At least 58 die in Nepal monsoon disasters

Why Aussies think Islam's a bonza religion

THREE 28-year-olds. All raised in Christian homes. All Australians. Some dark, some fair, some male, some female. They are the faces of Sydney's new Muslims.

Abbott: No more jihad for dole

ANY Australian assessed as a national security risk will be immediately stripped of all welfare payments they might be claiming, under new laws to ensure taxpayers aren't ­funding terrorism.

PM blasts feds' passport bungle

BUMBLING Australian border agencies have been slammed by the Prime Minister for letting an extremist linked to homegrown jihadis fighting in the Middle East fly out of the country.

Folau credits God for his divine talent

WHEN it comes to contests of biblical proportions, Israel Folau is just the man you want on your side.

The ICAC trap: How one judge changed politics

They call it "mining the villages". When politicians are about to lose government, they work to make sure the other team have as tough a time as possible when they win office.

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Miss job appointment, face dole cut

Why Aussies think Islam's a bonza religion

THREE 28-year-olds. All raised in Christian homes. All Australians. Some dark, some fair, some male, some female. They are the faces of Sydney's new Muslims.

Abbott: No more jihad for dole

ANY Australian assessed as a national security risk will be immediately stripped of all welfare payments they might be claiming, under new laws to ensure taxpayers aren't ­funding terrorism.

PM blasts feds' passport bungle

BUMBLING Australian border agencies have been slammed by the Prime Minister for letting an extremist linked to homegrown jihadis fighting in the Middle East fly out of the country.

Folau credits God for his divine talent

WHEN it comes to contests of biblical proportions, Israel Folau is just the man you want on your side.

The ICAC trap: How one judge changed politics

They call it "mining the villages". When politicians are about to lose government, they work to make sure the other team have as tough a time as possible when they win office.

23.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld man charged with attempted murder

A WOMAN has fought off a man who tried to shoot her in a Gold Coast car park, taking his gun before being transported to hospital with head injuries.

THE man, 43, has been charged with attempted murder after turning himself in to police a short time after allegedly attacking the woman in the Helensvale car park on Saturday morning.

"It will be alleged they become involved in an altercation and during a struggle, a firearm that the man allegedly had in his possession has discharged," police said."The man was restrained by members of the public, with the woman taking possession of the weapon and retreating to safety."Four children in the 35-year-old woman's car were uninjured.The alleged attempted murderer is due before Southport Magistrates Court on Monday.

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KISS music banned from Aust airwaves

A radio station has banned music by rock band KISS after negative comments by bassist Gene Simmons. Source: AAP

BOSSES at an Australian radio station have banned KISS music from the airwaves as a protest against comments bassist Gene Simmons recently made about people battling depression.

THE rocker upset a lot of people when he suggested people with depression and addiction issues should kill themselves in a recent interview when he was asked about relations between himself and former KISS bandmates Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

Simmons told SongFacts.com, "I don't get along with anybody who's a drug addict and has a dark cloud over their head and sees themselves as a victim. Drug addicts and alcoholics are always: 'The world is a harsh place'."My mother was in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. I don't want to hear f**k-all about 'the world is a harsh place'. She gets up every day, smells the roses and loves life. And for a putz, 20-year-old kid to say, 'I'm depressed, I live in Seattle'. F*** you, then kill yourself."Simmons went on to say he always calls people on their bluff if they are standing at the top a building saying they are going to jump.Motley Crue star Nikki Sixx attacked Simmons over his remarks on his satellite radio show earlier this week, and now bosses at Triple M have pulled all KISS tracks from playlists nationwide following the bassist's "misguided and insensitive" comments about depression and suicide.Network head Mike Fitzpatrick says, "Depression and suicide are not topics he should be using to further his notoriety or sell records. His desperation to use mental health issues to find relevancy in a modern age is sickening. I can only put it down to a brain fade on his part."The Triple M network can't and won't be playing or supporting this d***head's music. I put the challenge out to other stations across Australia and North America to also drop any of this nudnik's songs until such time as he reconsiders his thoughtless and insensitive position."Simmons has released a statement on Facebook in an attempt to clarify his remarks. It reads: "Depression is very serious and very sad when it happens to anyone, especially loved ones. I have not commented on various allegations made in the media, but I want to make this statement for the record and to clarify. I deeply support and am empathetic to anyone suffering from any disease, especially depression."I have never sugarcoated my feelings regarding drug use and alcoholics. Somewhere along the line, my intentions in speaking very directly and perhaps politically-incorrectly about drug use and alcoholics have been misconstrued as vile commentary on depression."Unkind statements about depression was certainly never my intention. And I do not intend to defend myself here and now by listing the myriad charities and self-help organisations I am involved with."He adds, "My heart goes out to anyone suffering from depression."* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467

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Wran's daughter charged over stab murder

The daughter of former NSW premier Neville Wran has been charged with murder over a stabbing death. Source: AAP

HARRIET Wran, the daughter of former NSW premier Neville Wran, has been charged with murder over a double stabbing at a notorious inner-Sydney housing commission unit block.

THREE months after her father's memorial service in Sydney, the 26-year-old Ms Wran and a 35-year-old man were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the stabbing death of 48-year-old Daniel McNaulty in Redfern on Sunday night.

Lloyd Edward Haines, 29, was on Tuesday charged with murder, attempted murder and aggravated break and enter.A second man, 42, was also stabbed multiple times in the attack and he remains in St Vincent's Hospital in a stable condition.In a surprise twist, police on Wednesday arrested Ms Wran and the 35-year-old man in Liverpool.Early on Thursday police said in a statement that the 26-year-old woman and 35-year-old man they had been questioning had been charged with murder, attempted murder and aggravated break and enter.They were refused bail to appear in Liverpool Local Court on Thursday.Haines was refused bail on Wednesday and is due to reappear at Central Local Court on October 9.His arrest came after the 42-year-old victim told police the attack had been carried out by three people in their 30s and 40s.It is not yet clear what motivated the stabbings, but it is likely the attackers knew the victims and the violence may have escalated from an argument, police said at the time.Neighbours reported hearing screams and yelling.A state funeral was held for Ms Wran's father who was premier of NSW between 1976 and 1986, on May 1 in Sydney.Harriet Wran, one of his five children, was at his side when he died.

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Russia warned over Ukraine as aid waits

Ukraine says it's destroyed part of a Russian military convoy that crossed onto its territory. Source: AAP

UKRAINE'S crisis has entered dangerous new territory with Kiev claiming its forces have destroyed a Russian military convoy, while the US has warned Moscow over its "provocative" efforts at destabilisation.

MOSCOW and Kiev's top diplomats agreed to an urgent meeting with their French and German counterparts on Sunday in an attempt to calm the soaring tensions, as wrangling continued over the fate of a mammoth Russian aid convoy parked up close to the Ukrainian frontier.

The US National Security Council warned of an "extremely dangerous and provocative" escalation in the crisis by Russia after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claimed his troops had blown up part of small Russian army convoy - separate from the humanitarian convoy - that breached the border.Russia dismissed the claim as "fantasies," its latest denial of persistent allegations from the West that it is arming the rebels.The humanitarian situation in war-torn east Ukraine has deteriorated still further as four months of fierce clashes that have killed over 2,000 people and left people without water and basic services raged on.Moscow has sent nearly 300 trucks of what it claims is humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine. The West and Kiev fear it could be a "Trojan horse" of arms and possibly even soldiers bound for the restive east of the country.The Russian convoy has been parked since Thursday about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border with Ukraine's Lugansk region, as Kiev and Moscow continued to haggle over how it would cross into rebel-held territory.A Red Cross spokeswoman in the border zone said on Saturday that so far the organisation has not inspected any of the trucks, waiting for both sides to give a green light.The United States warned Moscow against sending "vehicles, person, or cargo of any kind into Ukraine, under any pretext" without Kiev's permission.Russia has denied sending troops or weapons to eastern Ukraine, and slammed the claims of the latest military convoy as a "phantom" of Ukraine's imagination.A rebel leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, one of the breakaway territories where pro-Russian insurgents are fighting Kiev's army, said however that his troops have had a fresh injection of fighters trained across the border.The rebel reinforcements consist of 150 pieces of hardware and 1,200 personnel "who have received four month of training on Russian territory," Alexander Zakharchenko, he said at a meeting of rebel leadership Friday, videoed by insurgent website Novorossiya Online."They have been brought in at the most crucial moment," he said.In Donetsk, the largest city in the east controlled by the rebels, continuous shelling could be heard overnight Saturday.Lugansk has been the city hardest hit by the shelling. Human Rights Watch said in its most recent dispatch from the city that the focus on aid should not "eclipse the crucial need for all parties to avoid harming civilians with explosive weapons attacks".Those fleeing the stricken city told the rights group that the city was cut off from electricity, gas, or mobile phone coverage, and it was difficult to find drinking water and food.The United Nations says over 285,000 people have fled the fighting in the east.

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Mideast talks poised to resume

Why Aussies think Islam's a bonza religion

THREE 28-year-olds. All raised in Christian homes. All Australians. Some dark, some fair, some male, some female. They are the faces of Sydney's new Muslims.

Abbott: No more jihad for dole

ANY Australian assessed as a national security risk will be immediately stripped of all welfare payments they might be claiming, under new laws to ensure taxpayers aren't ­funding terrorism.

PM blasts feds' passport bungle

BUMBLING Australian border agencies have been slammed by the Prime Minister for letting an extremist linked to homegrown jihadis fighting in the Middle East fly out of the country.

Folau credits God for his divine talent

WHEN it comes to contests of biblical proportions, Israel Folau is just the man you want on your side.

The ICAC trap: How one judge changed politics

They call it "mining the villages". When politicians are about to lose government, they work to make sure the other team have as tough a time as possible when they win office.

23.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aust couple leave with Thai surrogate baby

AN Australian same-sex couple prevented from departing Thailand by immigration authorities, has been able to depart following background checks by Thai authorities.

REPORTS said the couple had flown to Singapore with the child of a Thai surrogate mother, leaving behind a growing controversy over commercial surrogacy.

The couple's departure came as reports alleged some private hospitals caring for surrogate mothers had moved the women to lower-cost government hospitals, fearing a legal backlash from the crackdown on the highly lucrative commercial surrogacy industry.The couple returned to the Australian Embassy on Friday to seek further assistance after being prevented to leave on Thursday night. The ABC said one of the couples had arrived in Singapore with children born in July to a Thai surrogate mother.Thai officials confirmed just one couple had been halted at the airport.However AAP was informed two same-sex couples, each with a child, as well as couples from the United States and Europe, had been prevented from leaving due to concerns over adequate documentation.Officials said all the couples were linked to the same in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic in Bangkok, now shut down by Thai authorities on suspicion of operating without authorization.The airport incident led to Australian Ambassador to Thailand, James Wise, holding talks with officials from the Thai Foreign Ministry, as well as Justice and Social Development and Human Security ministries.Australia has been pressing Thailand to allow for a "transitional arrangement" to be put in place to assist 200 Australian couples reported to have an estimated 150 babies from surrogate Thai mothers.A DFAT spokesperson in a statement to AAP on Saturday said the Australian Embassy in Bangkok was currently assisting Australians with children born by surrogacy in Thailand "who have been prevented from departing the country in recent days."The department said while it was not in a position to comment on individual cases due to privacy concerns, "we continue to encourage Thai authorities to adopt transitional arrangements for any new measures they may introduce, so concerned Australians are not unduly affected."Thai officials had said the children had to receive court clearance before any departure, a process that could take several months.Reports have put costs for a commercial surrogacy in Thailand at up to $US42,000 ($A45,442) with the surrogate mother receiving between A$10,000 and A$15,000.The current controversy was triggered by the birth of twins to a 21-year-old Thai woman for a Western Australian couple, who she then accused of abandoning the Down syndrome boy child, taking his healthy sister to Australia.It was later revealed the Australian man had faced paedophilia charges in the 1980s and 1990s. The Thai surrogate mother has since called for her daughter to be returned to Thailand.The controversy led to the Thai military government calling for a speeding up of draft laws that in total will ban commercial surrogacy, prohibition of adverting or persons acting as an agent or broker as well as the trade in egg and sperm.

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