Boy critical after being hit by 4WD

A YOUNG boy is fighting for his life after being knocked off his pushbike by a 4WD while crossing a road in western Sydney.

The boy suffered life-threatening head injuries after he was hit by a silver Subaru Escape at traffic lights on Richmond Road, Marayong at about 7.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday, police said.

The boy is aged between eight and 12 and was with his brother at the time of the accident, police believe.

He has been taken to the Children's Hospital at Westmead in a critical condition.

The Subaru driver, a woman in her 30s, stopped immediately and is assisting police.

Witnesses are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Vic man charged after ute crash kills two

A 19-YEAR-OLD Victorian man has been charged with culpable driving after a ute rolled killing two people.

Robert Saunders was the driver of a ute carrying six people when it left the road and rolled onto its roof ejecting several passengers, police said.

Saunders faced an out-of-session hearing at the Traralgon police station charged with two counts of culpable driving causing death.

A 22-year-old and 18-year-old man died at the scene of the crash at Glengarry in the state's east on Saturday.

One man was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.

Saunders has been remanded in custody and will face the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court on Monday.

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One month delay in Berlusconi trial

A COURT in Milan has delayed by a month the next hearing in former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's appeal trial against a conviction for tax fraud after a request by his lawyers.

Judges accepted Berlusconi's justification that he could not attend on Saturday, the day of the hearing, because he was meeting the leadership of his People of Freedom party.

The next hearing in the trial - linked to his business empire Mediaset- will be on April 20.

A verdict is not expected before the end of April at the earliest.

Berlusconi was sentenced to a year in prison and handed a five-year ban from holding public office, but the punishment has been suspended during the appeal process.

If the court upholds the conviction, he can still file a second appeal with Italy's highest court.

Berlusconi is also a defendant in another trial in Milan for having sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of office when he was prime minister.

He has denied all charges.

AFP a

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Assault weapons ban deserves vote: Obama

US President Barack Obama says each of his proposed steps to reduce gun violence should get a vote in Congress - even an assault weapons ban that both parties agree stands little chance at passing.

Senate Democrats dropped the ban from the bill they plan to debate next month out of concern it could sink the whole package. Still, Obama says he's pushing for it.

In his weekly radio and internet address released Saturday, Obama says the US has changed in the three months since the December school shooting in Newtown, Conn. He says Americans support the ban, plus limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines, school security funding and a crackdown on gun trafficking.

"Today there is still genuine disagreement among well-meaning people about what steps we should take to reduce the epidemic of gun violence in this country. But you, the American people, have spoken," Obama said.

The White House said on Saturday that Obama will make additional trips outside Washington to rally support for the measures, including the assault weapons ban. The White House also said that before Obama left for Israel earlier this week, his push for gun control was among the issues he raised with legislators from both parties as he embarked on a concerted effort to reach out to Congress.

In the Republican address, Senator Mike Lee of Utah says the Senate Democrats' budget raises taxes by $US1.5 trillion ($A1.44 trillion) without doing anything to save entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.

He says Republicans want a balanced budget that lives up to the nation's moral obligation to act in the best interest of future generations.

"Republicans recognise that keeping dollars, decisions, priorities and power in the hands of the people is what has made America the greatest civilisation the world has ever known," Lee says. "Now is the time to return to that model."

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Tourists kidnapped in Egypt

ARMED Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt's Sinai abducted two tourists, an Israeli man and a Belgian woman, as they were travelling between two beach resorts.

Police officials said the gunmen intercepted the tourists' car and forced them into their truck.

The tourists had been travelling between the southern resort of Taba, on the border with Israel, and Dahab.

Such hostage takings, which usually last for no longer than 48 hours, began in the restive Sinai peninsula after an uprising in early 2011 forced out president Hosni Mubarak and battered his security services.

The kidnappers are Bedouin who want to trade the hostages for jailed tribesmen.

Israel has repeatedly warned its tourists of threats of attacks in the Sinai, where Islamist militants have waged a low level insurgency against the military and police and occasionally attacked neighbouring Israel.

But Friday's kidnapping did not appear politically motivated.

Bedouin sources in the area said the kidnappers wanted to exchange the hostages for jailed relatives.

Bedouin kidnapped two Britons on March 7, only to release them within hours following negotiations with security officials.

The British husband and wife had been kidnapped from a bank in a town as they headed towards the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

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WA prison escapee found

A PRISONER who escaped a Western Australian jail has been caught by police.

Nigel Ryder, 33, was wearing his prison greens when he escaped Wooroloo Prison at 3.15pm (AEDT) on Friday.

The escapee was found in Woodbridge in Perth's northeast on Friday night and is now in custody.

It is believed he abandoned a car in the area and was on foot.

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Musharraf set to return from exile

PAKISTAN'S former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was granted protective bail in a series of legal cases, paving the way for his return from exile without the risk of immediate arrest.

Musharraf, who seized power in 1999 and left the country after stepping down in 2008, has vowed to return Sunday to contest the May 11 general election, but is wanted in Pakistan for conspiracy to murder and illegally arresting judges.

To preclude the prospect of his arrest on arrival, his daughter, Ayla Raza, petitioned a court in Karachi on his behalf for protective bail in three cases, including the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

"He has been given pre-arrival, protective bail in all three cases," Musharraf's lawyer Ahmad Raza Kasuri told AFP.

Judge Sajjad Ali Shah posted bail at 300,000 rupees ($2,950) over the 2007 sacking of judges, the 2006 death of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch rebel leader in the southwest, and the murder of Bhutto in a gun and suicide attack.

The decision prevents Musharraf being arrested for 10 days in connection with the judges' arrests and for 14 days in connection with the other two cases.

Technically, Pakistan's Supreme Court could intervene to reverse the order.

"He has full protection now and he cannot be arrested in these cases upon his arrival in Pakistan," Salman Safdar, another Musharraf lawyer, told AFP.

At the Sindh High Court, a handful of activists from Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party flashed victory signs and chanted "Long Live Musharraf" and "Musharraf will come back, he will bring prosperity".

The outgoing government led by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) always insisted that Musharraf would be arrested should be return to the country and last year he delayed a planned homecoming after being threatened with detention.

A parliamentary committee could later Friday agree on a candidate to head up an interim government which will rule during the election campaign.

Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto, who is co-chairman of the PPP with his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, has accused Musharraf of murdering his mother.

She was killed after an election rally in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the army, on December 27, 2007.

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Myanmar imposes emergency rule

Global pressure is mounting for an end to the Buddhist-Muslim unrest in Myanmar. Source: AAP

MYANMAR declared a state of emergency for a riot-hit town where 20 people have been killed in Buddhist-Muslim violence that has sparked fears of spreading unrest.

Swathes of Meiktila, located 130km north of the capital Naypyidaw, have been reduced to ashes as the authorities struggle to establish control after three days of clashes and arson.

"At least 20 people have been killed. We estimate that it could be higher but it is also difficult for us to gather all the figures," said a police officer who did not want to be named told AFP.

The president's office said the state of emergency would enable the military to help restore order.

The situation was extremely tense on Friday with groups of men - including Buddhist monks - armed with knives and sticks prowling the streets.

Many of the town's Muslim residents have fled their homes.

A journalist saw the incinerated remains of two victims on a roadside, just one of several reports of bodies in the town, as flames raged from torched mosques and houses while other buildings smouldered unattended.

"The situation is getting worse," a local resident said. "People are destroying buildings. Many people have been killed. We are scared and trying to stay safe at home."

A group of reporters were stopped at knife-point by a gang of young men and monks and forced to hand over their camera memory cards, according to one of the journalists.

It is the worst communal violence since a wave of clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine last year that left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced.

A local lawmaker said that about 25 people had been killed in Meiktila, where more than one-third of the population of about 80,000 people is Muslim, but it was not possible to verify his figures.

"The situation is not good... although the government has said everything is under control," parliamentarian Win Htein, of the opposition National League for Democracy party, told AFP.

He said hundreds of Muslims had taken shelter at a football ground and police compound while Buddhists had sought sanctuary in monasteries.

The violence comes as Myanmar struggles with worsening tensions between Muslims and Buddhists that have marred international optimism over dramatic political reforms since the end of military rule two years ago.

A local police officer said an order had been given on Thursday to shoot rioters below the waist if needed to quell the violence, which apparently began with a row in a Muslim-owned gold shop that turned into a mass street brawl.

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Turkey awaits ceasefire from Kurds

JAILED Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan was set to call a "historic" ceasefire, raising expectations for an end to a three-decade conflict with Turkey that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

The widely anticipated ceasefire appeal is to come in a letter penned by the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from his isolated island prison cell, and millions of people nationwide are set to tune in to hear his words read out on television and radio.

The announcement, which Ocalan in a previous letter said would be "historic", has been timed to coincide with the Kurdish New Year, or Newroz, that will see hundreds of thousands gather for celebrations in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir.

Starting from the early hours, people from across Turkey were pouring into the square where the celebrations will take place and the Kurdish lawmakers will reveal Ocalan's messages.

"The light of Newroz burning for peace," read the mainstream Sabah daily's headline on Thursday, referring to the celebratory ritual where young men jump over flames in a sign of courage and fertility.

"Hundreds of thousands will light the fire of peace in Diyarbakir today. And Turkey will turn a new page on the historic Newroz, the most critical junction in the peace process," the daily said.

The ceasefire call would cap months of clandestine peace talks between Turkey's spy agency and the state's former public enemy number one Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence for treason on Imrali island off Istanbul since 1999.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ocalan both appear to have staked their political futures on the renewed push to end the 29-year armed campaign for self-rule that has killed some 45,000 people, mostly Kurds.

Erdogan said he was putting his faith in the peace process "even if it costs me my political career", in the face of accusations that Ankara was making concessions to Ocalan - routinely labelled a "terrorist chief" and "baby-killer" by Turks.

A solution to Turkey's ingrained Kurdish problem could etch Erdogan's name in history, in much the same way the abolition of slavery enshrined Lincoln's memory for Americans a century ago, wrote Murat Yetkin, editor-in-chief of the Hurriyet Daily News.

"If he can do this and convince people that a political solution to Kurdish problem is on track and the conflict is over, yes, there is a chance that Erdogan can be the Lincoln of Turkey," he wrote in February.

Ocalan's expected ceasefire is likely to be in return for wider constitutional recognition and language rights for up to 15 million Kurds in Turkey's, as well as the release of thousands detained over links to the PKK.

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Man killed after car hits tree

A MAN has been killed when the car he was driving smashed into a tree in the state's Southern Tablelands.

Police said the man, 22, died after his car ran off the road and hit a tree near the Wombeyan caves about 2pm on Thursday.

The car is believed to have left the road at high speed.

A report is being prepared for the coroner.

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Leadership tussle disappointing: Emerson

LABOR frontbencher Craig Emerson says the party's latest leadership tussle has disappointed the Australian public, but he insists the dramas within the ALP are now over.

Speaking on Thursday night, the trade minister admitted it had been a tough week for the party.

"It has been disappointing for the Australian people," Mr Emerson told ABC television.

"We've been talking about ourselves and our jobs, and what they expect legitimately is that we talk about them and their jobs.

Labor MPs and senators met for a caucus spill motion on Thursday afternoon after party elder Simon Crean sought to end months of talk about a Kevin Rudd comeback.

Ms Gillard retained the leadership unopposed after Mr Rudd said he wouldn't stand without a request from a majority of the party.

Questions over the leadership were now "at an end" in the wake of the dramatic events, Mr Emerson said.

"It is at an end, as it should be, as the Australian people legitimately expect," he said.

He rejected suggestions that questions would remain about Ms Gillard's leadership because she wasn't doing a good job.

"I do not focus on fortnightly opinion polls," Mr Emerson said.

"I don't think they have a real bearing on the judgment that the Australian people make."

However, he added that some of his parliamentary colleagues "had a different view".

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said the result confirmed there would be no change of ALP leader.

"I think that those who were wavering towards Kevin Rudd, won't do that any more," he told the ABC.

"He's cruelled his chances, and some of the ALP members I've spoken to were quite scathing."

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PM accepts Marles' resignation

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has accepted the resignation of Richard Marles from his parliamentary secretary position.

Ms Gillard received Mr Marles' resignation as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs and as Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs on Thursday evening.

"The Prime Minister has accepted the resignation," her office said.

"The Prime Minister thanked Mr Marles for his contribution and service and acknowledges his behaviour in offering his resignation is honourable."

Mr Marles offered his resignation after supporting former prime minister Kevin Rudd ahead of the leadership spill at which Ms Gillard was unanimously confirmed as leader.

He was the second Labor MP to depart the executive on Thursday, following the resignation of Simon Crean, who called for the spill, as minister for regional affairs.

Rudd backer and government whip Joel Fitzgibbon is considering his position.

Mr Marles said Thursday's drama must draw a line in the sand for the Labor party.

"From here on in, I will be dedicating myself as the Member for Corio, to serving the Gillard Labor government and to working tirelessly for its re-election and the re-election of Julia Gillard as prime minister," he said in a statement.

Mr Marles said he had loved the parliamentary secretary job, it had been the greatest honour of his professional life and the decision to resign was difficult.

"But in the circumstances of today's events I believed this to be the appropriate course."

He would always retain a passion and commitment to Australia's role in the Pacific and Australia's standing in the world, he said.

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Asian markets mixed after Cyprus vote

ASIAN markets were mixed on Wednesday after Cypriot lawmakers comprehensively rejected a plan to tax savings as part of a crucial bailout deal.

The euro rebounded from morning losses to climb against the yen and dollar as European leaders sought to sooth investor concerns, saying they were willing to work with Nicosia to help it avoid bankruptcy.

Sydney fell 0.40 per cent, or 20.1 points, to 4,967.3 while Seoul lost 0.97 per cent, or 19.15 points, to 1,959.41.

Bargain hunters moved in to send Hong Kong up 0.97 per cent, or 214.58 points, to 22,256.44, while Shanghai surged 2.66 per cent, or 59.94 points, to 2,317.37.

Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.

Cypriot MPs on Tuesday rejected a proposal to impose a levy on savings as part of a deal agreed with international creditors for a 10-billion-euro ($13 billion) rescue.

The plan had been to charge 6.75 per cent for deposits of 20,000-100,000 euros and a 9.9 per cent tax on anything above that, with savings of up to 20,000 euros exempt.

The 5.8 billion euros the proposal would have raised was crucial to Nicosia getting the full rescue, and with that now in doubt Cyprus must find other ways to raise cash to repay its debts.

However while Tuesday's events raised fears the country could exit the eurozone, analysts said they soothed fears such levies could be introduced in other troubled eurozone countries, which could have hammered confidence in the region.

Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments, told Dow Jones Newswires: "We're watching very closely, but at present we don't think Cyprus is a game-changer in Europe.

"We're looking at financial-system indicators in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and also bank data to see if there's a run or even a jog on banks in those countries. We don't see that just yet."

The European Central Bank also said it would continue to provide financial support for troubled Cypriot banks, a key step to allow all sides a little more time to try to find a way out of the impasse.

But Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, offered a word of warning, saying: "The Cyprus issue is far from over.

"I don't think it will be a situation where the ECB has stepped in and we don't have to worry about it."

On currency markets the euro climbed on hopes that the crisis can be overcome.

In afternoon trade the single currency bought $1.2898, down from $1.2881 in New York late Tuesday, while it sat at 122.93 yen from 122.59 yen.

The dollar fetched 95.29 yen from 95.23 yen.

On Wall Street markets were mixed, with the Dow nudging up 0.03 per cent, the S&P 500 falling 0.24 per cent and the Nasdaq off 0.26 per cent.

US traders took heart from expectations the Federal Reserve could on Wednesday deliver an improved view of the world's biggest economy.

The Fed's policy committee "may sound more upbeat this time around amid the more broad-based recovery", said David Song of DailyFX in the United States.

Oil prices rose, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gained 73 cents to $92.89 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for May was up 62 cents at $108.07.

Gold was at $1,610.87 an ounce at 1050 GMT compared with $1,602.20 late Tuesday.

In other markets:

-- Taipei fell 0.52 per cent, or 40.44 points, to 7,798.03.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 1.2 per cent to Tw$98.8 while smartphone maker HTC was 1.0 per cent lower at Tw$246.5.

-- Manila closed 0.10 per cent lower, shedding 6.63 points to 6,419.62.

Metropolitan Bank eased 1.40 per cent to 113 pesos and Alliance Global fell 3.73 per cent to 19.88 pesos, while SM Investments added 1.19 per cent.

-- Wellington closed 0.10 per cent higher, adding 4.39 points to 4,349.43.

Air New Zealand was up 2.75 per cent at NZ$1.50, Sky Television rose 1.48 per cent to N$5.49 and Telecom was down 1.1 per cent at NZ$2.26.

-- Singapore shed 0.63 per cent, or 20.73 points, to close at 3,248.40.

Singtel was down 2.25 per cent to Sg$3.48 while real estate developer Capitaland gained 0.57 per cent to Sg$3.53.

-- Kuala Lumpur shares gained 6.08 points, or 0.37 per cent, to close at 1,632.54.

UEM Land Holdings surged 6 per cent to 2.64 ringgit while Tenaga Nasional was up 2 per cent to end at 7.14. IOI Corp lost 1.7 to close at 4.62.

Jakarta closed higher 8.87 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 4,831.50.

-- Cement producer Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa rose 3.35 per cent to 23,150.00 rupiah, telecoms firm Telekomunikasi Indonesia gained 1.42 per cent to 10,700 rupiah, while Timah lost two per cent to 1,470 rupiah.

Bangkok fell 1.57 per cent or 24.58 points to 1,543.67.

-- Bangchak Petroleum dropped 6.99 per cent to 33.25 baht, while power giant Electricity Generating Public Co. added 1.61 per cent to 158.00 baht.

-- Mumbai fell 0.65 per cent, or 123.91 points, to at 18,884.19.

Bharti Airtel fell 4.18 per cent to 281.15 rupees, while State Bank of India fell 3.87 per cent to 2,117.35 rupees.

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Over 100 missing from Nigeria boat sinking

A BOAT that capsized off southern Nigeria in recent days was carrying an estimated 128 passengers and only two survivors have been found so far, an emergency official said.

"One hundred twenty-eight people were suspected to be aboard the boat, but only nine bodies have been recovered, while there were two survivors so far," Yushau Shuaib, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, told AFP.

"The incident happened about two or three days ago, but there is still some confusion as to the origin of the boat."

Shuaib said the accident occurred more than 60 kilometres off the coast of the southern Nigerian city of Calabar.

There were indications that the boat had originated from the Congo, but that has not been confirmed, he said.

He did not have further details.

A rescue source speaking on condition of anonymity said initial indications were that the two survivors were Togolese.

Such accidents occur regularly in parts of Africa, with rickety boats often overloaded with passengers and few reliable records of who was aboard.

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Tiny implant conducts blood tests

A TINY implant that conducts blood tests under the skin could greatly improve the tracking and treatment of cancer and other diseases, researchers claim.

The 14 millimetre-long device is packed with miniaturised electronics including five sensors and a WiFi transmitter.

Power is delivered through the skin by a battery patch which also relays test data via Bluetooth.

Results can be displayed on a doctor's mobile phone or laptop.

The sensors target proteins, sugar and organic acids in the blood that provide vital health information.

For patients with chronic illnesses, such as cancer or diabetes, the device could provide continuous monitoring and sound an alert before symptoms emerge.

Scientists believe the implant will be especially useful as a chemotherapy aid.

Currently doctors rely on occasional blood tests to assess a cancer patient's tolerance of a particular treatment dosage. However, it is difficult to tailor the ideal dose for an individual patient.

The implant opens up the possibility of much more finely tuned and effective treatment, according to Professor Giovanni de Micheli, one of the chip's designers from the EPFL polytechnic in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"It will allow direct and continuous monitoring based on a patient's individual tolerance, and not on age and weight charts, or weekly blood tests," said Prof de Micheli.

"In a general sense, our system has enormous potential in cases where the evolution of a pathology needs to be monitored or the tolerance to a treatment tested."

A prototype has already been tested for five different substances and found to be as reliable as conventional analysis methods.

The results were presented today at DATE (Design Automation & Test in Europe), Europe's largest electronics meeting taking place in Grenoble, France.

Prof de Micheli's team hopes the device will be on the market within four years.

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Three-parent IVF to move closer?

THE UK could move a step closer today to allowing IVF babies with DNA from three different people.

Techniques that give a baby DNA from a father, a mother and a woman donor to prevent inherited disorders are currently outlawed.

But today the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will announce what advice it plans to give the Government on the issue.

Some groups have raised ethical and safety concerns about three-people IVF.

The purpose of the procedure is to stop the transmission of defective mitochondrial DNA from mothers to their babies.

Children born after the procedures would possess nuclear DNA inherited from their parents plus mitochondrial DNA from a woman donor.

Mitochondria are rod-shaped power plants in the bodies of cells that supply energy. They contain their own DNA, which is only passed down the maternal line.

Faulty mitochondrial genes can lead to a wide range of serious disorders including heart malfunction, kidney and liver disease, stroke, dementia, and blindness, as well as premature death.

Around 6,000 adults in the UK are believed to be affected by mitochondrial diseases.

Controversy surrounds attempts to prevent such diseases through hi-tech variations of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

One technique, pronuclear transfer, involves transferring nuclear DNA out of a day-old embryonic cell containing defective mitochondria. The DNA is planted into another single-cell embryo whose mitochondria function normally.

The donor embryo's own nuclear DNA is discarded, but it still contains the normal mitochondria of the woman whose egg was fertilised to create it.

As it grows, the embryo produces a baby with DNA from three sources - nuclear DNA from the original parents, plus a tiny amount of mitochondrial DNA from the woman egg donor.

Another technique, maternal spindle transfer (MST), is similar but involves transferring nuclear DNA from an unfertilised egg to a donor egg. The egg is then fertilised using the father's sperm.

The issue has been the subject of a public consultation by the HFEA - the UK's fertility watchdog.

The HFEA will pass on the findings of the consultation and agree on its advice to ministers.

Although such techniques are banned, they could be voted in by Parliament under existing legislation.

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Polka-dot dresses the rage in N. Korea

POLKA-DOT dresses and manual threshing machines were among the hottest consumer products in North Korea last year, according to an annual list compiled by a research analyst in South Korea.

The arrival of the boldly-patterned dresses in the top 10 list was down to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's wife, Ri Sol-Ju, who was seen wearing them to public functions on state television.

"Young North Korean women are keenly interested in the first lady's fashion style and try to follow her example" Dong Yong-Seung, a senior research fellow at the Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul, told AFP on Tuesday.

Dong has been compiling a top 10 chart of consumer items in North Korea since 2010, basing her findings on interviews with North Korean defectors and Chinese traders on the Sino-North Korean border.

The fact that manual threshing machines made the list spoke of the prevalence of electricity cuts in the countryside, Dong said.

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SA backs wind farm developments

SOUTH Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has reaffirmed his government's support for wind energy and will seek a vote in parliament on Wednesday backing the renewable energy sector.

Mr Weatherill said recent suggestions of a moratorium on future wind farm developments was putting investment in the industry at risk.

"The government remains committed to providing ample opportunity for investment in wind energy in South Australia," the premier told state parliament on Tuesday.

"Every megawatt hour of wind energy cuts about one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions.

"Apart from the environmental benefits, wind farms also bring in vital investment to our state."

Mr Weatherill said South Australia had already attracted about $3 billion in wind energy investment, creating 842 direct jobs.

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Breakthrough in Vic teachers pay dispute

THERE has been a major breakthrough in the long-running Victorian teachers' pay battle, with the government backing down on performance pay.

The union says it is a sign the new Premier Denis Napthine is prepared to listen to teachers' concerns but the parties are yet to agree on salaries, contract teaching and several other issues.

Government and Australian Education Union (AEU) negotiators are due to meet again on Wednesday afternoon.

Dr Napthine said the government remained committed to performance pay but was willing to cut that aspect out of enterprise bargaining negotiations with the union in a bid to resolve the long-running dispute.

"We seek to deal with the issue of performance pay outside the EBA process," he told parliament on Tuesday.

"I call upon the teachers' union to accept this act of good faith."

AEU Victoria president Meredith Peace said the union would never accept performance pay because it did not lead to better student outcomes.

She said the government's move was a positive, small step but the union wasn't celebrating yet.

"It shows that the new premier is prepared to listen to our profession," Ms Peace said.

"This is a small step in the right direction but there is still much work to be done."

Ms Peace said the outstanding issues included salaries, workloads, class sizes and the high level of contract employment.

The union revised down its pay claim last November to a 12.6 per cent increase over three years, while the government's wages policy was 2.5 per cent plus extra for productivity gains.

"We actually now need to see what they are prepared to offer," Ms Peace said.

Former premier Ted Baillieu promised, before the coalition won government, to make Victoria's teachers the best paid in Australia.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said Dr Napthine should become personally involved in negotiations rather than grand stand in parliament.

"Instead of these faux concessions, the mock drama on the floor of the parliament, Mr Napthine should get in a room and get a deal done," he said.

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US backs Aust and NZ's Antarctic plans

The US is backing a proposal by Australia and NZ to set up marine sanctuaries in Antarctica. Source: AAP

HAILING the waters of Antarctica as a living laboratory, the United States has joined Australia and New Zealand in appealing for the creation of marine sanctuaries in the most remote and pristine part of the world.

The United States and New Zealand have drawn up a proposal for a marine sanctuary covering 1.6 million square kilometres of the Ross Sea, which would be the world's largest reserve.

Nations led by Australia, France and the European Union also want to protect 1.9 million square kilometres of critical coastal area in the East Antarctic.

But the proposals were blocked when talks in November at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) - comprising 24 countries and the European Union - ended without resolution amid concerns from Russia and China.

Now the nations in favour are boosting their efforts to get the two sanctuaries approved at a special meeting of the group in Germany in July.

"Antarctica is a collection of superlatives. It's the highest, coldest, the windiest, the driest, the most pristine and the most remote place on Earth," US Secretary of State John Kerry told a gathering organised by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

"And it has beguiled humankind for centuries as people have sought to understand it," he added, arguing that the waters of the Southern Ocean, home to 16,000 species, are a "living laboratory."

Kerry told the gathering at the National Geographic Society he believed the world can "work together to ensure that Antarctica remains a place devoted to peace and devoted to expanding human understanding of this fragile planet."

"This is one of the last places we could do this, and I think we owe it to ourselves to make it happen."

But conservationists argue the proposals do not go far enough to protect marine life - notably the Antarctic toothfish, which is fished in huge quantities and served as Chilean sea bass on restaurant tables around the world.

The Ross Sea proposal, while creating a reserve to protect Adelie and emperor penguins, as well as killer whales and Weddell seals, would still allow some 3,000 tonnes of toothfish to be commercially caught each year.

"We wanted New Zealand to come up with a much stronger proposal, and they just didn't, and they dug their heels in, and basically the US had to go for New Zealand's proposal," documentary film-maker Peter Young said.

"It doesn't matter how sustainable this quota is, we shouldn't be in the last place. We don't take buffalo from Yellowstone. We don't take kiwi from the forests in New Zealand. We should not fish from the Ross Sea."

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Car bomb kills 10 in south Iraq

A CAR bomb has exploded at a bus station in the south Iraq city of Basra killing 10 people and wounding 16, a security official says.

Sunday's bombing at the bus station in Basra came soon after another that exploded in the centre of the city at about 1900 (AEDT) that caused no casualties, Ali al-Maliki said.

Attacks in Basra are relatively rare compared with other areas of Iraq, especially the centre, west and north.

Violence has decreased from its peak in 2006 and 2007 when sectarian bloodshed raged between Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs, but 10 years after the US-led invasion attacks remain common, killing 220 people last month, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical sources.

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Two men attacked with iron bars and brick

TWO men have been attacked with iron bars and a house brick during a robbery in Sydney's northwest.

The men, aged 30 and 26, were a service station in Kellyville at 2am (AEDT) when a group of up to 10 men assaulted them with iron bars and a broken house brick.

The alleged offenders, who are only described as being of Pacific Islander or Maori appearance, took the men's wallets, mobile phones, and watches before leaving in a red Subaru.

The men were taken to Westmead Hospital with non-life threatening head injuries.

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Search for boy missing north of Perth

EMERGENCY services are searching for a 14-year-old boy who has gone missing in waters off the coast of Mindarie, north of Perth.

The boy's family raised the alarm at Quinn's Beach at around 4.30pm WST, and since then three helicopters have been in the air searching for the missing teenager.

The WA police helicopter, the Surf Life Saving aircraft and the shark spotting chopper are all in the air.

The boy's family is understood to be on the beach awaiting any news.

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UK dad and son found dead on Mont Blanc

A BRITISH man and his 12-year-old son have been found dead in the French Alps after apparently falling while hiking.

Their bodies were found a day after contact was last made with the 48-year-old father, who had called an emergency centre in Chamonix to inform them his son had fallen into a crevasse near Mont Blanc.

A helicopter spotted them at 1700 (AEDT) on Sunday at an altitude of 1600 metres.

Emergency services had attempted to trace the man's mobile phone call after launching a rescue operation, Captain Patrice Ribes told Sky News.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are urgently looking into reports that two British nationals have been found dead in the French Alps."

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