Devastating storm pounds Vanuatu

Tropical Cyclone Pam has smashed into the island of Vanuatu with fears dozens of people have died. Source: AAP

A DEVASTATING tropical cyclone has smashed into the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu and is believed to have caused widespread destruction, with fears that dozens of people may have died.

COMMUNICATIONS were knocked out in much of the region by Cyclone Pam, a maximum category five storm, and aid agencies said it could be several hours before a clear picture emerged.

The UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs said on Saturday it was checking an unconfirmed report of 44 dead.People spent the night in makeshift shelters, the Red Cross Pacific regional head Aurelia Balpe said, as Pam, packing winds of more than 250 kilometres per hour, slammed into the island.The storm crossed the main Vanuatu island where more than 65,000 people live and a group of islands further south which are home to 33,000 people.The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, which has been monitoring the storm, said most parts of Vanuatu had been affected.The storm reportedly changed course at the last minute, hitting the capital Port Vila harder than expected."It's really bad out there. The wind is howling with a deep roar that just doesn't let up. Anyone not in shelter now is in mortal danger," the administrator of the Humans of Vanuatu Facebook page wrote."The news reports that a communications tower on Ambrym island has fallen down. There seem to have been fatalities, but of course it's impossible to confirm just now."Power was out in much of Vanuatu and communications were cut, although aid agency Save the Children said Pam "is feared to have caused widespread damage" and it was preparing to mount a humanitarian response.Red Cross was also assessing what was required in terms of food, medicine and shelter.The Vanuatu Meteorological Service has forecast "very destructive" hurricane-force winds, torrential rain and flash flooding for most of Saturday.

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At least 16 dead in Mexico bus-train crash

Sixteen people have been killed and 22 injured when a freight train slammed into a bus in Mexico. Source: AAP

SIXTEEN people have been killed and 22 injured when a freight train slammed into a passenger bus at a rail crossing in northern Mexico.

FRIDAY'S accident occurred in the town of Anahuac, which is Tamaulipas state near the border city of Nuevo Laredo.

The train's operator, Kansas City Southern de Mexico, confirmed there had been "a lamentable accident" between one of its trains and a passenger bus.The company said its employees reported "an undetermined number of dead and injured at the scene."Kansas City Southern didn't give a cause for the crash. The Mexican official said investigators were looking into whether the bus driver tried to beat the train to the crossing.The train was operated by the Transporte Frontera line on a route from Nuevo Laredo to the neighbouring state of Coahuila.

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PM launches Anzac Day event in Sydney

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has helped launch an Anzac Day endurance event in Sydney. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has paid tribute to Australia's military forces at the launch of a Sydney Anzac Day event aimed at raising money for war veterans.

MR Abbott was in Manly on Saturday to help launch the Anzac Day Challenge, a running and trekking endurance event scheduled to take place on Anzac Day.

The race covers 100km of trails through Sydney's Ku-ring-gai and Garigal National Parks and raises money for various veteran charities.Mr Abbott said as a prime minister who had put "our military personnel in harms way" it was incumbent on him to "pay tribute to all who have served our country in the military for more than 100 years"."This Anzac Day challenge is a marvellous way for more of us to share their exertions if not their dangers," he added.Mr Abbott said the event was an opportunity for ordinary Australians to "show solidarity" with those who had served in conflict zones.The low-key appearance by the prime minister comes after he sacked Liberal Party elder Philip Ruddock as government chief whip on Friday.Mr Ruddock has been replaced by his deputy, Queensland MP Scott Buchholz, with the move reportedly sparking a fresh round of bickering in coalition ranks.

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Driver critical after Cairns crash

A man is in a critical condition after his car hit a street pole in Cairns. Source: AAP

A MAN is in a critical condition after the car he was driving hit a street pole in Cairns.

THE man, who is in his early 20s, was taken to hospital with life threatening injuries after the accident in the suburb of Brinsmead early Saturday.

A Cairns Base Hospital spokesman said the man, who was the only person in the car, was in a critical condition on Saturday afternoon.

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UK military worker monitored for Ebola

A British military worker has been evacuated to the UK from Sierra Leone for Ebola monitoring. Source: AAP

A BRITISH military healthcare worker has been brought back to England for Ebola monitoring after suffering a needle-stick injury while treating a person in Sierra Leone.

PUBLIC Health England (PHE) said the individual has been admitted to the Royal Free Hospital in London for assessment and next of kin have been informed.

The individual is likely to have been exposed to the virus but has not been diagnosed with Ebola and does not have symptoms."Our thoughts are with this person, who has been courageous in helping those affected in West Africa, and in preventing the wider spread of Ebola," PHE's director for health protection and medical director Professor Paul Cosford said."We have strict, well-tested protocols in place for this eventuality and we are confident that all appropriate actions have been taken to support the healthcare worker concerned and to protect the health of other people."

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Labor spruiks teacher wage review

The ALP has promised to review teaching classifications and their pay rates in Queensland. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk is pledging $6 million to pave the way for the state's best teachers to get a pay rise.

THE opposition leader says if elected the ALP will fund a review to establish two new classifications that identify "highly accomplished" and "lead" teachers.

But she concedes the process could take up to four years to complete.That means those eligible could have to wait until after the next state election to benefit."What we've seen over the last few years is teachers leaving our profession to get higher paid jobs," she said on Saturday."This is going to be encouragement to teachers to come back into the classroom."Initial estimates suggested the most experienced teachers could earn up to $120,000, Ms Palaszczuk said.But she was tight-lipped when asked how the party would fund the initiative, simply insisting it wouldn't rely on asset sales.The details would be available when the party's costing were released in the coming week, she said.Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the plan falls far short of the LNP's master teachers program, which recruits teachers capable of lifting academic results.He said hundreds of master and mentor teachers would be deployed from Tuesday as part of the scheme - which even his Labor counterpart, Andrew Lynham, admitted had its merits."We want to make sure our students don't have to wait years for better improved results and better quality teaching," Mr Langbroek said.The LNP has pledged $1 billion for 22 new schools and existing school upgrades, as well as a $90 million innovation fund and 500 scholarships for education degrees so far this election.Meanwhile, Labor has promised to hire hundreds of new teachers in state schools over three years, employ more guidance counsellors and cut class sizes in state primary schools.

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Police search for dead Sydney baby's mum

Hundreds of women will be interviewed by police after a baby was found dead on a Sydney beach. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of women who gave birth towards the end of last year in eastern Sydney will be interviewed by police as they search for the mother of a baby found buried at Maroubra Beach.

POLICE will begin doorknocking on Monday after obtaining medical records of women who were pregnant a couple of months either side of the baby's discovery.

The girl's body was found by two boys on November 30 as they dug in the sand at the beach in Sydney's south.Forensic teams have struggled to gather more information from the victim's body, which was heavily decomposed."(That) has certainly hampered the investigation," Superintendent Gavin Dengate told reporters on Saturday.The Eastern Beaches Local Area Commander hoped further DNA testing would reveal more about the baby's age and potentially her ethnicity.Meanwhile, police will canvass the community for information."Sensitivity is very important," Supt Dengate said."You're not going to go in heavy-handed and say, 'Is that really your baby?'"Supt Dengate urged anyone who had information about the baby's mother to come forward.

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Labor to protect penalty rates: Cameron

Labor senator Doug Cameron says his party will fight hard to protect penalty rates. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Labor says it's in for a tough fight to ensure millions of Australian workers keep weekend and public holiday penalty rates as business launches a push for industrial relations reform across the country.

"WORKCHOICES is not dead," Labor senator Doug Cameron said on Saturday, following Fairfax Media reports that industry groups were campaigning to wind back and cut weekend and public holiday penalty rates, particularly in the hospitality sector.

"The Abbott government ... is behind this push by business to try to cut the penalty rates of ordinary Australian workers," Senator Cameron added.He said around 4.5 million workers across the country depended on penalty rates to "actually put food on the table, take the family out to get a meal and go for a holiday once a year"."Penalty rates are extremely important," he said.The reported campaign by industry comes as the Fair Work Commission reviews more than 200 awards that provide minimum wage, hours and other conditions.The commission is also said to be separately examining penalty rates that will impact a number of awards.Senator Cameron said Labor was in for a tough fight to protect current penalty rates."The backbench of the Liberal party, cabinet ministers in the Liberal party, big business, they are all lining up to take advantage of the downturn in the economy and attack penalty rates," he said."This is a campaign that's going to be a tough campaign, but it's a campaign that is right."Senator Cameron was especially critical of moves by Australia's biggest brickmaker, ASX-listed Brickworks, to cut penalty rates."This is a multi-billion dollar business; it's simply about cost cutting," he said."This is a business that puts hundreds of thousands of dollars into Liberal party funds, and now they want to take those funds out of the pockets of their workers."

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Unsupervised L-plater had kids in car:cops

NSW police have caught two L-platers driving unsupervised, including a woman with two children in the back without seatbelts and a drunk man.

THE 22-year-old woman was pulled over in Cowra, in NSW's central west as part of a state-wide traffic crackdown.

She had her permit suspended for three months and was fined for being an unaccompanied learner, not displaying her L-plates and driving with two unrestrained passengers.In Wagga Wagga, an intoxicated man on his Ls was also caught driving without supervision.He was charged with mid-range drink-driving after returning an alleged blood alcohol reading of 0.135.More than 2600 infringement notices were issued on Friday, 650 of those for speeding.Almost 77,000 breath tests were also carried out, with 26 drivers charged.The three-day operation ends at midnight on Saturday.

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Gammy's dad shouldn't have kids: victim

A victim of child sex offender David Farnell, says he should be banned from having children. Source: AAP

A CHILD sex abuse victim of an Australian man at the centre of a surrogacy storm says pedophiles shouldn't have children and she's disgusted he has a baby daughter.

DAVID Farnell was placed in the international spotlight after a Thailand surrogate mother alleged he abandoned his Down Syndrome son Gammy and returned to Australia with the healthier twin sister, now seven-month-old Pipah.

Questions have been raised over Mr Farnell's suitability for surrogacy after it emerged he was jailed in 1997 for indecently dealing with three girls.One of Mr Farnell's victims, using the pseudonym Sarah, has spoken about the impact of the offences."The damage is done and it can take years to repair," she told The West Australian newspaper."It's my belief he should not have any children - not just him, all pedophiles."The 39-year-old said she feared for Pipah's safety."We need to stop putting these perpetrators first ... because there are so many innocent babies and children that are abused day in, day out."It's disgusting."Mr Farnell and his wife Wendy have denied abandoning Gammy in Thailand, saying they wanted to take him back to their home in Western Australia.

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