Man burned in Sydney house fire

A MAN has been seriously injured in a house fire in Sydney's west.

About 3pm on Thursday, fire and rescue crews were called to Bindaree St, Hebersham, after reports of a large explosion and fire in a house.

A 45-year-old man was located at the scene suffering severe burns to his back, head and legs. He has been taken to hospital.

The single storey brick home was well alight when crews arrived.

They remain at the scene fighting the blaze, which will be investigated.

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Man, grandsons found after bush ordeal

A MAN and his two grandsons have been found after they went missing while bushwalking near Lithgow, west of the Blue Mountains.

A police spokesman confirmed to AAP about 3pm on Thursday the trio had been found.

The spokesman said the 64-year-old man and the children, aged nine and 12, were alive. The state of their health was unknown.

He said the group remained in bushland and would have to be winched to safety.

A search was launched on Wednesday night after the trio failed to return home from a bushwalk.

On Thursday morning, police located the grandfather's white Nissan Navara near the search area.

The man's mobile phone was traced to the Newnes area, which is where police and emergency services concentrated their search.

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Gales disrupt New Zealand flights

STRONG winds have caused problems for flights coming into the New Zealand cities of Wellington and Blenheim.

Air New Zealand spokeswoman Brigitte Ransom said a flight from Gisborne to Wellington had to stop at Palmerston North due to gale-force winds in the capital.

The diversion caused a scheduled Wellington to Palmerston North flight to be cancelled, Ms Ransom said.

Two return flights between Blenheim and Wellington and one return flight between Blenheim and Auckland were also cancelled due to a big blow in the Marlborough town, while one flight from Auckland to Blenheim was diverted to Nelson.

There were also reports of a Jetstar flight from Auckland to Wellington being forced back to Auckland because of the gales.

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Home prices fall, again

Home prices eased 0.4 per cent on average across Australia's capital cities during 2012. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN home prices have fallen for the second consecutive year as nervous consumers continue to sit on the sidelines of the housing market.

Home prices eased 0.4 per cent on average across Australia's eight capital cities during 2012, according to the monthly RP Data/Rismark Home Value index released on Wednesday.

Melbourne homeowners fared worst, with prices down 2.9 per cent on average over the year, while Brisbane and Adelaide prices were both down 0.8 per cent.

Darwin had the strongest housing market, with prices up 8.9 per cent, while Sydney prices rose 1.5 per cent and Perth prices climbed 0.8 per cent.

Home prices fell 0.3 per cent across capital cities during December.

RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher said home prices had fallen for two consecutive years and were now 5.7 per cent lower than their historic highs of November 2010.

There was a bright spot in the data, however, with house prices up 1.8 per cent from their lowest point set in May 2012.

But Mr Kusher said recent interest rate cuts had not been enough to spur growth growth in the sector.

"It has become clear that adjustments to official interest rates by the Reserve Bank are not having the same impact on consumers as they have in the past," Mr Kusher said in a statement.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's cash rate, currently at 3.0 per cent, is 1.75 percentage points lower than its level at the start of November 2011.

Over the same period, standard mortgage rates have dropped an average of 1.35 percentage points.

Mr Kusher said that with consumers saving more and spending less, the housing market was likely to remain relatively subdued through 2013, though he did expect prices to rise over the year.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said property investors were still making money, with RP Data figures showing returns from the sector up four per cent over calendar 2012.

"While Aussies are cautious on going into debt, (the) population is still rising while home building has remained weak," Mr James said.

"So rents are still rising and so are investment returns on property."

Sydney remained the most expensive place to buy in 2012, with a median house price of $665,000, while Hobart was the cheapest, with a median house price of $325,000.

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UN hits DR Congo rebels with sanctions

THE UN security council has slapped an arms embargo on M23 rebels and their alleged Rwandan allies, the FDLR, amid a flare-up of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern region.

The council committee tasked with monitoring sanctions on the Congo also imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on two key M23 figures: the group's civilian leader Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero and Lieutenant Colonel Eric Badege, a commander suspected of being responsible for the deaths of women and children.

The decision came just hours before Rwanda was set to join the council as a non-permanent member on Tuesday.

"We believe these designations will directly help advance the goal of a sustainable peace in eastern DRC," US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in a statement.

"We urge the rank and file of both the M23 and the FDLR to defect and demobilise in order to disassociate themselves from the sanctioned groups."

UN experts accuse Congo's neighbours Rwanda and Uganda of backing the M23, an accusation both countries deny.

The security council has already issued targeted sanctions, the latest round at the end of November, against three M23 military leaders - Sultani Makenga, Baudoin Ngaruye and Innocent Kaina - but had yet to sanction the entire group.

Britain's Africa minister Mark Simmonds welcomed the agreement, adding: "We remain committed to finding long-term solutions which will end the cycle of violence in the DRC."

"The dialogue needed to resolve the crisis must ensure that all violence stops, that external support to M23 ends and that there is no impunity for M23 commanders and others who have committed serious human rights abuses, including the FDLR," he added.

Simmonds called for "leadership" from the Congolese government to address the underlying causes of the conflict.

The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has accused the M23 of arbitrary executions, forced disappearances, degrading treatment and rape of civilians in and around Goma after taking over the eastern Congo city in November.

But M23 rebels have rejected the claim.

"For years, the FDLR has committed atrocities against civilians and remains a threat to the stability of North and South Kivu," Rice said.

"Today's action against the FDLR is a critical step toward ending impunity and advancing peace."

She warned of "additional action" by the council if necessary "against those who persist in providing external support to M23 or act in violation of the sanctions regime and arms embargo."

Although the council has repeatedly denounced external support to the M23, it has not cited Rwanda or Uganda by name so far.

Congolese military officials allege that the M23 have formed an alliance with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in a bid to gain more territory in the region.

The M23 was formed in April by former fighters in the National Congress for the Defence of the People, an ethnic Tutsi rebel group that was integrated into the army under a 2009 peace deal whose terms the mutineers claim were never fully implemented.

The FDLR's members are ethnic Hutus who were soldiers in the Rwandan army before being forced out of the country in the wake of the 1994 genocide, which killed 800,000 people - mostly Tutsis.

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Secret SA Labor papers set for release

THE release of previously secret cabinet documents from when the current South Australian Labor government was first elected in 2002 must be done in a timely fashion, the state opposition says.

Under changes introduced in 2009, confidential papers can now be released after just 10 years rather than 20 years as previously regulated.

At the time, then premier Mike Rann said the shorter period would allow people to see more quickly the decision-making process on key issues.

"I think that's a good thing," Mr Rann said.

But opposition finance spokesman Rob Lucas said previous requests for documents under the new system had taken too long to process.

In some cases the opposition was still waiting for documents that it applied for three years ago, Mr Lucas said.

"Given that the 2002 cabinet documents cover the first 12 months of the incoming minority Labor government, there is likely to be increased interest from media, academics and politicians in the timely release of the cabinet documents," he said on Tuesday.

"Some cynics might also suggest (Premier Jay) Weatherill and his ministers would prefer to see the release of some of these documents delayed until after the March 2014 election."

Among the documents likely to draw strong interest are any related to the agreement between Labor and former independent MP Peter Lewis, who backed the ALP to form a minority government despite previously being a member of the Liberal Party.

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Man missing after canoe tips on NSW river

A MAN remains missing after his canoe tipped over on a river in southwestern NSW.

The man, aged in his late 20s, was paddling on the Murrumbidgee River when the canoe overturned about 2.30pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

He failed to resurface, police say.

Police and emergency services were called to a caravan park at Darlington Point and a search was begun.

It was suspended at nightfall and resumed at first light on Monday involving local police officers, the State Emergency Service and Volunteer Rescue Association.

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UN mission leaves East Timor

THE United Nations has ended its peacekeeping mission in East Timor, leaving the country without any direct security assistance for the first time since a spasm of political and ethnic violence in 2006 almost overwhelmed its shaky, post-independence government.

In recent weeks, the last of a force of 1,600 police and military officers from countries around the world have been leaving the country ahead of the formal end of the deployment on Monday, which is a significant milestone in the country's journey following its independence from Indonesia in 1999.

The United Nations and other foreign development organisations will remain in the country supporting its development for years to come. It has oil and gas-reserves, but these are not creating the employment opportunities needed for a country of 1.2 million, more than 60 per cent of whom are under 18. The education system is not supporting the development of people with the skills needed to change this.

"The Timorese people and its leaders have shown courage and unswerving resolve to overcome great challenges," said Finn Reske-Nielsen, the head of the mission. "As peacekeepers depart, we look forward to a new phase in this relationship focusing on social and economic development."

The United Nations organised the 1999 referendum that resulted in an overwhelming vote for independence but also violence and destruction by withdrawing Indonesian troops and their militia proxies. The world body directly administered the country until 2002, when it formally became a nation.

A UN security mission was established to help the country's barely existing state and security institutions. That mission ended in 2005. But the violence and political turmoil in 2006, which included an assassination attempt on the president by a former rebel, led to a new peacekeeping presence. Much of the UN's work has been focused on training the country's own police and army, and security conditions have now improved.

"It is an emotional moment to say goodbye to them and we are hoping that they can assemble with their families after months and years on their mission in East Timor," East Timor Police deputy commissioner Afonso de Jesus said on Saturday. "Like it or not, the East Timor national police is ready to assume our responsibility."

President Taur Matan Ruak mentioned the end of the UN mission in his New Year's Eve message to the nation, saying the country now enjoyed peace and stability.

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NDIS, education before election: Gillard

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says her government has two major items to implement in 2013 before going to an election - introducing the National Disability Insurance Scheme and undertaking further major education reforms.

Ms Gillard took time off from her holidays to make an appearance at the Woodford Folk Festival on Sunday.

She says the government would continue to work to keep the economy strong and jobs rolling, but the other two issues were her "two big ambitions for 2013 before we get around to winning that election".

"I want to see us launch the National Disability Insurance Scheme on the first of July," she told the festival crowd.

"Then the other thing I've got a really big focus on is delivering on further education reforms.

"We had a fair old wake up call in international testing (recently). We can make sure our kids can get a world-class education."

She said the government had already made changes to a number of schools that had been struggling.

"What we've got to do now is take it and upscale and give it to every school and make a difference to every school.

"I'm absolutely determined that we're battling through on that."

A federal election is not due to until October next year, where Labor hopes to regain its majority.

Ms Gillard has led a minority government with the support of key independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott since 2010, but she said the situation had not dented her agenda.

She pointed to a number of achievements including introducing the carbon tax, putting healthcare on a sustainable footing, introducing the Queensland flood levy, education and aged care reforms. But did not mention asylum seeker policy.

"The really big decisions this government's taken would be effectively the same," she said.

"We would have done the same things as a majority government because they are the right thing to do.

She said the introduction of carbon pricing was in some ways made better by the negotiations needed in a minority government.

"It meant we could work across both houses - the house and the Senate - not just put something in the Senate and have it knocked over, which was the history of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, but actually work in a way which the proposition that went to the parliament was going to get carried."

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NSW man charged with stealing guns

A YOUNG man has been charged with the theft of 22 firearms, some of which have not been recovered.

Some time between December 22 and 27, the guns were stolen from a farming property at Hillston, in southwestern NSW.

Following an extensive investigation, a 21-year-old man was charged on Saturday at Griffith police station with a raft of theft and firearms offences.

Police have recovered 17 of the stolen guns and continue to search for the remaining firearms.

The man has been granted strict conditional bail.

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