Deal improves trans-Tasman criminal checks

Australia and New Zealand authorities have agreed to share more criminal history information. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA and New Zealand have agreed to share more criminal history information.

AUTHORITIES on both sides of the Tasman will now be able to request the information to vet people for jobs, training and professional registration purposes.

Australian Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said on Saturday that he and and his New Zealand counterpart Amy Adams have signed a Memorandum of Understanding following a successful trial involving Queensland authorities."This provides an important tool for protecting the community from people who may pose a risk," Mr Keenan said in a statement.He said it would strengthen border control as the numbers of people travelling between the two countries increases.Approved agencies can only check someone's criminal history with the person's informed consent.

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More Abbott leadership speculation: report

LESS than three weeks after Prime Minister Tony Abbott survived a party room vote, leadership tensions at the top of the government have emerged yet again.

THE Seven Network and the ABC have reported that Malcolm Turnbull has been told he has the numbers to topple Abbott.

But a government insider and Abbott supporter says Mr Turnbull just doesn't have the numbers.He said this latest leadership speculation was down to the same few disaffected MPs as last time trying to beat up support for Mr Turnbull."The vast majority of people know we can't win the election with Malcolm as leader, because with Malcolm as leader we would lose a chunk of our base and no party has ever won an election without its base," he told AAP.This follows the unsuccessful leadership spill on February 9 when Liberal MPs voted 61-39 to defeat a motion to declare leadership positions vacant.That was without a challenger to Mr Abbott.Mr Turnbull, regarded as the most likely leadership contender, didn't stand or even indicate where he stood on the leadership.The vote did show that internal disaffection - stoked by poor polls and the rout of Queensland's LNP government at their state election - was substantially greater than even many government insiders realised.An immediate casualty was chief whip Philip Ruddock, regarded as having an insufficient grasp of party thinking. He was dumped in favour of Queenslander Scott Buchholz.Assistant infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs said nothing had changed."The issue was raised in the party room a few weeks ago. The issue was resolved and the government is getting on doing its job," he told Sky News.Liberal backbencher Rowan Ramsey said MPs were falling in behind Mr Abbott."We've had that day in the party room. Not everybody's happy all the time but that's life," he told the ABC.Liberal MP Russell Broadbent said Mr Abbott had been given some time, although there was no deadline."He's on a test at all times - so every prime minister is," he told the ABC.Mr Turnbull declined to fuel the latest speculation."I'm a member of parliament so I talk to my colleagues all the time," he told reporters."Really.....I'll leave you guys to speculate about all that stuff."

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Egyptian court jails activist for 5 years

A PROMINENT Egyptian democracy activist has been jailed for five years after being found guilty of organising an illegal demonstration and of attacking police officers by a court in Cairo.

ALAA Abdel-Fattah was arrested in November 2013, two days after activists had attempted to hold a demonstration outside parliament to protest against the trial of civilians by military courts.

Police broke up the protest under a controversial law restricting demonstrations.The law had been passed just days earlier.Activists in the group say they had attempted to hand themselves in to the authorities after prosecutors accused Abdel-Fattah of being behind the demonstration.

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Candidate denies punching Sydney mayor

A SUBURBAN Sydney council candidate says he didn't punch the local mayor at a polling booth.

INDEPENDENT Victor Tagg has denied striking 52-year-old Ryde Mayor Bill Pickering at Putney Public School, in the city's northwest, on Saturday.

The pair were there attending a ward by-election for which Mr Tagg was a candidate.When asked on Sunday by the Seven Network whether he struck Mr Pickering, Mr Tagg said: "No."Pressed to explain what happened, he declined to make further comment.Asked if he was going to speak with police, Mr Tagg replied: "I am going to talk to my solicitor."Mr Pickering told reporters on Sunday he was recovering.However, he declined to give specifics, saying a police investigation was underway."I had an MRI scan, everything's OK neurologically," he said."Obviously there's swelling and other things but nothing I won't recover from in a couple of days."He said he could identify the man who allegedly assaulted him.The Ryde mayor said he was handing out sandwiches and thanking volunteers when he became aware of a couple being berated.He began talking to them before being confronted by another man.Mr Pickering said he only just saw the punch coming."It was too late to react," he said.Police say inquiries are ongoing.

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Premier pledges to rebuild central Qld

THE big rebuild has begun in central Queensland with the army joining efforts in the mop up of the war zone-like destruction left by Cyclone Marcia.

STUNNED Yeppoon, Rockhampton and Bileola residents were left to tidy up the mess on Saturday as Marcia unleashed its fury before turning into a tropical low which swamped southern Queensland.

Almost 550 houses were damaged and 60,000 properties left without power on the Capricorn Coast region, with the worst in Yeppoon, which copped the brunt of the category five blow.It's expected to take several weeks for buildings to be repaired and rebuilt and also several days before hundreds of Ergon and Energex workers can switch power back on in central Queensland.Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited both Rockhampton and Yeppoon on Saturday afternoon to assess the damage and meet the mayors of both towns and local disaster management teams."What we are seeing here is complete and utter devastation," she said. "Both mayors are telling me is that they fundamentally need more help."We now need the army to come in and assist."These are resilient people. They have been through the worst of the worst."But now, we are by their side and we will rebuild these communities."As well as thousands of State Emergency Service volunteers, the Australian Defence Force is deploying up to 350 soldiers from Townsville with another 350 on stand-by from the ADF's Brisbane base.Rockhampton disaster management committee chairman Tony Williams said it was far too early to know the extent of the damage bill."It's going to be massive - at this stage it's hard to put a figure on it," he said.Flooding in Bileola and Gympie, plus 56 schools, is among the damage list.While there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries, there had been grave fears for three teenage boys on Saturday afternoon who were reported missing after playing near Sunshine Coast floodwaters.After almost three hours of frantic searching, the youths were finally found near the area they'd been last seen clinging to a tree in a rising Beerwah creek.Police immediately put out a stern public warning saying "it would seem that the simplest of messages are often the hardest to receive"."Flooded creeks and rivers, fast-flowing waterways and watercourses and churned up oceans are dangerous places to play," the police statement read.Residents in the small towns of Jambin and Goovigen also received a major scare when Callide Creek broke its banks after automatic controls opened the Callide Dam gates late Friday night.More than 20 residents were evacuated from the local school in the middle of the night by helicopter.Freakish waterspouts also delivered minor damage on the Sunshine Coast and Marcia also produced thumping surf for board riders on the southern Gold Coast.But there was much relief that flooding expected in south-east Queensland was far less than expected.Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk praised residents for being well prepared for the deluge, shown by 190,000 sandbags collected from council depots."People have heard the call and they've taken a `it's better to be safe than sorry' approach," he said.

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SA man extradited to WA to face sex charge

A MAN who allegedly sexually assaulted two women at Perth's Scarborough Beach in June 1994 has been extradited from South Australia.

THE 44-year-old is charged with five counts of aggravated sexual penetration without consent, two counts of deprivation of liberty and one of aggravated indecent assault.

He is scheduled to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday.

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WA bushfire warning downgraded

A total fire ban has been declared for parts of WA's Midwest Gascoyne region on Thursday. Source: AAP

AN alert for an out of control bushfire on Perth's northeastern fringe has been downgraded.

THE watch and act warning was issued early on Thursday evening for residents on Sounness Drive in Bullsbrook, in the City of Swan, with lives and property under possible threat.

However, Fire and Emergency Services later said the danger had diminished and the alert level had been downgraded.It said there was still a lot of smoke in the area, and people were urged to keep up to date in case the situation changed again.The bushfire sparked accidentally on Thursday afternoon.

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Brawl after bride marries guest, not groom

TWO wedding guests were briefly detained in northern India after the bride reportedly rejected her groom in favour of another guest.

DURING one of the preliminary ceremonies of the Hindu wedding - the exchange of garlands - Jugal Kishore, 25, had an epileptic fit and fell to the floor at the wedding venue in the northern Indian town of Rampur, the Times of India newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Indira, the 23-year-old bride, apparently angered that she did not know about Kishore's condition, said she would instead marry a relative of her brother-in-law who was a guest at the wedding.The guest agreed and the garlanding ceremony continued. The marriage rituals were then completed, including a key section which involved the couple walking round a holy fire seven times, according to the report late on Tuesday.Kishore, who had been taken to a doctor, came back to find he no longer had a bride. The disagreement which followed reportedly turned violent, and police were called.A complaint was filed with the local police, but was later withdrawn after elders of both families intervened, the newspaper reported, quoting local police official RP Solanki."Both families have amicably resolved the matter," Solanki said.

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Hepatitis A: What is it?

Five people who ate frozen berries have contracted hepatitis A, sparking a national recall. Source: AAP

WHAT BERRIES HAVE BEEN RECALLED?

ALL 1kg packs of Nanna's Frozen Mixed Berries, which are imported from China and distributed in Australia by Patties Foods. Patties is also recalling all 300g and 500g packs of Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries.

WHAT IS HEP A?It's a viral disease that affects the liver.HOW DO YOU CATCH IT?It's spread by consuming food and drink that has been contaminated by faeces from an infected person.HOW IS HEP A DIAGNOSED?It's easy to diagnose hep A through a blood test.WHAT IS THE INCUBATION PERIOD?The average incubation period is 30 days, but you can fall ill anywhere between 15 and 50 days after catching the virus.WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?Fever, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark urine, yellow skin and eyes.HOW LONG DO SYMPTOMS LAST?Several weeks, after which most people will experience a full recovery from the virus.WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE IT?Go to the doctor. Keep your hands clean and don't prepare food for others.A, B OR C?Hep A, B and C are caused by different viruses, are spread in different ways and require different treatments.PREVIOUS OUTBREAKS OF HEP A IN AUSTRALIA?There was a large outbreak of hep A linked to the consumption of raw oysters in NSW in 1997.A large outbreak in 2009 was associated with semidried tomatoes.WHO GETS THE HEP A VACCINATION?The hep A vaccination is recommended for travellers to developing countries.It's also given to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in north Queensland, child daycare and pre-school workers and certain health care professionals.

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Beaches reopen after NSW shark attack

BEACHES around Ballina on the NSW north coast have reopened following a fatal shark attack and shark sightings.

THE beaches have been closed for six days since Tadashi Nakahara, 41, was bitten and killed by a 3-4m great white while surfing at Shelly Beach on Monday.

Since then, shark sightings and a large number of baitfish in the area have kept beaches closed.It's believed the last shark sighting was at Lighthouse Beach on Friday.Police and local lifesavers have reassessed the situation and opened the beaches between South Ballina and Lennox Heads.

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