Pope set to begin Middle East pilgrimage

The Vatican has billed Pope Francis' first visit to the Middle East as a "pilgrimage of prayer". Source: AAP

POPE Francis has headed for Jordan at the start of a Middle East tour aimed at boosting ties with Muslims and Jews as well as easing an age-old rift within Christianity.

The Vatican has billed Francis' first visit to a region roiled by religious and political differences as a "pilgrimage of prayer," saying the Pope will shun bulletproof vehicles in favour of open-top cars despite security concerns.

Israeli authorities have moved to lessen the possibility of trouble by ordering 15 right-wing Jewish activists to stay away from places being visited by the Pope, after a string of hate attacks on Christian sites.

"It will be a purely religious trip," the Pope told pilgrims at his last general audience in St Peter's Square before a three-day visit that takes him to Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Israel.

Francis said the main reasons for the trip were to meet with the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I and "to pray for peace in that land, which has suffered so much".

A joint prayer service with Bartholomew Sunday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - venerated as the place of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection - is seen by the Vatican as the highlight of the visit.

The meeting is fitting, given that Francis has made the ideal of unity of the Christian Churches, one of the priorities of his papacy.

The pontiff will also meet Muslim and Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.

Israeli President Shimon Peres, in an interview with French daily Le Figaro, said he attached "great importance" to the Pope's trip, calling Francis "a man of noble humility."

The 77-year-old Argentine Pope has already set the tone for a trip rich in symbolism by inviting two old friends from Buenos Aires to join him, Jewish Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Muslim professor Omar Abboud.

Hours before the Pope's early afternoon arrival in Amman, Christians had piled onto buses from around Jordan to head for the Amman stadium where Francis will celebrate mass.

Francis will meet King Abdullah II before the mass then head to a site on the banks of the River Jordan where many believe Jesus was baptised. There he will hear first hand of the suffering of Syrian refugees, 600,000 of whom are living in Jordan, and offer an opportunity for him to reiterate his calls for an end to the three-year war.

He is also expected to touch on the forced migration of Christians from the Middle East.

Although only 250,000 Jordanians identify themselves as Christian - in a Muslim country of seven million - Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur said the visit would show the kingdom as an oasis of peace in a turbulent region of "blood, wars and repression."

Early Sunday, the Pope will make a short helicopter ride to Bethlehem, the West Bank town where Jesus was born. He will meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas before celebrating mass in Manger Square.

Afterwards he will chat with Palestinian children and lunch with refugee families.

He will then fly to Tel Aviv where he will be greeted by President Peres before heading to Jerusalem.

On Monday, the Pope will visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and meet the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein.

He will then visit the Western Wall, a remnant of the retaining wall that supported the second Jewish temple and the holiest site at which Jews are allowed to pray, before going to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

He is then set to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and celebrate mass in the Cenacle, where Christians believe Jesus held the Last Supper memorialised in the mass.

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Iran billionaire executed over $2.8b fraud

A BILLIONAIRE businessman at the heart of a $US2.6 billion ($A2.8 billion) state bank scam, the largest fraud case since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, has been executed, state television reports.

Authorities put Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, also known as Amir Mansour Aria, to death at Evin prison, just north of the capital, Tehran, the station reported.

The report said the execution came after Iran's Supreme Court upheld his death sentence.

The fraud involved using forged documents to get credit at one of Iran's top financial institutions, Bank Saderat, to purchase assets including state-owned companies like major steel producer Khuzestan Steel Co.

Khosravi's business empire included more than 35 companies from mineral water production to a football club and meat imports from Brazil.

According to Iranian media reports, the bank fraud began in 2007.

A total of 39 defendants were convicted in the case. Four received death sentences, two got life sentences and the rest received sentences of up to 25 years in prison.

The trials raised questions about corruption at senior levels in Iran's tightly controlled economy during the administration of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mahmoud Reza Khavari, a former head of Bank Melli, another major Iranian bank, escaped to Canada in 2011 after he resigned over the case.

He faces charges over the case in Iran and remains on the Islamic Republic's wanted list.

Khavari previously admitted that his bank partially was involved in the fraud, but has maintained his innocence.

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Gunmen fire inside El Salvador bus, kill 6

Police in El Salvador say gunmen boarded a bus in a town near the capital killing six people. Source: AAP

POLICE in El Salvador say gunmen boarded a bus in a town near the capital and opened fired on passengers, killing six.

National police director Rigoberto Pleites said another five people were wounded during the Friday bus attack in the town of San Luis Talpa near San Salvador.

Pleites said witnesses told police the assailants were gang members dressed in uniforms similar to those issued to road maintenance workers.

He said investigators haven't confirmed they belonged to a gang.

Police Commissioner Mauricio Ramirez said there have been threats of increased violence in the country in the coming days, but he didn't provide any other details.

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Suspected drug ring busted in Canberra

Police have raided 10 north Canberra properties, uncovering what they say is a major drug syndicate. Source: AAP

A MAJOR drug ring has been busted in the national capital, with a Canberra man set to face court charged with trafficking drugs.

ACT Policing raided several north Canberra properties on Friday afternoon where they seized $200,000 worth of illicit drugs, cars and cash.

They found 728 grams of cocaine, a methylamphetamine-suspected substance, tablets suspected to be ecstasy, and steroids.

Police believe the operation cracked a major drug syndicate operating in the capital.

A 28-year-old man will appear in court on Saturday charged with drug trafficking.

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Vic motorcyclist nabbed 100km/h over limit

A MOTORBIKE rider has been caught travelling at almost 100 km/h over the speed limit in the middle of Melbourne's premiere restaurant strip.

The rider reached a speed of up to 133 km/h in the 40 km/h-zone on Lygon Street, in Carlton.

He was stopped by police about 4.20pm and his motorbike was impounded for 30 days.

The 24-year-old man is facing charges including conduct endangering life, and he must appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on August 25.

Victoria Police said it was among the highest speeds ever detected on Lygon Street, which is usually busy with pedestrians and traffic and especially so on a Saturday afternoon.

"I find it abhorrent that someone would endanger other people with such stupid behaviour," Melbourne Highway Patrol Acting Sergeant Michael Ingram said in a statement.

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10-year-olds hurt after minibus rolls

A mini-bus has rolled on its side after colliding with a car in Melbourne, injuring two children. Source: AAP

TWO children have been taken to hospital after a school mini-bus accident in Melbourne.

The mini-bus and a car collided in Northcote on Wednesday morning, an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said.

The mini-bus tipped onto its side and two children, both aged 10, were taken to the Royal Children's Hospital with minor injuries.

The mini-bus, which was on a regular school run to St Paul's College in Kew, was carrying three staff and two students, a statement from the school said.

The school said the children were taken to hospital only as a precaution and were later released.

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Nauru refugees not told of Cambodia: govt

Labor is gravely concerned about the Abbott government's Cambodian asylum seeker resettlement deal. Source: AAP

THE Abbott government is rejecting claims that asylum seekers in Nauru have been told their future could be in Cambodia.

Australia is on the verge of signing a memorandum of understanding with the Southeast Asian nation, which would allow refugees processed on Nauru to resettle there.

A number of family groups at the Nauru detention centre have reportedly been told they will be sent to Cambodia if they're found to be genuine refugees.

But a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison denied those claims on Wednesday, saying no such message had been given by the Australian government to transferees at Nauru.

"It is likely that transferees may have been made aware of media reporting on these issues," the spokeswoman told AAP.

Refugee groups and the Australian Greens have raised concerns about the resettlement plan, citing Cambodia's human rights record.

Federal Labor is also worried but won't say whether it will seek to block it.

Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek says her party is "gravely" concerned about poverty and security in Cambodia, as it seeks more details on the proposal.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been accused of applying a double standard to the Cambodia deal, given his party's criticism and blocking of the Malaysia people-swap plan when Labor was in power.

A Nauru government spokesman said asylum seekers had been told that if granted refugee status, they would be temporarily resettled on Nauru for up to five years.

After that, they would be settled in a third country.

"No one has been told that they will immediately be sent to a third country," the spokesman told AAP.

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Body of Sydney-based hiker found in NZ

A SYDNEY man who watched helplessly as his girlfriend was swept away by a raging stream in New Zealand says he has lost a part of himself after rescuers recovered her body.

Police have not identified the woman but she has been named in Sydney media as Yessica Asmin, from Indonesia, who is an international student at the University of NSW.

Rescuers found her body on Wednesday, two days after she was swept away while hiking on the Milford Track in the South Island.

She had been walking on the track with her boyfriend Sean McNabb, who is from Sydney, and German backpacker Sebastian Keiholz, Fairfax Media reports.

The two men managed to cross the stream but Ms Asmin got caught on a rock in the middle and panicked and fell. She was swept away.

Mr McNabb paid tribute to Ms Asmin on Facebook.

"Thank you all for your love and support," he posted, according to Fairfax.

"Yessica was fond [sic] today deceased. Today I lost a part of me, I'm very lost at this time."

Ms Asmin's family have arrived in New Zealand and are being supported by police.

She was walking the track, when she was overwhelmed by the water in Pompolona Creek and swept into the Clinton River late on Monday.

A search by a helicopter on Tuesday failed to find any sign of her.

The Clinton River normally flowed at a level of 0.25m but was flowing at 1.8m on Wednesday, having been at 2.2m on Tuesday night.

Mr Keiholz activated an emergency locator beacon and ran to the nearest hut.

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Abbott contradicts budget on uni fees

A student union says Tony Abbott behaved cowardly by cancelling a university visit amid protests. Source: AAP

CONFUSION abounds over government plans to deregulate university fees after Prime Minister Tony Abbott contradicted his own budget.

But students who protested in Sydney and Melbourne are certain of one thing: they'll have to pay for the government's decisions and they're not happy.

Two men were arrested in Sydney's protest - one for using a flare and the other for allegedly assaulting a police officer.

Scuffles also broke out in Melbourne on the steps of Parliament House.

Mr Abbott told ABC radio that only students who start studying in 2016 would face potentially higher fees when universities can charge what they like.

"If you start next year, your conditions of study won't change," he said.

But the budget papers clearly state that anyone who enrols after May 14 will face deregulated fees in 2016.

Only those who were already studying on budget day would continue to have their fees capped - and only if they finish their studies by 2020.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne reiterated this in a separate ABC radio interview after Mr Abbott's comments.

A mother asked him whether her daughter, already at university, would have to pay more.

"If that student stays in the course that she's doing, she'll continue under the rules that she started," he said.

"If she changes course, then quite rightly she will face the new measures."

A spokesman for Mr Pyne said the prime minister "may not have been as clear as he could have been".

Universities Australia told AAP it understands there's not been any change to policy.

It wants the government to take more time to look at any unintended consequences of the higher education changes before setting them in law.

Students were enrolling now to start in the second half of 2014 and universities had to be able to tell them what the costs would be from 2016.

"There is no time for universities to be able to cross the Ts and dot the Is to be able to advise students on what those fees might be," chief executive Belinda Robinson said.

National Union of Students president Deanna Taylor wasn't surprised by the confusion at high levels.

"I don't think the government really put a great deal of thought into their policy," she told AAP, saying it appeared to be very ideologically driven.

The union organised a national day of action on Wednesday with thousands of students protesting the changes.

A police risk assessment before the protests forced Mr Abbott and Mr Pyne to cancel plans to visit a Geelong research facility at Deakin University.

Mr Abbott said students were looking for "a big rumble" and an excuse to riot.

Ms Taylor labelled the prime minister cowardly and said students weren't violent rabble-rousers out to cause trouble.

"They're trying to make us sound like spoiled little brats who don't know how good we've got it. They have a very clear agenda," she said.

The two men arrested in Sydney face court on June 3.

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Gonski urges Abbott to rethink school cuts

David Gonski has criticised the government's decision to end the funding system he helped design. Source: AAP

DAVID Gonski has criticised the government's decision to end the funding system he helped design, saying it will be to Australia's detriment and he has urged the government to reconsider.

The Abbott government's first budget indicates that from 2018 the commonwealth contribution to schools funding will increase only by the consumer price index, with relative adjustments for numbers of students.

This means the previous Labor government plans to hugely increase school funding that year to continue the needs-based Gonski model will be abandoned.

"The concept of aspiration ... ends in 2017," Mr Gonski said in his first major speech since the release of his panel's report.

"There needs to be a commitment to a properly funded, needs-based, aspirational system and a failure to do so will be to our detriment."

The decision to index funds on an indicator not linked to education costs will mean that if funding levels aren't right in 2017, the mistakes will be perpetuated and any changes in circumstance rendered irrelevant.

"No doubt this is simple but like a lot that is simple it is not adequate," Mr Gonski said.

While he had lost his "comfortable and comparative anonymity" since his name had entered the lexicon attached to school funding, Mr Gonski didn't regret his involvement in the review.

He was pleased the funding was guaranteed until 2017 and that parts of the needs-based model were being implemented.

His only regret was the panel's decision to suggest governments needed to put an extra $5 billion a year into schools.

The review's finer details were lost as media focused on the big headline figure.

Mr Gonski also used his "postscript speech" at the University of Melbourne to give some insights into the panel's thinking in coming up with its suggested funding system.

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Budget hits consumer confidence - ANZ

Tax hikes and government spending cuts in last week's federal budget have hit consumer confidence. Source: AAP

IT'S only taken a few days for Treasurer Joe Hockey's 'horror' budget to have an impact on people's willingness to spend.

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 3.2 per cent in the week the federal budget was handed down and has dropped 14 per cent from four weeks ago when leaks about government spending cuts and the debt levy started to appear.

ANZ predicts that consumer spending will improve this year, but the federal budget may slow the speed of the recovery in household consumption.

ANZ head of Australian economics Justin Fabo said the survey suggests that people might reduce their spending in the short term in response to the budget.

"The persistence of this fall will be important to the assessment of the consumer spending outlook," he said.

"The indirect impacts of these announcements on consumer confidence could prove to be more important."

The ANZ-Roy Morgan survey was conducted over the weekend of May 17-18 and involved 1,000 face to face interviews.

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Budget to drag on growth

The RBA has flagged the budget as one of several factors dragging on economic growth. Source: AAP

IN the minutes of its latest meeting, the RBA warned that "fiscal consolidation" could drag on growth.

And so it could.

The RBA reckons economic growth picked up to be about in line with the long-run average in the March quarter.

But slower growth lies ahead "given expected slower growth in exports, the decline in mining investment and the planned fiscal consolidation," the RBA said in the minutes.

The fiscal consolidation - in other words, efforts to reduce the budget deficit - is a theme that's been running ever since the budget was allowed to head into deficit to stave off the worst effects of the global crisis of 2008.

Last financial year, the 12 months ending June 2013, public sector spending fell by 1.3 per cent after allowing for inflation.

In the national accounts, where this figure comes from, public sector spending - or final demand as its more properly known - includes the spending the public sector does on its own behalf.

That includes investment in buildings and equipment, along with spending on inputs used in the delivery of the goods and services the public sector provides.

Those inputs include the labour used in staffing government offices and other workplaces.

But it doesn't include the money passed on to other sectors, like pensions, other welfare payments or subsidies to businesses, which are part of the income of the households and businesses receiving them.

That fall in public demand, unprecedented in the 54-year history of the national accounts, had a lot to do with Australia's disappointing economic growth and employment outcomes since then.

This year, ending next month, public sector demand will rise by 1.75 per cent, before slowing to a growth rate of 1.5 per cent in 2014/15, according to last week's federal budget.

Two year of growth is a turnaround from the fall in 2012/13, but the growth is still relatively slow.

With economic growth of over three per cent needed to reduce the unemployment rate, that means the private sector will have to post growth rates well above "trend" to make up for the public sector.

And that's very unlikely.

Another way of looking at fiscal policy is through the budget balance.

The deficit is projected to fall from 3.1 per cent of GDP in 2013/14 to 1.8 per cent in 2104/15.

The difference - 1.3 per cent of GDP - represents a big block of spending power being taken out of the economy by the government and not put back.

As the RBA said in the minutes, it's not just this fiscal consolidation dragging on growth, but exports are heading for a flat spot and mining investment is on the skids.

And the boost from the lower Aussie dollar is fading as the exchange rate recovers.

No wonder the RBA is signalling a long while before the end of historically low interest rates.

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Fed gov is attacking lowest paid: ACTU

ACTU claims the federal government is launching sustained attack on Australia's lowest paid workers. Source: AAP

THE federal government is launching a sustained attack on Australia's lowest paid workers, which the ACTU says will result in their living standards being crushed.

After delivering a cruel and unfair budget, the government now was considering a plan to cut the minimum wage every year for 10 years, ACTU president Ged Kearney said on Tuesday.

She was speaking at an Adelaide rally, as the ACTU appeared in Melbourne before the Fair Work Commission hearings in the Annual Wage Review.

The union body is calling for a $27 a week increase, which Ms Kearney said was now even more necessary given the punitive budget.

"Tony Abbott is not 'sharing the pain' as he said, he is going after those that can least afford it," she said.

"Under the plan being considered by the government, Australia's minimum wage will be reduced to 44 per cent of average weekly earnings, wiping off $136 per week in today's dollars, taking the minimum wage down to about $480 per week, or just $12 per hour."

She called on the government to rule out the Commission of Audit recommended minimum wage change to reassure low paid workers immediately.

"This is a recipe straight out of the United States - pushing down the minimum wage, getting rid of decent health services and privatising core government services."

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Thai army invokes martial law, urges talks

Thailand's government says it was not consulted about the imposition of martial law by the army. Source: AAP

THAILAND'S army chief has imposed martial law after months of deadly anti-government protests caused political paralysis, but insists the intervention does not amount to a military coup.

Troops fanned out after martial law was declared in a dawn broadcast on Tuesday, as General Prayut Chan-O-Cha exploited century-old legislation that confers far-reaching powers on the military to act in an emergency.

But he left the caretaker civilian government in office and invited the country's warring political factions to sit down for talks, as the United States, Japan and Southeast Asian neighbours urged Thailand to stay on a democratic track and resolve its differences peacefully.

Soldiers and military vehicles were seen in the heart of the capital's retail and hotel district. Troops were also positioned at TV stations where broadcasts were suspended under sweeping censorship orders, although regular Thais appeared largely unfazed.

The dismissal of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra earlier this month in a controversial court ruling has stoked tensions in the kingdom, which has endured years of political turmoil.

"Red Shirt" supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed as premier in a 2006 coup, have warned of the threat of civil war if power is handed to an unelected leader, as the opposition demands.

Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption, said on Twitter that the imposition of martial law was "expected" but must not "destroy" democracy.

The backdrop is a nearly decade-long struggle pitting a royalist establishment - backed by parts of the military, judiciary and Bangkok-based elite - against Thaksin's billionaire family, which has traditionally enjoyed strong support among poor and rural voters in the north.

New York-based Human Rights Watch branded the imposition of martial law a "de facto coup", voicing alarm at the impact on freedom of expression.

But the government officially remained in office, and General Prayut presented himself as a mediator.

"We are in the process of inviting both sides to talk but at the minute the situation is still not normal... that's why I have had to invoke martial law," he told reporters.

"The military will not tolerate any more loss of lives."

Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, who replaced Yingluck, urged the army to act within the "constitution", urging the generals to "follow a peaceful path".

Martial law allows the army to ban public gatherings, restrict people's movements, conduct searches, impose curfews and detain suspects for up to seven days.

The US, a key ally of Thailand, said martial law must be "temporary" and urged all parties "to respect democratic principles".

Japan, whose companies have some of the biggest foreign investment in Thailand, also expressed "grave concerns" at the unfolding crisis.

The imposition of martial law comes after nearly seven months of protests that have left 28 people dead and hundreds wounded.

"This is not a coup," the early morning broadcast said. "The public do not need to panic but can still live their lives as normal."

But concerns a military takeover was under way were fuelled by the troop presence and the censorship of media in the interests of "national security".

"I think what we are looking at is a prelude to a coup. That is for sure. It is all part of a plot to create a situation of ungovernability to legitimise this move by the army," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun from the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Japan's Kyoto University.

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Vic police protest over staff shortages

Police in Geelong have staged a rare public rally to raise awareness of staff shortages. Source: AAP

A SHORTAGE of frontline police in Victoria's second largest city has driven frustrated officers to stage a rare public protest.

About 200 off-duty officers and concerned locals attended the rally in Geelong on Tuesday.

The Police Association Victoria secretary Ron Iddles said it was prompted by a 30 per cent reduction in frontline police over four years.

In 2010, Geelong had 120 officers available for routine patrols and to respond to community incidents but in 2014 the figure was 84.

This was despite an overall increase in police numbers in Victoria, Senior Sergeant Iddles told AAP on Tuesday.

"If you add on to that an increasing population in the Geelong area then what we're asking is for less police to do far, far more," he said.

"Police are fairly resilient and don't like to take public action but it has got to the stage where they are frustrated, they are anxious, and they are not delivering the amount of service that the Geelong community needs."

Sen Sgt Iddles is calling on police command to increase officer numbers and return to Geelong officers who had been rostered on to special task forces in Melbourne.

"We've got to get community policing right before we do the extra," he said.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay on Tuesday agreed there had been changes to bolster police ranks at the divisional level and this had impacted on station numbers.

Policing had to move on from a time when "every policeman knew their local crooks and they'd catch them for doing local burglaries", Mr Lay told Fairfax Radio.

"Crime rates, particularly around deceptions, around organised crime, around family violence, are increasing significantly," he said.

"Putting police in police stations isn't necessarily going to be able to resolve those issues."

Mr Lay said improved mobile technology was the key to enabling more police spend less time at their desks and more time on patrol.

Victorian Premier Dennis Napthine also said his government was delivering on a 2010 election promise to add 1700 extra police officers.

"It's up to the police commissioner and the police command to allocate those resources across the state to meet the needs of making our community safer," Dr Napthine told Fairfax Radio.

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Colombia arrests bus driver after crash

COLOMBIAN authorities have arrested the driver of a bus that crashed and killed 31 children.

The youngsters burned to death on Sunday after the bus caught fire and exploded in the north of the South American country as they returned from church services.

Another 25 people including one adult were seriously burned in the blaze in Fundacion, a town in the department of Magdalena, according to the Red Cross.

"The driver has been arrested, he turned himself in to authorities and we expect him to explain himself at a hearing this morning," a local police spokesman said.

The driver had initially fled the scene, and angry locals went to his home and threw rocks at his windows.

Investigators are looking into a number of potential causes of the crash, which prompted President Manuel Santos to travel to the scene and offer his condolences.

Among the possibilities being explored is that the driver used contraband petrol to refuel the bus and that this may have led to the explosion.

Red Cross official Cesar Uruena said on Sunday the injured - taken to area hospitals - suffered second and third-degree burns, and many were in critical condition.

The children aboard the bus were between the ages of one and eight and returning home after a religious service, Fundacion Mayor Luz Stella Duran told reporters.

Magdalena police said the blast happened around noon and the fire was so intense they had problems determining the number of casualties.

Duran said survivors reported the bus driver had been handling a container with petrol aboard the vehicle. Police initially blamed the fire on a mechanical problem.

Santos travelled to Fundacion after a final re-election campaign rally Sunday in Bogota ahead of the May 25 presidential vote.

"The entire country is in mourning for the death of these children," he said upon arriving in Fundacion, accompanied by his wife.

Santos said the government would pay for all hospital and funeral expenses relating to the accident.

The bus, which was being used by an evangelical church group, caught fire one block away from the church where the children had earlier attended services.

The Red Cross said it was sending four psychologists and two volunteer specialists to help the wounded and the relatives of those killed.

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Tributes for father of 3 killed in Fiji

THE driver of a fishing boat that crashed into another vessel, killing an Australian father of three on holiday with his family in Fiji, has been refused bail by a Suva court.

Mark Hardaker, 40, from Toongabbie in Sydney's west, was killed last Thursday when, witnesses say, he was struck in the head by the fishing boat which smashed into his vessel at high speed near Mana Island.

The driver of the other vessel, 33-year-old Jimi Beti, is charged with manslaughter, criminal recklessness and negligence over the death.

He is also accused of operating the boat without a licence.

During a brief court appearance following his arrest by Fijian police on Monday, Beti was refused bail and remanded to appear in Lautoka High Court on June 4.

Witnesses, including Australian Nick McGee who was on the same boat as Mr Hardaker, say the boat which collided with their vessel appeared to be overloaded.

"They were speeding very fast and I asked the driver if he saw us and he said, 'No, there were so many people in my boat I couldn't see out the front'," Mr McGee told NewsCorp Australia.

Mr Hardaker had been in Fiji to celebrate his wife's 40th birthday, and had gone on a fishing trip with a group of other men.

The party were on their way back to the Mana Island Resort, where Mr Hardaker's wife Vanessa and three children were waiting, when the crash occurred.

They have returned to Australia.

Tributes from his family have been posted on social media, with Mr Hardaker's sister-in-law, Alana Rice, describing him as a devoted father.

"My sister was there for her 40th (birthday) celebrations ... and is now flying home alone with 3 children," she posted on Facebook (sic).

"Mark is the most amazing thoughtful selfless person I will ever know in my life."

Mr Hardaker's step-mother Gay Bookallil said the family was "absolutely devastated".

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the family of a 40-year-old NSW man had received consular assistance.

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Insulation scheme a 'recipe for disaster'

THE Rudd government's decision to include foil products in its home insulation program was "a recipe for disaster" that could have easily been avoided, an inquiry has heard.

Master Electricians chief executive Malcolm Richards says the product should never have been permitted in the scheme given the dangers posed by electrical cables in the roofs of older homes.

Mr Richards has told a royal commission in Brisbane, which wound up on Monday, that allowing foil to be retrofitted was a "recipe for disaster" that Master Electricians would have advised against had it been consulted.

"If it wasn't funded in the first place, we would have eliminated this as a risk issue," he said.

Two of the four young men killed in the program were using foil insulation.

Mr Richards said the government's failure to consult Master Electricians before the program's July 1, 2009 rollout was a "critical oversight" given the inclusion of foil increased the risk of electrocution.

The association only became aware foil was being used in late August 2009, after members received several calls about power tripping out at homes where the product had been installed.

They were "horrified" to discover metal staples used to secure foil sheeting had been driven into electrical cabling, Mr Richards said.

That October, Master Electricians drafted a warning letter highlighting the dangers of foil to then environment minister Peter Garrett.

But it wasn't sent before Matthew Fuller, 25, became the first installer to die when he put a metal staple through electrical cabling while laying foil insulation in Queensland on October 14 2009.

Two days after Mr Fuller's death, Mr Richards sent the letter urging the government to ban foil immediately.

He received a response from Mr Garrett on November 19 2009, a day after 16-year-old Rueben Barnes became the scheme's second fatality.

Marcus Wilson, 19, was killed installing insulation less than a week later, while Mitchell Sweeney, 22, was the last to die under the program on February 4, 2010.

Mr Richards said it was regrettable Masters Electricians didn't raise its concerns about foil sooner, although he doubted whether it would have done any good.

"From the ensuing events, I deem it highly unlikely we would have been heard or listened to until the events got serious," he said.

Foil was banned from the program on February 9, 2010, five days after Mr Sweeney died installing it.

The scheme was ultimately canned less than two weeks later amid allegations of fraud and unsafe work practices.

A royal commission has been investigating what warnings Labor received about the program and whether the men's deaths could have been avoided.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd and then environment minister Peter Garrett have both accepted "ultimate responsibility" for the program, but said public servants failed to pass on serious safety warnings.

But bureaucrats have said horrendous deadlines denied them adequate time to consider safety risks.

Commissioner Ian Hanger, QC, has been granted an extension to consider large volumes of evidence, including 77,000 documents.

Mr Hanger now has until August 31 to produce his report.

He may recall witnesses if he intends to make adverse findings against them.

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Guard distressed after shooting bandit

A SECURITY guard who shot dead an armed bandit outside a Gold Coast tavern appears to have acted instinctively, police say.

Police have interviewed the 47-year-old guard but haven't laid charges against him after the fatal incident on Monday morning.

A 46-year-old Upper Coomera man was shot dead after ambushing the security guard about 7.40am on Monday morning.

The guard was delivering cash to the Highland Park Tavern when he was tackled by a man wearing a motorcycle helmet and carrying a 9mm pistol.

Police say the two men struggled and the security guard fired several shots.

The bandit suffered a number of gunshot wounds and was dead by the time officers arrived just before 8am.

The shooting forced the closure of nearby streets, and sent a child-care centre into lockdown.

The security guard suffered minor facial injuries during the struggle. He was the one who asked a passer-by to call the police.

Regional Crime Co-ordinator Detective Superintendent David Hutchinson said it appeared the licensed security guard had reacted instinctively when he was attacked.

"We all must understand that under that sort of situation he would have been acting instinctively and he may not recall exactly himself how things went down," he told reporters on Monday.

"It's certainly a traumatic situation for anyone and he's traumatised by it."

Police haven't said whether the victim fired any shots.

He is yet to be formally identified but police believe they know who he is.

Officers seized a vehicle found in a nearby street and are examining it.

Police are also appealing to witnesses to the shooting to come forward.

The death is expected to be investigated by Queensland's coroner.

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One dead, two injured in Vic car crash

A PASSENGER was killed and another man is in a life-threatening condition after a speeding car crashed into a Victorian residential garage.

Three men were out getting food when the driver lost control and hit a pole before smashing into the garage of a Dromana home on Sunday night.

Police say the back-seat passenger who was killed, a 28-year-old Somerville man, was not wearing a seatbelt.

The driver, 31 and the other passenger, 27, were airlifted to The Alfred hospital with head injuries. Ambulance Victoria spokesman Paul Bentley said the two men were trapped in the car for about an hour.

There were reports that one of those men had also died, but police said on Monday that he was in a life-threatening condition.

Police were unable to confirm the identity of this man.

Detective Inspector Bernie Rankin said the car was well above the speed limit in the lead up to the accident.

"The driver for some inexplicable reason is exceeding the speed limit and the consequences have been rather dire," Det Insp Rankin said.

"It is a situation that is totally avoidable."

Drugs and alcohol are not thought to have been a factor but have not yet been ruled out.

No one was inside the house at the time of the crash.

In a separate accident, a driver died after a two-car collision at Pimpinio, near Horsham, on Monday afternoon.

A 42-year-old man died at the scene and the other driver, in his late 60s, suffered minor injuries.

Both drivers were the only occupants of their cars.

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Eastern Ukrainians rap Kiev in talks

Lawmakers and officials from eastern Ukraine have criticised the fledging central government. Source: AAP

LAWMAKERS and officials from eastern Ukraine have poured criticism on the fledging central government, accusing it of ignoring legitimate grievances of the regions which have been overrun by pro-Russia militia.

One eastern leader said last weekend's unofficial referendum in favour of independence "expressed the will of the people".

The criticism came in the second round of European-brokered talks intended to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.

The country's caretaker government came to power in February following the ouster of Kremlin-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych after months of protests in Kiev.

Moscow and many in Ukraine's east have accused the new government of intending to trample the rights of eastern Ukraine's Russian-speakers.

On Saturday, politicians from the east implored the government to believe that - apart from the pro-Russia gunmen - a large sector of the population had lost hope in the interim administration in Kiev.

The second round of talks followed hours after sustained gunfire was heard throughout the night near the eastern city of Slovyansk, the stronghold of pro-Russia fighters, after forces loyal to the Kiev government moved in to protect a television tower.

Separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions held hastily arranged referenda last weekend and declared independence following the vote, which went in favour of sovereignty.

The round-table talks in the eastern city of Kharkiv did not feature any of the insurgents, whom Kiev describes as terrorists.

The insurgents say they are willing to discuss only the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops and the recognition of the independence of the regions.

"The referendum doesn't have any legal consequences," said Valery Holenko, chairman of the Luhansk regional government.

"But it has expressed the will of the people, which cannot be discounted. People genuinely went en masse to the referendum. This was a protest vote."

Holenko said the devolution of powers that the government is offering was no longer enough and that as a first step in appeasing eastern Ukrainians the government has to stop its "anti-terrorist operation" in the east.

Acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who was often busy with his iPad while some of the eastern lawmakers were making passionate speeches, called on the eastern leaders to resist the armed men and support the government's efforts to devolve powers to the regions.

"You have got in your home, in Luhansk and Donetsk, armed terrorists who are funded by Russians and those who fled Ukraine and want to seize our land," Yatsenyuk told the gathering.

"We're not going talk to robbers and terrorists. They will not be telling the Ukrainian people how to live in our country."

Yatsenyuk urged the eastern leaders to disarm the insurgents, "regain the power and start a political dialogue".

Reacting to calls to make Russian a second official language, Yatsenyuk said the government will support the equal status of Ukrainian and Russia in Russian-speaking regions but sees no need for other legal protection.

Reacting to the fighting overnight near Slovyansk, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning what it described as a sharp escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine, and accused Kiev of using the talks as cover for military operations against its citizens.

As on Wednesday, Saturday's talks included officials, lawmakers, business people and religious leaders from across the country, but no representatives of the separatists from Donetsk and Luhansk.

Oleksandr Bandurka, a Communist party lawmaker and police general from central Ukraine, said that these negotiations make no sense because "we're not talking to those who oppose us. We cannot ignore them".

Ukraine's first president, Leonid Kravchuk, who is chairing the talks, angrily reacted that "no one in the world talks to killers and terrorists. Putin doesn't talk to terrorists".

Russia has pushed for the federalisation of Ukraine, since that would allow Moscow to retain influence over areas in Ukraine dominated by Russian-speakers.

Many in western Ukraine and in the capital favour closer ties to Europe and fear being pulled back into Moscow's orbit.

Attempting to end the talks on a conciliatory note, Yatsenyuk quoted Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko and told the leaders from eastern Ukraine: "We are ready to embrace you and hope that you are too."

The next round of talks is expected on Wednesday in the central city of Cherkasy.

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Greek water referendum 'not sanctioned'

Some Greek mayors say they will hold a referendum on whether to privatise the Thessaloniki Water. Source: AAP

GREECE'S second largest city, and 10 of the other 13 municipalities comprising the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area, will hold a "referendum" on whether to privatise the Thessaloniki Water Authority (EYATH), despite a government warning that it considers the vote to be illegal.

The first round of elections for municipal and provincial councils takes place on Sunday.

The municipalities and the head of the northern Greek province of Central Macedonia, a member of the ruling conservatives, oppose the sale of the water authority, which the government is committed to, as part of the fiscal reform program agreed upon with Greece's creditors, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Interior Minister Yiannis Michelakis, in a circular, has warned the mayors that they could not set up polling booths inside the regular polling stations to hold their referendum.

A Thessaloniki prosecutor has also warned that using the official election rolls in the "referendum" is a crime punishable with prison.

The official response has angered the mayors, who have vowed to go ahead with the referendum anyway.

"We had informed the government six months ago (of the referendum) and we expected a response sanctioning it .. .the referendum will go ahead, whether they like it or not," Simos Daniilidis, mayor of the Thessaloniki suburb of Neapolis-Sykees and head of the Union of Thessaloniki County Municipalities, said.

Daniilidis added that the mayors will set up polling booths on the footpaths outside polling stations and use resident registers supplied by the municipalities.

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WA abuse victims to tell their stories

THE royal commission investigating child sex abuse in institutions will hold private sessions in the Kimberley region of Western Australia on Monday.

Officers from the commission will be in Broome and Kununurra to meet with people interested in sharing their story.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines says the visit will provide an important opportunity for people who were sexually abused as children in institutions to disclose their mistreatment.

"We strongly encourage all survivors who wish to share their story in private with a commissioner to make contact with the Royal Commission or a local support service," Ms Dines said.

She said more than 1500 private sessions have been held across Australia to date, including more than 160 in Western Australia.

"We are determined to ensure that regional and Aboriginal communities have a voice in this process, and we are working with local community organisations and support services to encourage survivors of child sexual abuse to tell their story to the Royal Commission."

Commissioners will also revisit the remote Kimberley from June 3 to hold further private sessions with victims.

They will run concurrent with a public hearing in Perth which is examining how a private school handled the case of a teacher who was molesting children for almost a decade.

*If you were sexually abused as a child while in the care of an Australian institution, you can tell your story to the Royal Commission by phoning 1800 099 340 or emailing contact@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au

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Iran's Zarif says nuclear deal 'possible'

IRANIAN Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday that clinching a final nuclear deal with world powers is still "possible" despite a tough round of talks this week.

"Agreement is possible. But illusions need to go. Opportunity shouldn't be missed again like in 2005," Zarif said on Twitter, referring to Iran's long-stalled dispute with world powers over its disputed nuclear program.

Iran and six world powers ended a fourth round of nuclear talks in Vienna on Friday with "no tangible progress".

Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany - known as the P5+1 group - want Iran to radically scale back its nuclear activities, making any dash for an atomic bomb virtually impossible and easily detectable.

The parties want to clinch a deal by July 20, when a November interim deal expires, under which Iran froze certain activities in return for some relief from crippling Western sanctions.

In return for further concessions, the Islamic republic, which denies seeking an atomic weapon, wants the lifting of all United Nations and Western sanctions, which have caused major damage to its economy.

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Record floods lead to Bosnia landslides

floods triggering landslides and covering homes, have left hundreds of people homeless in Bosnia. Source: AAP

LANDSLIDES in Bosnia have left hundreds of people homeless, while thousands more have fled homes in neighbouring Croatia and Serbia as Balkan countries battle the worst flooding since modern records began.

Throughout hilly Bosnia, floods are triggering landslides covering roads, homes and whole villages. About 300 landslides have been reported, and stranded villagers often are being rescued by helicopter.

"The situation is catastrophic," Bosnia's refugee minister, Adil Osmanovic, said on Sunday.

Three months' worth of rain fell on the region in a three-day burst, creating the worst floods since rainfall measurements began 120 years ago.

Observed from the air, almost a third of Bosnia chiefly in the northeast resembles a huge muddy lake, with houses, roads and rail lines submerged.

Officials say about a million people - more than a quarter of the country's population - live in the worst-affected areas.

The hillside village of Horozovina, close to the northeastern town of Tuzla, was practically split in two by a landslide that swallowed eight houses. More than 100 others were also under threat.

"I am homeless. I have nothing left, not even a toothpick," said one resident, Mesan Ikanovic.

"I ran out of the house barefoot, carrying children in my arms."

Ikanovic said 10 minutes separated him and his family from likely death. He carried his seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son to safety.

While water levels are receding in some parts of Bosnia, land flanking the Sava River remains submerged, and water levels there are still rising in many areas. Hundreds of people have been plucked by rescue helicopters from flooded towns and villages.

The mayor of Orasje made a special appeal for help. The town is caught between the Sava on one side and another flooding river, the Bosna, on the other.

More than 10,000 already have been rescued from the town of Bijeljina, in northeast Bosnia. Trucks, buses and private cars were heading north with volunteers and tonnes of aid collected by people in cities outside the disaster zone.

In Sarajevo, volunteers went from door to door collecting whatever people would donate.

The Bosnian Army said it was evacuating people with helicopters and has 1500 troops helping on the ground. But many roads remain closed by floods and hundreds of landslides. Bridges have been washed away and this has left many towns and villages completely depending on air lifts.

Helicopters from the European Union, Slovenia and Croatia also are aiding rescue efforts. They are deployed in areas around five cities in central and northeastern Bosnia where the situation is considered the most dangerous.

In the eastern sections of neighbouring Croatia, two people are missing and hundreds have fled their homes as the Sava River also breached flood barriers there. The overflowing river rolled over villages and farm land in the relatively flat terrain.

In Serbia, more than 20,000 people have been forced from their homes. Officials there feared more flooding later on Sunday as floodwaters travel down the Sava and reach the country.

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