Man charged with Sydney bikie murder

A man has been charged with murdering a Hells Angels bikie in Sydney's west earlier this year. Source: AAP

A MAN has been charged with murdering a high-ranking Hells Angels bikie who was gunned down in Sydney's west earlier this year.

Police said the 21-year-old man was charged with murdering senior bikie Zeljko Mitrovic, 45, at a business in Wetherill Park in January this year.

Mr Mitrovic was shot a number of times after up to seven men arrived at his transport business on January 15, police said.

Mr Mitrovic later died of his injuries.

Another man, aged 31, was injured in the shooting.

Police said they took the alleged killer into custody after he arrived on a flight from Indonesia about 6.30am (AEST) on Saturday.

They charged the 21-year-old with murder and reckless grievous bodily harm in company.

He was refused bail and was due to front Parramatta Local Court later on Saturday.

Police said another man remained before the court on charges relating to being an accessory to the murder.

Investigations into the incident were continuing.

AAP s

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Australia opposed to PNG death penalty

Foreign Minister Bob Carr has told PNG's government that Australia opposes the death penalty. Source: AAP

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr has told Papua New Guinea's government that Australia opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, as the South Pacific nation considers using its dormant capital punishment laws.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill during the week said his government planned to apply the death penalty, which has not been used in PNG since 1954, to convicted murderers.

"I discussed the death penalty. The prime minister spoke about the challenge of law and order in Papua New Guinea," Senator Carr reporters on Saturday.

"I said to him, I said to foreign minister (Rimbink) Pato, Australia is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. We never cease to make that clear."

Mr O'Neill said this week his government had discussed using firing squads as a method of execution.

The proposal - due to be debated in PNG's single house of parliament in mid-May - is part of a raft of legislation aimed at toughening sentences for alcohol, drug and rape offences.

Senator Carr arrived in Port Moresby on Friday and gave a speech to the Burnet Institute, a not-for-profit medical research organisation.

His visit comes ahead of the expected arrival of Prime Minister Julia Gillard to PNG in the coming week.

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Aussie experts closer to making body parts

Australian scientists are researching the construction of human body parts by using 3D printing. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN scientists are on the cusp of constructing human body parts by using 3D printing to reproduce a patient's own cells.

3D printing uses machines to build body cells layer by layer from digital data.

Researchers from St Vincent's Hospital, in Melbourne, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES), in Wollongong, are behind the medical breakthrough.

ACES Director Professor Gordon Wallace believes that within a few years it will be possible to manufacture living tissues like skin, cartilage, arteries and heart valves using cells and biomaterials.

"Using a patient's own cells to create this tissue avoids issues of immune rejection," he says.

"By 2025, it is feasible that we will be able to fabricate complete functional organs, tailored for an individual patient."

The technology could provide the solution to several medical challenges including the development of bionic devices, the regeneration of nerve, muscle and bone, as well as epilepsy detection and control.

Professor Wallace says the research will be boosted next month with the launch of an additive biofabrication unit at St Vincent's Hospital - the first of its kind in Australia to be located in a hospital.

"This will put our scientists and engineers in direct contact with clinicians on a daily basis. This is expected to fast-track the realisation of practical medical devices and the reproduction of organs," he said.

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Pakistan prosecutor in Bhutto case killed

PAKISTAN'S main government prosecutor on the Benazir Bhutto murder case, in which ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf is under house arrest, was shot dead in Islamabad.

State prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar was shot multiple times on Friday by gunmen as he was driving to the next hearing in the murder case of the former prime minister, who was assassinated more than five years ago.

His bodyguard was also wounded in the attack and a woman killed when Zulfiqar lost control of his vehicle, police said.

"Chaudhry Zulfiqar was driving his car. He lost control and the car crushed a woman passer-by," Yousuf told AFP.

"Zulfiqar was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries."

Police said the gunmen fled on a motorbike.

The attack happened in broad daylight in a busy street in a middle class neighbourhood.

The prosecutor had been on his way to appear before the anti-terrorism court hearing the Bhutto case in the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

Nobody has ever been convicted or jailed for Bhutto's December 2007 assassination.

Musharraf's government blamed the killing on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.

On Tuesday, Musharraf was placed under a two-week house arrest over charges that he conspired to murder the former prime minister, who was at the time campaigning for election.

Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is chairman of the outgoing main ruling Pakistan People's Party, has accused Musharraf of her murder.

In 2010 a UN report said Bhutto's death could have been prevented and accused Musharraf's government of failing to give her adequate protection.

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Former Qld MP says he's been cleared

FORMER Queensland housing minister Bruce Flegg says the state's integrity commissioner hasn't found anything untoward in his lobbyist register.

Dr Flegg was forced to resign in November 2012 amid allegations he failed to document all contact his office had with his lobbyist son.

He blamed a staffer for the administrative oversight.

Dr Flegg says he has been vindicated.

"The integrity commissioner found that there had been no improper lobbying by my son," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"He also found that the lobbyist register maintained in my ministerial office was correct and did not need adjusting."

Dr Flegg says a disgruntled former staffer released to the media the subject lines only from dozens of emails.

Most were personal matters such as a visiting relative or graduation ceremony, he said.

"The Courier Mail, without the content of any of the emails, alleged that they constituted lobbying," he said.

"The integrity commissioner's seen all the emails that have been located and, to my knowledge, all of the ones that were listed - he has entirely cleared them."

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Medicare levy laws set for budget week

LAWS to hike the Medicare levy to pay for the national disability care scheme will go to federal parliament this month.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard used Twitter on Thursday to announce the legislation to lift the Medicare levy to two per cent - raising around $3.3 billion a year - would be introduced in budget week which starts on May 14.

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Qld govt targets union bosses

THE Queensland government's proposed industrial law changes are about trying to stifle opposition to asset sales, the state's public sector union says.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie has introduced changes to Queensland's industrial relations laws that require unions to publicly account for all spending, with particular emphasis on political party expenditure.

"Members deserve to know where and how their membership fees are being spent," Mr Bleijie said in a statement on Wednesday.

Unions will be required to provide an up-to-date public register of how much the top 10 highest earning officials are paid.

Officials will also have to publicly declare their personal material interests.

Their relatives will have to declare their material interests but this will not be made public.

All gifts and benefits over $500 received and given by officials and employees will also have to be declared.

The new laws will apply to 32 employer associations and 34 trade unions currently registered in Queensland.

They also delete union encouragement clauses in public service contracts.

Public sector union Together says the government has created an enormous amount of red tape and bureaucracy for unions to make it more difficult for them to fight privatisation.

"This government is petrified about a debate about privatisation and outsourcing," Together secretary Alex Scott told reporters.

"The transparency argument from the government is a smokescreen for what this legislation is really about.

"It's about providing unprecedented bureaucratic obstacles for workers being able to spend their own money in the pursuit of defending public sector services."

He said unions were already transparent about how they spend members' money.

The Services Union has welcomed the transparency part of the legislation.

It says it's already up-front about how money is spent.

The union represents workers from a range of industries, including the social and community sector as well as energy, ports and rail sectors.

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Murdered brothers had 'dozens of wounds'

TWO men who were fatally stabbed inside their Sydney home suffered a multitude of wounds to their face, chest, arms and hands during the attack, a court has heard.

Mario Frisoli, 52, and Albert Frisoli, 56, were found dead in their Rozelle home, in Sydney's inner west, in May 2009 by an employee of the elder man, the morning after the attack allegedly took place.

Giuseppe Di Cianni has pleaded not guilty to their murders.

His co-accused Josephine Pintabona has also pleaded not guilty to the murders and the alternate charge of being an accessory after the fact.

During their trial at the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday, forensic pathologist Professor Johan Duflou said the Frisoli brothers sustained numerous defensive wounds to their hands during the attack.

Referring to a post-mortem report by his colleague Dr Rianie Van Vuuren, Prof Duflou said Mario suffered more than 30 injuries, including stab wounds through the cheek, neck and various wounds to the chest.

He said one stab wound through the front of the chest pierced his aorta - the large artery from the heart.

"Without emergency treatment it would almost certainly be fatal," Prof Duflou said.

"With expert emergency treatment you would stand a chance of survival."

Crown Prosecutor Mark Hobart, SC, previously told the court that Di Cianni and Albert Frisoli had a history marked by "animosity and violence".

The pair were co-directors of a construction company but their relationship soured after Di Cianni was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and he came to believe Albert was defrauding him.

On the night of the stabbings, Mr Hobart said a neighbour saw a "little old lady" walking up to the door of the Frisoli brothers' home.

He alleged this was in fact Di Cianni, dressed in woman's clothing.

It is alleged that Pintabona drove Di Cianni to and from the scene.

The trial continues.

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Hip pocket pain hitting healthcare: report

FEDERAL Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says if you're going to get sick, "Australia is the place to do it", despite a report showing the country ranks the fifth most expensive in the world for out-of-pocket expenses.

The Consumers Health Forum on Monday said Australians pay $1075 every year per person in out of pocket medical costs, compared to $476 for New Zealand and $459 for the UK.

Australians' expenses are $94 above the weighted average for OECD countries, the forum found.

More concerning, it said thousands were applying to the federal Department of Human Services to access their superannuation to pay for health costs.

Forum chief Carol Bennett says Australia's developing a two-tiered health system and needed to overhaul the 30-year-old Medicare system.

"People who have the means can afford to benefit from the best treatment available. People without may not benefit at all," Ms Bennett said.

"What we are seeing in some cases is a triple whammy affect. People pay taxes and pay for private health insurance and then there are still out of pocket expenses."

Ms Plibersek said while Medicare wasn't perfect, it provided a better standard of care and choice than other countries around the world.

"Medicare is a system that most Australians are proud of, and they look around the world and they know that being sick is never good, it's never fun, but if you're going to get sick anywhere, Australia is the place to do it," she said.

While New Zealand paid less for some medicines than Australia, consumers across the Tasman had less choice and in the UK consumers had no choice when it came to their doctor.

"There are restrictions in place there (in Britain) that I don't think Australians would want to see," Ms Plibersek told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

Ms Plibersek said the number of medicines subsided through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme had increased, while Australia was witnessing "historic high bulk billing rates".

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UK man rescued from remote Pacific area

THE US Coast Guard in Hawaii has rescued one British man and is searching for another Briton who fell overboard in a remote area of the Pacific.

The 35-year-old missing man was conscious and wearing a yellow life jacket when he went overboard about 800km west of the Midway Atoll, but he had not been found more than 15 hours later, Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Eric J. Chandler said.

Officials from the Marine Rescue Coordination Center Falmouth, United Kingdom, reported to the US Coast Guard in Hawaii on Saturday that a man from a 12-metre vessel had fallen overboard, and the one who remained aboard had little sailing experience.

The area nearly 3220km from Oahu was too remote to reach quickly by boat, and winds were reported at 40km/h with two metre-high seas.

The Coast Guard sent an HC-130 Hercules aeroplane from an Oahu air station, and the US Navy diverted the USS Peleliu, an amphibious assault ship to assist in the search.

Two Navy helicopters were sent to search from the Peleliu on Sunday. One of them found the boat, lowered a hoist and pulled the man in.

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