A MAN is on the run from police yet again after escaping from the southwest Sydney townhouse into which he had been chased by officers.
THE man had been holed up in the Liverpool house for several hours after fleeing police when he failed to stop his car as requested after midday on Tuesday.
Heavy armed police were outside the house but the man got away.
Queensland's opposition is pressuring Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to support live cattle exports. Source: AAP
QUEENSLAND'S opposition is applying pressure on new Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to throw her support behind live cattle exports.
AGRICULTURE Minister Bill Byrne has said exports out of Port Alma, in central Queensland, will threaten the viability of the local meat processing industry and jobs in his Rockhampton electorate.
But Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg is disappointed by Mr Byrne's "negative" comments and "significant opposition" to the sector.He says it's now up to Ms Palaszczuk to restore confidence in the industry, especially after the federal Labor government temporarily halted live exports in 2011 following incidents of animal cruelty in Indonesia."The premier needs to come out in support of the live cattle export industry," Mr Springborg told AAP."She has to support it because it's a vitally important industry and we saw the devastation that came from the previous shutdown."It's important and people would expect the agriculture minister should be supporting it not opposing it, and they would be very interested to know if the premier shares that view."The Liberal National Party leader said the multi-billion dollar industry bred huge numbers of cattle in Queensland specifically for live export.He said live cattle were also a valuable source of protein for many countries in southeast Asia where refrigeration wasn't widespread.Meat processor Teys Australia, one of the biggest employers in the city, understands live exports would give local beef producers more options.But Teys general manager Tom Maguire also said live exports would be "unequivocally bad" for the local job market in Rockhampton.Miner BC Iron has been hit by lower ore prices, but will operate at a profit after lowering costs. Source: AAP
FALLING iron ore prices and production issues have sent Pilbara ore miner BC Iron to a $97 million half year loss.
THE company slumped from a profit of $70 million in the same period a year earlier, as a fall in shipments and prices more than halved its revenue in the six months to December.
Excluding $100 million in writedowns on the value of its assets, which was a result of lower iron ore prices, BC Iron still made an underlying loss of $18 million.An issue with high clay levels at its Nullagine joint venture (NJV) with Fortescue Metals during the September quarter has now been overcome, but it hampered half year production.BC Iron's average realised price for iron ore also fell 39 per cent from a year ago.The company has already been cutting costs, including dozens of job losses in December, and expects its total costs per tonne of iron ore to be between $A54 and $A61 in the second half of the financial year.That means the company remains profitable, as its average realised price in the half year was $US82 per tonne, although iron ore prices have declined slightly since the end of December."BC Iron remains focused on operating the NJV in an efficient and productive manner, while continuing to build on the sustainable ... cash cost savings of $2 to $3 per wet metric tonne that we have delivered to date," managing director Morgan Ball said.BC Iron shares closed 3.5 cents lower, down 6.6 per cent, at 49.5 cents.BC IRON PLUNGES INTO THE RED* Net loss of $97.3 million, down from profit of $69.9m* Revenue of $133m, down 56 pct from $301m* No interim dividend, down from 17 cents per shareALASKA has become the third state in the United States to legalise the recreational use of marijuana.
A BALLOT measure approved by Alaskan voters in November kicks in on Tuesday, allowing adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce (28 grams) of pot and up to six plants.
Regulations for the sale of the drug still must be hammered out.Smoking marijuana in public remains off-limits, and police officers in Alaska's largest city plan to strictly enforce the public ban.Fear of people getting $US100 ($A128) fines for toking in public led an organiser to call off plans for a celebration party in downtown Anchorage.Marijuana legalisation supporters in Anchorage want the event to be low-key.They also plan to launch an advertising campaign recommending safe consumption, including ads on city buses.THE family of jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has sought a royal pardon for him, a spokesman for his party says.
THE initiative to seek a royal pardon was made by his family and not by his party, People's Justice Party communications director Fahmi Fadzil said.
Wan Azizah Ismail, Anwar's wife and the president of the party, was accompanied by some of her children when she submitted the plea for a royal pardon at the palace.On February 10, Anwar began serving a five-year jail sentence at Sungai Buloh Prison, near the capital Kuala Lumpur, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for sodomising his former aide in 2008.A royal pardon is the only recourse for Anwar to regain his freedom after the Federal Court upheld his conviction and sentence.A 25-YEAR-OLD woman is in custody and assisting detectives with a murder investigation in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
POLICE were called to a Roeburne home at 8.10pm on Saturday where a 25-year-old man was found dead.
Forensic officers were continuing their investigations at the scene.
Hundreds of soldiers will help the clean-up under way after Cyclone Marcia, says Queensland Premier. Source: AAP
AUTHORITIES are racing to put a roof over the heads of 100 families left homeless in the wake of Cyclone Marcia as another 50,000 Queensland properties remain without power.
MORE than 1500 houses in Yeppoon and Rockhampton have suffered structural damage, while access to electricity is emerging as a major obstacle in the recovery effort.
But as the state's central coast continues to pick up the pieces, regions to the south are still contending with a flood emergency."Our fundamental priority now is on those families who have been the most severely impacted," premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Sunday.Ergon energy has bolstered its field crew contingent from 500 to 800 in Yeppoon and Rockhampton but says outlying properties could be left in the dark for weeks."There are over 1800 power lines down. This is absolutely significant," Ms Palaszczuk said.Almost 100 per cent of Yeppoon and 92 per cent of Rockhampton had no power, she said.The federal government has signed off on Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery funding for the Rockhampton, Livingstone and Banana Shire council areas.Cyclone and flood victims can immediately access hardship payments of $180 per person or up to $900 for a family of five or more.The destruction was extraordinary, deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said as he toured central Queensland."The power of this cyclone is evident everywhere."Seven defence technicians have been deployed to help with damage assessments in addition to the hundreds of army personnel who have been clearing streets.Further south, poor access to phone and internet communications has stifled the response.In the Banana Shire, which takes in the town of Biloela, up to 400 properties may have been inundated by floodwaters, mayor Ron Carige said."How many more times can these people pick themselves up?" he asked.Mr Carige is furious after the region's disaster co-ordination centre ran into a repeat of the communication issues that plagued the 2013 flood event.Telstra had promised it wouldn't happen again, he said.Ms Palaszczuk has vowed a review."They've got mobile communications there. We have a couple of police officers there as well, and they are conveying information to the centre (in Brisbane)," she said.Telstra arranged for a helicopter to deliver a generator to the key network site and was expecting progressive restoration of services on Sunday afternoon.Closer to Brisbane, Ms Palasczuk said the situation appeared to be slowing down in Gympie, where the Mary River had reached 16.6 metres, impacting on 19 businesses but no homes.The small town of Jambin, south of Rockhampton, has seen evacuations due to flooding of the Callide River.The SES has responded to more than 6000 requests for help and many are still outstanding.Queensland's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has urged people to stay out of flood waters, which could be contaminated, unless absolutely necessary."You only need a tiny breach of the skin and you can get an infection," she said.SIGNED papers to formally enact Victoria's Royal Commission into Family Violence have been handed by the premier to the governor.
PREMIER Daniel Andrews said on Sunday it was another important step in addressing a long overlooked problem.
"The biggest law and order issue in our state is unfolding in our homes," Mr Andrews said."The Royal Commission will give us the answers we need and nothing will be off limits."The commission, to take about a year, will report on the most effective ways to protect the vulnerable and support victims, to prevent and intervene, and to hold family violence perpetrators to account.It will cost $36 million to run and a further $4 million has been allocated as an initial funding boost for support services in anticipation of increased demand.Family violence accounted for a third of all police work in Victoria in 2013, with 65,000 incidents reported and 44 related deaths.A YOUNG mother is fighting for life after a car mounted a footpath, injuring her child and two other women in Sydney's southwest.
THE 23-year-old is in a critical condition in St George Hospital after the car mounted the footpath in Belmore, in Sydney's southwest, just before 3pm on Sunday.
The child, who is between two and three years old, suffered head injuries and is in a serious condition in Sydney Children's hospital.The other two women, aged 21 and 49, are also in St George Hospital in a stable condition.The 50-year-old driver of the car will spend the night in hospital and is expected to talk to police on Monday.AN overcrowded ferry has sunk in a Bangladesh river leaving at least 41 people including 11 children dead as rescuers searched for missing passengers, officials say.
THE ferry collided with a cargo vessel on Sunday and sank within minutes on the Padma river, the second deadly boat accident in a fortnight in the country, which has a history of ferry tragedies.
"Divers have recovered 41 bodies. The dead included 11 children and seven women," local police chief Rakibuz Zaman said, updating an earlier toll.Officials said they did not know the exact number of people missing, but said search and rescue efforts would continue through the night, with the aid of floodlights from other ferries on the river.Rescuers were unloading bodies from small boats some 70 kilometres from the capital Dhaka at the Paturia ferry terminal in the country's northwest, where grieving relatives have gathered to identify them."We found one body but five are still missing. We were returning home after the opening of a temple," Hindu holy man Kumud Ranjan Goswami said of his colleagues.Survivors said the MV Mostofa was overcrowded with about 70-150 passengers crammed into the upper and lower decks, leaving them scrambling to find their loved ones when the tragedy struck."I was holding my mother's hand when the cargo boat hit our ferry from behind," an 18-year-old who gave his name as Al Amin said at the terminal."Within two minutes the ferry was sunk. Before I realised I was washed away to the middle of the river."I swam and a ferry rescued me. But I don't know what happened to my mom."Police chief Zaman said some 50 people "swam ashore or were rescued by other vessels".Bangladeshi ferries do not normally keep passenger lists, making it difficult to establish how many are missing after an accident.An official said a salvage vessel was on its way to raise the sunken ferry, adding that the master of the cargo ship and two other crew had been arrested.
