bear that drew millions of people to Berlin in 2007. Knut was the zoo's first polar bear to survive past infancy in three decades and quickly became a global sensation.Knut died in 2011 from the after effects of a brain infection.The christening was one of the new cub's first public appearances since his birth on December 3. Fiete, who now weighs 20 kilogrammes, will remain with his mother for another two years.

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Cameron dissolves UK parliament

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has informed the Queen of the dissolution of parliament, firing the formal starting gun on what he has termed "the most important general election in a generation".

SPEAKING outside 10 Downing Street after returning from Buckingham Palace, Cameron said that the May 7 poll offered voters a "stark choice" between him and Ed Miliband as prime minister, and warned that a Labour victory would deliver "economic chaos" and tax hikes of more than STG3000 ($A5,763) for the average family.

Meanwhile, Miliband warned that the referendum on EU membership promised by Cameron if the Tories win power represents "a clear and present danger to British jobs, British business, British families and British prosperity".Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - who followed the PM to the Palace in his role as president of the Privy Council - predicted another hung Parliament, saying: "It's my view that the era of single-party government is over in British politics."Clegg said Britain was at risk from a "lurch to the left or the right" under a Labour or Tory majority administration, and promised that his Liberal Democrats would keep a future government "anchored in the centre ground".

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Total fire ban on SA West Coast

South Australia's Country Fire Service has declared a total fire ban in the West Coast district. Source: AAP

A TOTAL fire ban has been declared for South Australia's West Coast district.

THE Country Fire Service warns fire conditions will be severe in the region on Tuesday.

"The CFS recommends that you implement your bushfire survival plan," a statement on Monday night said."If you don't have a plan to ensure your survival, leaving early before a fire starts is your safest option."The fire ban will apply from midnight Monday to midnight Tuesday.

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Bali police uncover new radical links

A YOUNG woman missing from Bali is believed to have travelled to Syria and radical teachings have been discovered in the tourist island's mosques, police say.

BALI police on Monday announced the formation of a special new taskforce to focus on investigating, capturing and de-radicalising extremists.

Investigators have already discovered that a woman from Denpasar travelled to Syria in a group of 16 people who left Indonesia in early March, police spokesman Hery Wiyanto said.The 23-year-old woman referred to as "SA" married a man from Solo, Central Java, referred to as "M" in 2013, and her Bali family hasn't seen her since."Up to now they haven't been found," Mr Hery said. "Both left for Syria from East Java taking their one year old child."We have asked SA's parents and they say they don't know where their daughter went after she married." Police have also found indications of radical teachings in Quran recital groups visiting Bali from Malang and Jember, East Java.Officers were urging people to report groups with radical and antisocial characteristics.Part of the taskforce's role will also be to find and block Islamic State-related websites.Indonesian authorities have estimated that more than 500 citizens could be fighting with IS in the Middle East.They are well aware of the threat they pose, as returned jihadis were behind the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.Turkey recently detained 16 Indonesians who were caught trying to cross into Syria and it's believed a chlorine bomb that detonated in a Jakarta mall last month - with no casualties - was the work of fighters returned from Syria.An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman says they have yet to receive information from Bali police on their latest findings.

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Crash pilot showed 'suicidal tendencies'

CO-PILOT Andreas Lubitz, believed to have deliberately crashed the Germanwings Airbus into the French Alps, was in therapy for suicidal tendencies before getting his pilot's licence, Germany's state prosecutor has said.

LUBITZ, 27, was being treated by a psychotherapist said Christoph Kumpa.

"He being treated by psychotherapist for what is documented as being suicidal tendencies at that time," Kumpa said.He said there had also been several visits to doctors right up until the time of the crash but these not involve suicidal tendencies.No suicide note "or anything like that" was found in searches of Lubitz's German residences, Kumpa said.There was also nothing in his personal, family or professional background to provide any hints "about his motivation", Kumpa added.He also said that Lubitz had not been suffering from any "medical illness".Black box cockpit voice recorder evidence has indicated that Lubitz deliberately put the Airbus A320 aircraft into a descent after locking out the captain and refusing to let him back again.All 150 people, including two Australians, were killed in the subsequent crash last Tuesday.

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Bets soar on Royal baby's name

PUNTERS have staked a significant amount on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge naming their second baby Alice - leaving one bookmaker facing a potential five-figure payout.

THE odds on heavily pregnant Kate and William calling their baby Alice have tumbled with bookmaker William Hill from 14-1 to 4-1 after the bets were made last week.

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: "Alice is the new favourite and we have seen a significant number of bets, particularly from the Tunbridge area - you have to think there is good reason for the gamble."If the wagers prove correct the bookmakers face losing a five-figure sum.After Alice the next fancied moniker among punters is the Queen's name Elizabeth at odds of 9-2 followed by Charlotte 11-2, Victoria 12-1, Alexandra 14-1, Diana 16- 1, and the boys names Arthur, Henry and James all at 20-1.Since the mid 19th century a number of royal women have been called Alice, with Queen Victoria calling her second daughter Princess Alice and the wife of the late Duke of Gloucester - the Queen's uncle - also had the same name.Paddy Power have also made Alice their favourite, jointly with Charlotte, at odds of 9-2 followed by Elizabeth 5-1, Victoria 10-1, James, Arthur and Alexandra all at 12-1 and Philip 14-1.Kate held her last public engagements on Friday and will not be seen again officially until she leaves the Lindo Wing, the private maternity wing of London's St Mary's Hospital, with her second child, which is due at the end of April.Odds on the gender of the baby are evens for a boy and 8-11 for a girl.

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