Seven-year-old feared taken by croc in NT

A MISSING seven-year-old girl was last seen being pulled under water by a crocodile, witnesses have told police in the Northern Territory.

The girl was swimming with other children and an adult in a local waterhole at the Gumarrirnbang outstation, about 100km west of the remote community of Maningrida, when the crocodile attacked at 4pm (CDT) on Friday.

It first went for the man who was with the children before dragging the girl under the water, Senior Sergeant Shaun Gill said.

An extensive search is continuing but she has not been seen since.

"The crocodile is estimated to be about 2-3 metres in length and the billabong is described as being approximately 200 metres long by 20 metres wide," said Senior Sergeant Gill.

Members of the community are helping the Territory Response Section, Water Police Section and a ranger from the Crocodile Management Unit in searching for the young girl on Saturday.

Crocodiles are not thought to have been seen in the area previously and the community believed the billabong to be safe.

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Two US oil rig workers missing after blast

The US Coast Guard says a fire on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico has been put out. Source: AAP

THE US Coast Guard is searching the waters off Louisiana for two oil rig workers who remain unaccounted for after an explosion and fire on an oil drilling platform off the coast.

The blast on the rig in the Gulf of Mexico injured 11 people, but did not cause a major spill, the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Vega told AFP late on Friday that a 27-metre long cutter, the Razorbill, with 10 crew members on board, was dispatched to the area where the explosion took place and would spend the night patrolling the Gulf waters searching for the missing workers.

Other Coast Guard assets, including helicopters, aircraft and a second patrol boat, the Pelican, would resume the search early Saturday, he said.

The incident comes a day after British energy giant BP reached a deal with the US government to settle criminal charges over the devastating 2010 oil spill that began with an explosion on an offshore rig.

"We don't foresee any major environmental impact from this," Coast Guard spokesman Ensign Glenn Sanchez told AFP. "This was a non-functioning rig. It's not like they were pumping oil."

Authorities said the fire was extinguished about two hours after the explosion.

Coast Guard Lieutenant Cheryl Hickey, command duty officer for the New Orleans sector, said 11 people were flown by helicopter to area hospitals.

While a thin oil slick was seen floating in the waters near the rig, it was likely from small amounts of oil stored on the platform. The blaze began during maintenance work when the crew was cutting through a pipe.

It was soon extinguished and the rig appears to be "structurally sound," incident commander Ed Cubanski told a news conference.

The Coast Guard could not provide details on the seriousness of the injuries but local media reported that four of the workers were in critical condition with serious burns.

US networks showed dramatic images of thick black smoke billowing up from the platform.

There were 22 people on board when the explosion rocked the rig operated by Houston-based Black Elk Energy shortly before 9 am (0200 AEDT), Sanchez said.

Black Elk Energy was not immediately available to comment but posted a message on its website saying "our thoughts and prayers are with those who are impacted."

BP agreed on Thursday to pay a record $US4.5 billion ($A4.38 billion) in US fines for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and pleaded guilty to 14 counts including felony manslaughter in the deaths of 11 workers.

The deadly blast aboard the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig unleashed the biggest marine oil spill in the industry's history and the worst environmental disaster to strike the United States.

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Dead body found on refugee boat

AUSTRALIAN authorities have discovered a dead man on board a suspected asylum seeker boat near Christmas Island.

HMAS Launceston intercepted the boat, with 62 people on board, northeast of the island on Thursday.

Just before boarding, officials received reports that thee was a person with a medical condition on the vessel, Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said in a statement.

"Upon boarding the vessel, the boarding party located a male passenger who appeared to be deceased and attempted to revive him without success," he said on Friday.

"The deceased passenger has been transferred to the custody of Australian Federal Police on Christmas Island."

Police on Christmas Island are investigating the cause of death.

The passengers run the risk of being transferred to offshore processing centres in Nauru or Papua New Guinea.

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Union threatens Woolworths boycott

A UNION has threatened to boycott Woolworths if it does not help workers and subcontractors owed money following the collapse of a company building a supermarket in Sydney's north.

But the supermarket giant says it has paid in full for all work at its new supermarket site in Balgowlah and the matter is now in the hands of the administrator of Southern Cross Constructions.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) says more than $5 million is owed for work at the site after the company collapsed in October.

The union's NSW secretary Brian Parker said on Friday that Woolworths had a moral obligation to help workers and subcontractors on the project.

"Six weeks out from Christmas we're looking at these companies going broke ... and workers put on the dole queue and looking at a very bleak Christmas," Mr Parker told reporters.

Protesters targeted Woolworths on Sydney's George Street on Friday and Mr Parker said protests would continue to target the supermarket giant until it reached an agreement.

He said Woolworths had made a $1.8 billion profit in the last financial year but wouldn't even discuss the $5 million needed to resolve the issue.

"We haven't yet called upon our members to boycott Woolworths," he said.

"But in the next seven days if we haven't got a result on this, we'll be calling on not only our members but everybody across the trade union movement to not go and shop at Woolworths."

Woolworths said in a statement it had paid Southern Cross Constructions in full for all work undertaken at the Balgowlah site.

"Woolworths has explained this to the CFMEU previously. The matter is now in the hands of the administrator," it said.

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Xi Jinping secures China leadership

Xi Jinping has become the leader of China by securing the Communist Party's top spot. Source: AAP

XI Jinping has become the leader of China by securing the Communist Party's top spot.

The state Xinhua News Agency on Thursday confirmed Xi's elevation to party general secretary.

Xi also was appointed head of the commission that oversees the military.

The selection of Xi follows a pivotal party congress that underlined the communists' determination to remain firmly in power.

Xi is the son of a party elder and has served as vice president for the past five years.

He will lead the world's number two economy and newest diplomatic and military power amid increasingly vocal calls for economic and political reform.

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Hearing problems affecting WA education

A PARLIAMENTARY committee report has revealed up to 70 per cent of children in Western Australia's northwest have hearing problems that are affecting their ability to learn.

The Legislative Assembly's Education and Health Standing Committee tabled its 18th report on Thursday and chairwoman Janet Woollard said she was shocked at the "Third World prevalence" of otitis media, commonly known as glue ear, in many regional communities and the Health Department's inadequate response to the treatable condition.

"Children with recurrent otitis media can be severely impacted in the classroom where they cannot hear the teacher," she said.

"As a result, they may opt out or act out and disrupt the class.

"Their subsequent lack of learning damages their future life prospects."

Dr Woollard said the government needed to address deafness by medical or surgical intervention as a matter of priority.

"The government should establish a mobile surgical bus to treat children with hearing problems in remote and rural areas," she said.

"If the Fred Hollows Foundation can restore sight in the field in Third World countries, then we as a First World country should be able to restore hearing using a mobile surgical bus."

The committee also found the government should prioritise the use of phonics in the teaching of literacy in all schools to improve learning, and expand programs for gifted students.

It also found unacceptably high rates of non-attendance at schools.

"The Department of Education's response to attendance issues is fragmented and ill defined," Dr Woollard said.

"School principals carry the overwhelming responsibility for attendance with little support from the department.

"The Education Department needs to implement a structured intervention policy to give all children a good start to life."

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Govt makes ABC, SBS board appointments

The federal government has made new appointments to the boards of the ABC and SBS networks. Source: AAP

THE federal government has made three new appointments to the boards of the ABC and SBS networks for a five-year period.

Simon Mordant, currently chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Arts Board and director of the Sydney Theatre Company, has been appointed to the ABC board.

Dorothy West and William Lenehan have been appointed to the SBS Board.

Ms West is currently a board member of the Pilbara and Kimberley Aboriginal Media Association and is a scriptwriter and consultant.

Mr Lenehan is a media industry consultant from Queensland's Sunshine Coast, having previously had a 28-year career with the Ten Network, where he held the position of general manager in both Brisbane and Sydney.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy congratulated the appointees.

"They will bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and skills to the boards of our national broadcasters that will continue to strengthen these important national institutions," Senator Conroy said in a statement on Wednesday.

All appointees were selected in accordance with the guidelines of a merit-based appointment process put in place by the Gillard government.

"These merit-based appointments further demonstrate our resolve to remove political interference from this process and to promote independence in the ABC and SBS Boards," he said.

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NSW police accept Curti recommendations

NSW police will adopt all of the recommendations that the coroner has handed down in relation to the death of Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti.

State Coroner Mary Jerram handed down her findings on Wednesday and said some of the actions by officers, including the tasering of Mr Curti 14 times before his death, showed that excessive and at times "thuggish" force had been used in an attempt to subdue him.

She recommended five of the 11 officers involved in restraining Mr Curti in Sydney's CBD on March 18 be considered for disciplinary charges.

She also referred the actions of the officers to the Police Integrity Commission and recommended a review of taser use and training.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the police accepted Ms Jerram's recommendations.

"We will immediately adopt all five of those recommendations handed down today by the coroner," Mr Scipione told reporters in Sydney.

Mr Scipione said Tasers would remain a vital option in a police officer's arsenal, despite the coroner recommending that a review be carried out into the force's procedures around their use.

"They're not toys," he said.

"These weapons save lives."

In her findings, Ms Jerram also challenged the evidence of a number of officers involved in the incident, and said some of the information was not credible.

Mr Scipione said that since the coroner had already referred the matter to the police watchdog, an internal police review of the incident would be unnecessary.

"That's why these matters have been referred to the Police Integrity Commission (by the coroner)," he said.

"They'll get to the bottom of that."

The police commissioner said he did not agree that Mr Curti should have been tasered 14 times.

"I'm not sure that is appropriate," he said.

Mr Scipione also said the officers involved were still on active duty, but those with frontline responsibilities had had their Taser accreditation revoked.

They would have the option to undergo Taser training and be re-accredited, he said.

The officers had not been stood down.

"We will assess their ongoing workplace arrangements," Mr Scipione said.

"Then we will make a decision."

He acknowledged that the coroner criticised the most senior officer present at Mr Curti's death, Inspector Greg Cooper, who held the rank of sergeant at the time.

Ms Jerram rejected Insp Cooper's evidence and said he had failed to display sensible leadership or objectivity during the incident.

"They're the coroner's views," Mr Scipione said.

"The coroner has rightly used strong language."

He also noted that the PIC would investigate the incident and it would be inappropriate to take any disciplinary action against Insp Cooper before those investigations had concluded.

"To pre-empt an outcome from them (PIC) may be problematic," he said.

The police union said better training and improved protocols were the best way to ensure the "tragic set of circumstances" surrounding Mr Curti's death were never repeated.

NSW Police Association president Scott Weber warned against quick-fix reactions to the coroner's findings, telling reporters that "knee-jerk" restrictions on Taser use would make officers' work more dangerous.

"It's about making sure that police officers can go out there and utilise Tasers and protect the community and themselves," he said in Sydney on Wednesday.

"If there's further restrictions that are not based on fact, that have not been properly reviewed ... it will put police officers' lives at risk."

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Carr denies he is writing book on the job

Bob Carr has denied he is writing a book about his experiences as foreign minister. Source: AAP

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr denies he is moonlighting as an author.

Fairfax Media on Tuesday said the senator was writing a book about his time as foreign minister even as he carries out the job.

His time-consuming recording of events and discussions had raised eyebrows among officials and colleagues, it reported.

Senator Carr has denied he is writing a book.

In a statement, he said he had started work on a book prior to returning to public office, but the project had been indefinitely postponed upon his appointment as foreign minister in February.

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Police probe Gold Coast robberies link

THE robbery in which policeman Damian Leeding was shot dead may be linked to a string of other hold-ups on the Gold Coast over a two-year period.

Police announced on Tuesday they were investigating the possibility several armed robberies in the northern end of the Gold Coast between 2009 and 2011 were related to organised crime.

Detective Leeding was fatally shot during a hold-up of the Pacific Pines Tavern in May 2011.

Three people are set to face Brisbane's Supreme Court next year charged with his murder.

Queensland's organised crime investigation unit is now investigating whether the Pacific Pines robbery was linked to a number of others.

"Several new witnesses have come forward and have been keen to assist police with their enquiries," Detective Acting Superintendent Garry Watts said in a statement.

"While we are confident of an arrest in the near future, we still wish to speak with anyone who has information regarding these crimes.

"Many of these offences share similarities including the use of weapons and the violent way in which the staff at the venues were bound and restrained during the robberies."

Apart from the Pacific Pines robbery, other offences being investigated are hold-ups of the Ormeau Norfolk Tavern, the Coomera Lodge Hotel, the Parkwood Tavern and the Oxenford Tavern.

Police say all of these robberies were committed with the use of firearms with substantial sums of money stolen.

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NZ shares rise towards five-year high

NEW Zealand shares rose, nudging the NZX 50 Index back toward the five-year high charted last month, as Australian interest drove Xero to a record and Fletcher Building gained after agreeing to buy a laminated panels business in India.

The NZX 50 rose 26.07 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 3983.99. Within the index, 24 stocks rose, 13 fell and 13 were unchanged.

Turnover was $78.7 million.

Xero, the cloud-based accounting services company that dual listed on the ASX last week, rose 8.6 per cent to $6.30, giving it a market value of $622.

That's even before the fast-growth company, which listed on the NZX in June 2007, has turned a profit. It has gained 110 per cent this year.

Listing on the ASX "opens up more buying in the stock - that's what we've seen", said Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene.

Fletcher Building rose 3.3 per cent to $7.48 after its local affiliate, Formica Laminates (India) Private, agreed to buy the laminates manufacturing business of listed Indian manufacturer Well Pack Papers & Containers in the Indian state of Gujurat for 365 million rupees ($8.2 million).

Contact Energy fell 2.6 per cent to $5.21 after its controlling shareholder, Australia's Origin Energy, warned last week that regulatory and pricing decisions would cut underlying profit as much as 10 per cent this year.

Among smaller stocks, Genesis Research and Development was halted from trading at 1.8 cents and told the ASX it may not have enough funds to keep operating without a loan or more support from shareholders.

Telecom, the biggest phone company on the NZX 50, rose 1 per cent to $2.435, and Chorus, the networks company spun off from Telecom last year, rose 0.9 per cent to $3.27. Chorus has gained 3.9 per cent this year.

Retailer Warehouse Group rose 0.3 per cent to $3.19 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare climbed 1.2 per cent to $2.46.

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Coalition would support sex abuse inquiry

THE coalition would support a wide-ranging royal commission into the sexual abuse of children, federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

But he says such an investigation should not be limited to one institution.

Federal Labor backbenchers, independent MPs and the Greens have been calling for Prime Minister Julia Gillard to establish a royal commission into child sex abuse inside the Catholic Church.

The demand for a national response comes after NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell last week announced a special commission to investigate allegations of abuse by clergy in the Hunter region and a possible cover-up.

Mr Abbott says the coalition "would be prepared to support" a wide-ranging royal commission investigation into the sexual abuse of children.

"Its clear that for a long period there was insufficient awareness and insufficient vigilance when it came to predatory behaviour by people in positions of authority over children," he said in a statement on Monday.

"A lot of terrible things have been done, and a lot of people have suffered deeply.

"For these reasons, if the government were to propose a royal commission to investigate the sexual abuse of children, it is something the coalition would be prepared to support."

Mr Abbott said any probe must be wide-ranging, must consider any evidence of the abuse of children in Australia "and should not be limited to the examination of any one institution".

The community must have zero tolerance for the sexual abuse of children, victims must be allowed to heal and perpetrators must be brought to justice, he said.

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Obama steers US towards focus on Asia

President Barack Obama is planning a historic visit to encourage reforms in Burma. Source: AAP

ON his first foreign trip since Tuesday's election, US President Barack Obama is planning a historic visit to encourage reforms in Burma - seen as a key success during his first term - and he'll also go to Thailand and Cambodia.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Leon Panetta will also head to Asia this month. While the timing is coincidental - Obama is attending the East Asia Summit in Cambodia - experts saw a powerful sign.

"Actions speak louder than words; the visit shouts Obama's intent for a purposeful focus on Asia in his second term," said Ernie Bower of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, pointing out that the trip is the first by an American president solely to South-East Asia since the Vietnam War.

Obama spent part of his childhood in Indonesia and took office vowing to pay more attention to South-East Asia, charging that the dynamic and mostly US-friendly region had been neglected as the administration of his predecessor George W. Bush was absorbed by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Though issues like Syria are not going to go away, the fact that the US will not be at war by 2014 when it pulls combat troops out of Afghanistan should mean Asia can move up on the administration's second-term agenda," said Nina Hachigian, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Centre for American Progress.

Obama initially focused on cooperation with China but later hardened his line, boosting the US military role in the region as South-East Asian countries and US ally Japan accused Beijing of growing assertiveness in territorial disputes.

The US election came just before China launched a once-a-decade leadership change, with Xi Jinping - whom the Obama administration has courted in a series of high-level meetings - set to succeed President Hu Jintao.

China had criticised Obama's Republican rival Mitt Romney, who accused the incumbent president of being too soft on issues including human rights and especially trade practices such as Beijing's allegedly undervalued currency.

After Obama's victory, the state-run Xinhua news agency ran a commentary urging the US administration to "rethink its policy on China". It called for cooperation on "common challenges like terrorism, climate change (and) economic turbulence".

But Walter Lohman, director of the Asian studies centre at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the US election and China's leadership changes would not change the dynamics in ties between the world's top two economies.

The US is still faced with a China that Lohman said was marked by rising nationalism, a growing military and aggressive pursuit of border claims.

"It's not just campaign rhetoric," Lohman said of US concerns on China.

"Just because we're through with the silly season doesn't mean we're going back to the good old days. I think we're in for a long-term rough patch with the Chinese."

One question mark is how Obama's next team will impact Asia policy. Clinton has made the continent a priority, but she plans to leave the administration along with her energetic top diplomat on East Asia, Kurt Campbell.

Obama's visit to Burma, where he will meet with President Thein Sein and freed opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi, would have been unthinkable when he entered the White House four years ago.

Officials in Washington point to Burma as a success in Obama's policy, as declared in his inaugural address, of extending a hand to America's adversaries in return for progress. Republicans had sharply criticised Obama's attempts at dialogue with Iran and Syria.

But Aung Din, head of the US Campaign for Burma advocacy group, urged Obama not to go to the country, saying that the military still remains in charge of parliament and would be strengthened by the presidential visit.

Lohman praised Obama's decision to visit Thailand, the oldest US ally in Asia. Bush went twice to the kingdom, but one trip was for a regional summit and his 2008 visit focused on Burma and the Beijing Olympics. President Bill Clinton paid a state visit to Thailand in 1996.

"Had he gone to Cambodia, a place that the Thais have had some ups and downs with, and not gone to see the US allies in Thailand, it would have been a disaster," Lohman said.

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Spain bank halts evictions after suicide

A SPANISH savings bank has halted all home-owner evictions after a ruined client threw herself out a window to her death, unleashing anti-bank street protests.

The weekend decision by Kutxabank, a lender in the northern Basque Country, was unprecedented in Spain, where banks and homeowners have been financially crushed by a 2008 property crash.

It was the second suicide linked to the eviction of a financially distressed home owner in 15 days.

Right-leaning Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy promised on Friday to offer proposals to ease the pressure on homeowners on Monday in talks with the opposition Socialists.

"The president of Kutxabank, Mario Fernandez, has instructed that the entity should immediately halt all mortgage-related eviction procedures until the new related regulations are known," the bank said on Saturday.

The suspension of evictions only affects loans on people's primary homes, it said.

The previous day, 53-year-old former Socialist politician Amaia Egana committed suicide by hurling herself out of her apartment window "as the bailiffs were to evict her from her home," Basque police said.

Her suicide came 15 days after 53-year-old Jose Luis Domingo hanged himself shortly before bailiffs came to turn him out of his home in the southern city of Granada.

After the latest suicide, hundreds of people demonstrated on Friday in Madrid and in the victim's municipality of Barakaldo.

With cries of "Guilty! Guilty!" and "Shame! Shame!" the Madrid protesters denounced banks such as state-rescued lender Bankia for continuing to evict homeowners struck by unemployment and the eurozone crisis.

A banner reading "credit scam" could be seen hanging next to Caja Madrid - part of the Bankia group - as the protesters held a minute's silence for the dead woman.

Debt-struck homeowners have been camping outside Caja Madrid with mats and sleeping bags since October 22, demanding they be spared eviction and have their debts renegotiated.

Last month, a group of top magistrates released a report denouncing the trend of forced evictions, which they said had risen by a fifth this year and totalled 350,000 between 2008 and 2011.

They complained of "extremely aggressive judicial procedures against debtors" who "find themselves defenceless in a crisis that they did not cause."

Rajoy said on Friday he hoped the talks with the opposition would include discussion of a "temporary halt to the evictions which are hitting the most vulnerable families."

He is also seeking ways to make the banks better apply their code of conduct, to renegotiate debts and allow people to remain in their homes.

"It's a difficult subject and I hope we will soon be able to give good news to all the Spanish people," Rajoy said.

The eurozone's fourth-largest economy, Spain has been mired in recession since last year, building up a record-high unemployment rate of more than 25 per cent.

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