Plane crashes into trees, injuring two

TWO men have been injured after crashing a light plane into trees near Maitland, in the NSW Hunter region.

Police say the men, a 20-year-old pilot and a passenger in his early thirties, were practising take-offs and landings from an aerodrome at Luskintyre about 11.30am (AEDT) on Saturday.

"Witnesses have reported the plane experienced difficulties before it narrowly missed houses and crashed into trees," police said in a statement.

The men have been taken to John Hunter Hospital for checks.

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Cruise passengers make their way home

The passengers of cruise ship Triumph have finally disembarked after five numbing days stuck at sea. Source: AAP

PASSENGERS have finally escaped the disabled Carnival cruise ship Triumph after five numbing days stuck at sea due to an engine-room fire.

They were on the move on Friday - some checked into hotels while others hopped on buses or jumped on charter flights home.

The ship carrying some 4200 people docked late on Thursday in Mobile to raucous cheers from passengers weary of overflowing toilets, food shortages and foul odours.

"Sweet Home Alabama!" read one of the homemade signs passengers fixed alongside the 14-storey ship as many celebrated along deck rails lining several levels. The ship's horn blasted several times as four tugboats helped it to shore.

"It was horrible, just horrible" said Maria Hernandez, 28, of Angleton, Texas, tears welling in her eyes as she talked about waking up to smoke in her lower-level room on Sunday from the engine-room fire and the days of heat and stench that followed. She was on a "girls trip" with friends.

It took about four hours for all passengers to disembark.

Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said passengers had three options: take a bus straight to Galveston, Texas, to retrieve cars parked at the ship's departure port, take a bus to New Orleans to stay at a hotel before a charter flight home or have family or friends pick them up in Mobile.

As if the passengers hadn't endured enough, one of the buses broke down during the two-hour ride to New Orleans. Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the passengers got on another bus and made it safely to New Orleans. Passengers aboard another bus also said their luggage was somehow lost.

Gulliksen said up to 20 charter flights would leave New Orleans later on Friday to take guests who stayed in hotels there to their final destinations.

Nearly 2000 passengers arrived at a New Orleans Hilton in the wee hours, and by dawn many were headed out again to fly to Houston. They then had to get a connecting flight home or chartered bus back to their cars in Galveston.

"It just feels so good to be on land again and to feel like I have options," said Tracey Farmer. "I'm just ready to see my family. It's been harder on them than us I think because they've been so worried about us. It's been extremely stressful for them."

In Mobile, tugs pulled the ship away from the dock on Friday, moving it down a waterway in the direction of a shipyard where city officials said it will be repaired.

A line of taxis waited for people, and motorists on Interstate 10 stopped to watch the exodus of passengers. Some still aboard chanted, "Let me off, let me off!"

It took six gruelling hours navigating the 48km ship channel. At nearly 275 metres in length, it was the largest cruise ship ever to dock at Mobile.

Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill apologised at a news conference and later on the public address system as people disembarked.

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Portable gas stove blamed for SA bushfire

TWO people have been accused of recklessly starting an Adelaide bushfire when they tried to cook fish on a portable gas stove.

The CFS took just under two hours to contain the fire, which led to the evacuation of more than 100 people from the Brownhill Creek caravan park as a precaution on Thursday night.

Police on Friday said a Glenalta man, 20, and a Flagstaff Hill woman, 20, were reported for recklessly starting a bushfire and will be summonsed to appear in court on a later date.

Police will allege they were cooking fish using a portable gas stove, when hot oil spilled and ignited dry grass.

The couple tried unsuccessfully to put the fire out before ringing triple-zero.

A CFS spokesman said the fire burnt four hectares and was attended by 50 firefighters.

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France blames firm for horsemeat scandal

FRANCE has pinned much of the blame for Europe's meat scandal on a French firm that allegedly sold 750 tonnes of horsemeat as beef that ended up in millions of ready-to-eat meals sold across the continent.

The move came on Thursday as police in Britain arrested three men suspected of passing horsemeat off as beef, and as Germany joined the ranks of countries where frozen "beef" lasagne was found to contain horsemeat.

The Dutch government's food and consumer watchdog has also searched and carried out tests for horsemeat at about 100 businesses, as Europe's tainted beef scandal deepens.

In a sign of the damage the scandal has done to consumer confidence, 11 major food retailers and suppliers issued a public letter in Britain on Friday saying they shared people's "anger and outrage" and were "working around the clock" to identify what had gone wrong.

Evidence of horsemeat has until now been confined to frozen products, but Asda supermarket in Britain announced on Thursday it had pulled a fresh beef bolognese sauce from the shelves after tests revealed it contained horse DNA.

The scandal has left governments scrambling to figure out how the mislabelling of the meat started in the sprawling chain of production spanning abattoirs and meat suppliers in countries across Europe.

The French government threw some light on that question when it presented the results of an investigation that pinned much of the blame on Spanghero, a meat-processing firm in the southwestern town of Castelnaudary.

The findings by the DGCCRF anti-fraud office, presented by Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon, are staggering.

It said Spanghero had knowingly sold 750 tonnes of horsemeat mislabelled as beef over a period of six months, 500 tonnes of which were sent to French firm Comigel, which makes frozen meals at its Tavola factory in Luxembourg.

That meat was used to make 4.5 million products that were sold by Comigel to 28 different companies in 13 European countries, it said.

Hamon said Spanghero would be prosecuted and officials said its licence to handle meat would be suspended pending further investigations.

The minister told reporters that Comigel, which supplied millions of ready-to-eat meals to supermarkets across Europe which have now removed them from their shelves, had been deceived by Spanghero.

But he said that Comigel had failed to carry out tests or properly inspect paperwork that would have alerted it to the scam. He added that Romanian abattoirs named in the affair appeared to have acted in good faith.

Spanghero on Thursday again denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement that it had never ordered, received or resold any meat that it did not believe to be beef.

In Britain, where unlike continental European countries eating horse is taboo, police said three men suspected of passing horsemeat off as beef were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of fraud.

Two were arrested in Aberystwyth in Wales where a food processing plant is based, and one was detained in northern England, where police raided a slaughterhouse on Tuesday.

Both the processing plant and the slaughterhouse were shut down by Britain's Food Standards Agency on Wednesday. They are the first plants in Britain accused of selling horsemeat labelled as beef.

Concerns about horsemeat first emerged in mid-January when Irish authorities found traces of horse in beef burgers made by firms in Ireland and Britain and sold in supermarket chains including Tesco and Aldi.

The scandal spiralled last week when Comigel alerted Findus to the presence of horsemeat in the meals it had made for the food giant and which were on sale in Britain.

Since then retailers in Britain, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Germany and The Netherlands have removed Comigel products such as meatballs, hamburgers, minced meat and lasagne.

Two supermarket chains in Germany, Real and Edeka, said on Thursday that they had found traces of horsemeat in frozen lasagne that they had pulled as a precautionary measure off their shelves last week.

After emergency talks in Brussels on Wednesday, the EU's health commissioner Tonio Borg said the block was calling on all of its 27 member states to carry out DNA tests on beef products.

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Teach farming in schools: NFF

FARMERS are warning that unless agriculture is added to the school curriculum, Australia won't have the expertise to keep the sector competitive.

The National Farmers Federation (NFF) says the industry also needs more cash for research and development, a stronger relationship with animal activists and a dedicated Ministry of Food and Fibre to promote its needs.

The ideas were unveiled on Thursday in the NFF's Blueprint for Australian Agriculture, the first report of its kind on the future of farming in Australia.

Developed by farmers, the report outlines seven critical areas for shoring up the $50 billion industry as it faces threats to its competitiveness, trade access and natural resources.

Federation president Jock Laurie said it was time to stop procrastinating about embedding agriculture in the national school curriculum.

The trend of fewer students enrolling in tertiary agriculture could worsen, with higher salaries failing to attract workers to farms.

Careers in agriculture needed to be promoted as rewarding and skilled, so more children from non-farming backgrounds would want a job in farming, Mr Laurie said.

"A lot of the workforce in the end won't be coming out of our traditional agriculturally bred people," he told AAP on Thursday.

"It will be coming out of people who see an opportunity."

The NFF hopes educating the nation's young about farming will also help bridge the gap between city and country, especially on prickly issues such as live animal exports and environmental sustainability.

Building trust in agriculture and closer ties with activist groups would also have positive outcomes, the 4000 farmers who contributed to the report concluded.

"We don't want to be in a position where we're so far removed from the general community that we don't understand their concerns, and they don't understand our concerns," Mr Laurie said.

Rural R&D investment has stagnated since the mid-1970s, threatening productivity and expertise in areas like cultivating northern Australia.

Mr Laurie said while the onus didn't sit entirely with the federal government, one way to boost investment could be to offer tax incentives for investment in rural research.

Meanwhile, forging free trade agreements with lucrative markets in India, China and Korea would put Australia on an equal footing with some of its global competitors.

Mr Laurie said a federal Ministry of Food and Fibre would ensure the industry wasn't "taken for granted" and would be "on the agenda all day every day".

Foreign investment would play a key role in the future of the sector, but a national register of farm ownership was desperately needed to boost transparency and reassure the community.

"At this stage it's very difficult to make judgment about whether foreign investment is good for the Australian community or not," Mr Laurie said.

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Gaga cancels rest of tour due to injury

US singer Lady Gaga has cancelled the rest of her North American tour dates because of a hip injury. Source: AAP

LADY Gaga has cancelled the rest of her tour dates because of a hip injury.

A Wednesday news release from Live Nation Global Touring says Lady Gaga has a tear in her right hip that will require surgery to repair, followed by a recovery period.

The pop star had 21 dates through March 20 remaining on her Born This Way Ball tour schedule. She postponed four dates on Tuesday after telling fans in a tweet she'd hurt herself some time ago, but hid the injury from her staff. Over the last month, the injury became worse and she said she was unable to walk following a performance Monday in Montreal.

Fans who have already bought tickets will receive a refund.

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Hilton bombing victims remembered

COUNCIL workers and police officers have laid wreaths and flowers outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney as they remembered three men killed in Australia's first terrorist attack.

Garbage collectors Alex Carter and William Favell were killed on February 13, 1978, when a bomb concealed in a rubbish bin exploded outside the hotel.

Police officer Paul Birmistriw, who was guarding the hotel entrance, was fatally wounded in the attack and died nine days later.

Members of the United Services Union (USU), NSW police, and family and friends gathered on George Street in Sydney's CBD to place flowers in front of the memorial plaque and observe a minute's silence.

USU spokesman Graeme Kelly said Mr Carter and Mr Favell were known to be "larrikins" and "dedicated family men".

A council worker who had worked with the men described them as "good blokes".

NSW Police Association President Scott Weber said Mr Birmistriw had been a "first-class constable".

Those responsible for the bombing, which took place outside the venue for a Commonwealth Heads of Government regional meeting, have never been found.

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Patients could be 'confused as pedophiles'

MENTALLY ill Queenslanders may be mistaken for pedophiles and bullied if they are forced to wear GPS monitoring bracelets, medical professionals warn.

The state government wants to amend Queensland's Mental Health Act to allow doctors to use tracking devices to monitor patients who are forcibly detained under a forensic order.

But mental health practitioners have slammed the idea, saying the risks to the patient far outweigh any benefits to them or the community.

Forensic psychologist Rebekah Doley says patients already have to deal with stigma about mental illness, without being forced to wear the same device as violent and sexual offenders.

"Using a device that the community recognises as being associated with dangerous prisoners is concerning when you are applying it to people who have a much lower rate of reoffending generally," she told parliament's Health and Community Services Committee on Wednesday.

She said only two forensic patients had escaped from secure mental health wards in the past three years, indicating the risk was low.

Australian Medical Association Queensland President Alex Markwell said patients should have to wear tracking devices only if they would otherwise have been classed as a violent or sexual offender.

Concerns were raised that the move would also be a violation of human rights.

Experts addressing the committee also criticised the government's plan to allow doctors to suspend limited community treatment, which allows patients detained on forensic orders to continue their treatment in the community.

Medical practitioners said they were generally supportive of the government's plan to set up a Queensland Mental Health Commission.

However, most who spoke on Wednesday called for more staff, like a deputy commissioner, to be included in the commission to help with its workload.

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Pope's exit genuinely historic: Gillard

The PM says her thoughts are with the country's Catholics following the Pope's resignation. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says Pope Benedict XVI's resignation marks a "genuinely historic moment" for the country's Catholics, who will miss the 85-year-old pontiff.

"You would have to have lived several hundred years to have heard news like that," she told parliament on Tuesday.

"The Pope's announcement marks a genuinely historic moment which many Australian Catholics will greet with great emotion."

Many Australians saw Pope Benedict during his visit here for the Church's World Youth Day in 2008 and would remember the scenes and the crowds he attracted, she said.

"Thousands of others travelled to Rome in 2010 to see him declare Mother Mary MacKillop as our nation's first saint: Saint Mary of the Cross. And that was a time of jubilation across the nation.

"They will miss him."

Ms Gillard said her thoughts would be with the country's Catholics over the next few weeks as the church decided on a replacement.

"Whoever is elected to take Pope Benedict's place, the Catholic Church will remain one of the most important human institutions, containing within it all the strengths and faults of its hundreds of millions of believers; one facing all the challenges of the modern world," she said.

"My thoughts today are with Australia's Catholic community as they prepare for Ash Wednesday tomorrow and the season of Lent, and as they live through what is an historic coming few weeks."

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Govt to investigate Whitehaven claims

AN investigation will be carried out into claims that Whitehaven Coal provided false information in applying to develop a controversial open-cut mine in northwest NSW.

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has granted conditional approval to Whitehaven's Maules Creek coal mine, but says the company cannot proceed with its flagship project until further work is carried out.

It has now emerged the Department of Environment was aware Whitehaven had been accused of providing misleading information in its mine application and that it plans to investigate the claims.

At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Australian Greens senator Larissa Waters asked if the department was aware of allegations around Whitehaven's pledge to conserve thousands of hectares of forests and natural habitat in exchange for mining rights.

Experts commissioned by the Maules Creek community claim the trees proposed in the company's "offset package" are unsuitable as an ecological replacement for those under threat by the project.

The department's Shane Gaddes said he was aware of the allegations levelled against Whitehaven, but an investigation had not yet begun.

"We will look at this one," Mr Gaddes told a Senate estimates hearing, adding that the department looked into all accusations of this nature.

Senator Waters said she was alarmed the environment minister did not have the requisite certainty before approving large mines in old-growth forests.

The hearing was told it was "unusual" but not unprecedented for a minister to grant approval for a project but retain the power to withdraw it subject to certain conditions being met.

Whitehaven has until December 30 to submit its offset package to the minister for approval, before which the project cannot progress.

Mr Burke said he had taken the "very unusual" step of ordering Whitehaven's proposed offset package be independently audited before he gives final approval.

This was the best and most transparent way of dealing with widespread community concerns around the mine and the offset package.

"Certainly what the community is complaining about, if they read the conditions, they'll actually find their precise concerns have given rise to an independent audit," Mr Burke told reporters in Canberra.

"If their concerns prove true in the independent audit, then the project can't go ahead."

But Maules Creek resident Phil Laird, who met with Mr Burke to discuss concerns, said it did not make sense to approve the mine before examining the offset package.

"If you're going to have a decent approval process, with proper community consultation and proper scrutiny, everything needs to be there before the mine's approved," Mr Laird told AAP.

"I don't think all the information is on the table."

Community and environmental activists fear the project threatens koala habitats, thousands of hectares of old-growth forest and will force farmers off their land through soil and water damage.

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Bishop defends 'can't have it all' comment

JULIE Bishop has defended her comment that women can't have it all, saying it has sparked a healthy debate that should encourage flexibility in workplaces.

The deputy leader of the opposition made the comment on Sky News on the weekend, and repeated the sentiment on ABC radio on Monday, saying she'd since received refreshing tweets from her supporters.

"I'm not suggesting for a moment that people, men or women, can't find balance in their lives," she said.

"I'm just stating a fact. In striking a balance there are trade-offs between the time you spend with your family and the time you spend at work or pursuing your career.

"I think it's healthy that we talk about this and it does focus on what we need to achieve in our workplaces."

The belief that modern women could have it all was a myth, she said.

"I don't know that women really do believe that they can have it all - they might want to say it.

"If you're spending time at work, you're not spending time on other things."

Ms Bishop cited Australia's first female attorney-general Nicola Roxon as an example of someone whose work impinged on her personal life.

"Just 12 months into it, she has announced her retirement as she felt unable to effectively balance the dual responsibilities she had as a politician and as a mother," she said.

"There are some real challenges in work-life at present and of course, we need to support young women who are aspiring to combine it all, but they have to understand that you will make a sacrifice."

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Gotye wins Record of the Year

Gotye has won the Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S Wally De Backer, aka Gotye, has won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

It was Gotye's third Grammy of the night.

The Melbourne-based 32-year-old earlier won for best alternative music album and best pop duo/group performance.

Past winners of record of the year include Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, U2, Coldplay and Olivia Newton-John.

Somebody That I Used To Know, featuring Kiwi singer Kimbra Lee Johnson, has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide, was No.1 in 18 countries and in the key US market, it was the biggest selling single in 2012.

It sat on top of Billboard's Hot 100 in the US for eight straight weeks.

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20,000 pelted with coloured powder

IT starts with yellow, then orange, then blue, then pink, and ends five kilometres later with tens of thousands of multi-coloured people.

About 20,000 families, couples and friends have taken part in Sydney's first ever Color Run - a fun run which leaves its participants covered in coloured powder.

The run, which kicked of on Sunday morning at Sydney Olympic Park, includes four stages where runners are pelted with a different colour.

Runners start the day dressed in all white and finish the run looking more like a rainbow.

"It was really, really magical," a Color Run spokeswoman said of the first ever event in Sydney.

"We call it the happiest 5km on the planet and it's hard to argue with that when you're here."

In November, Melbourne became the first city in Australia to host the event.

The sold-out Sydney Color Run raised about $200,000 for Heartkids and will now tour around the country.

The powder used is food grade corn starch with added food colouring.

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Japan man arrested in bizarre hacking case

JAPANESE police have arrested a man suspected of being behind a computer hacking campaign following an exhaustive hunt that at one stage had authorities tracking down a cat for clues, reports said.

Yusuke Katayama, 30, was arrested on Sunday on charges of using a remote computer and sending a mass killing threat to a comic book event after months of evading investigators with a series of vexing cyber riddles, according to NHK.

The broadcaster aired footage of detectives escorting a chubby man with glasses into a police station.

Katayama is believed to have sent numerous threats from computers around the country, including against a school and a kindergarten attended by Emperor Akihito's grandchildren.

The National Police Agency (NPA) was embarrassed after it emerged that officers had extracted "confessions" from four people who had nothing to do with the threats.

An anonymous hacker then sent messages to newspapers and broadcasters last month, with the sender claiming details of a computer virus used to dispatch the threats were strapped to a cat living on an island near Tokyo.

After cracking a set of riddles, police found the cat and removed a digital memory card from its collar which revealed a message saying "a past experience in a criminal case" had caused the hacker to act.

The message said the case "changed" the anonymous hacker's life, and added that "no more messages will be sent", local media reported.

Police analysed the memory card and footage captured by security cameras, coming to suspect that Katayama, a Tokyo resident, was responsible for the hacking campaign, Jiji Press and other media said.

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