A MAN who started a street fight at a busy Gold Coast intersection has been charged.
Police say the 24-year-old man assaulted a 50 year old man at the intersection of Bundall Road and Thomas Drive, near the Chevron Island Bridge, Southport on March 30.
A video of the fight was circulated widely online.
The younger man has been charged with one count of affray.
He is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on April 15.
THE US military is set to deploy an unmanned spy plane in Japan to boost surveillance capabilities as North Korea apparently readied for missile launches, a newspaper report says.
The Global Hawk will be stationed at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan, in the first ever deployment of the aircraft in the country, the Sankei Shimbun reported, quoting government sources.
The US military informed Japan last month about plans to deploy the plane between June and September but may bring the date forward, it said, following reports about North Korea's preparations for missile launches.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing a top South Korean government official, said North Korea had loaded two mid-range Musudan missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast.
The Musudan have never been tested but are believed to have a range of around 3000km, which could theoretically be pushed to 4000km if they were to be given a light payload.
That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.
Tensions have soared on the Korean peninsula since December, when the North test-launched a long-range rocket. In February, it conducted its third nuclear test and drew fresh UN sanctions.
THE sister of a NSW woman who was doused in spirits and set alight in her wheelchair says it's during quiet times that thoughts of the murder come to her mind and won't go away.
As her sister's killer sat slumped in prison greens in the dock on Friday, Dee Dickinson told the NSW Supreme Court how the death of her sister Christine Joy Anthony had affected her and her family.
"We all know life goes on. We have family, jobs and commitments. So the world can't stop.
"But in those quiet times it's there and will never go away.
"Those thoughts cannot be erased."
David Allan Harding, 59, pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Anthony, also known as Ms Darcy, by setting her alight as she sat in her wheelchair at her Narromine home, in the NSW central west, on February 14, 2011.
A statement of facts tendered during Harding's sentence hearing said the pair, who had known each other since childhood, had been in a sexual relationship for just over a year.
On the day of the attack Harding went to her Department of Housing flat where they drank cask wine.
"It is unclear what happened over the course of the afternoon or evening," the facts state.
But at about 9.30pm, Ms Anthony, who was confined to a wheelchair due to spastic quadriplegia, was sitting in her nylon nightgown in her lounge room when Harding picked up a bottle of methylated spirits - and poured it over her head and torso.
He then used a cigarette lighter to set her on fire.
It is unknown how long he stayed with her while she was alight, but evidence found in Ms Anthony's home indicate that she rolled in her wheelchair around the house, the facts state.
She died the following day, having suffered burns to about 40 per cent of her body.
Her sister said her family couldn't understand the "vicious and disgusting act".
"Right now our pain is in the hands of the legal justice system. Christine is not a case number ... she's a sister, an aunt, a daughter and a friend," Ms Dickinson said in her victim impact statement which she read to court.
"She put trust in people which in the end was a deadly mistake."
Barrister Richard Wilson sought an adjournment to get more information on how Harding's brain injury from a motorbike accident in the 1980s may have affected him during the crime.
Justice Peter Garling listed the matter for directions later this month.
Sydney rail passengers are being warned of delays with part of the Northern Line closed for repairs. Source: AAP
MAJOR disruptions on Sydney's rail networks could become a recurring feature if the NSW government does not reinstate hundreds of maintenance jobs, the state's opposition warns.
A section of the Northern Line was closed on Friday morning so that overhead wiring could be repaired at Normanhurst.
The closure caused delays through the morning rush, with replacement bus services between Hornsby and Epping still operating on Friday afternoon.
NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson said job cuts were partly to blame.
"This is a government that said they would fix the trains and we have seen nine major incidents in the last two months," he told reporters in Sydney.
"What's most telling is that this is the third or fourth time this particular rail line has suffered overhead wiring problems.
"Something's going on, and it's because maintenance isn't being done because they don't have the staff ... The premier cannot say 'I don't understand why this is happening' when he's sacking 450 maintenance workers across the rail network."
Mr Robertson said the government needed to apologise to the "hundreds of thousands of commuters" who were delayed.
He also renewed his call for a fare-free day, which the government has previously ruled out.
Earlier on Friday, RailCorp's operations director, Tony Eid, said trains would be operating northbound on the Northern line in time for Friday's afternoon peak hour, but commuters should expect delays.
"We are telling people that because of the delays through the day, and the extra trains in the area, there will be congestion," Mr Eid told AAP.
He said the Northern line would remain closed to citybound trains until around 8am on Saturday.
DEBATE over the merits of daylight saving will continue, possibly for the next 50 years, South Australian Attorney-General John Rau says.
Summer time ends in SA on Sunday, after the period was extended in 2009 to push into April each year.
That keeps SA in line with the eastern states but causes some concern for people living on the state's west coast who find themselves leaving for work or school in the dark.
Mr Rau said he appreciated the inconvenience to some but believed the benefits outweighed the problems.
"We've found as much of a happy compromise as we can presently," he said.
"But I'm sure this is a debate we'll be hearing a lot about for the next 10, 15, 20 or maybe 50 years.
"It's a great yarn particularly at this time of the year when the clocks are changing."
Mr Rau said it was unlikely South Australia would ever consider introducing two time zones across the state, which could result in those people in the state's west feeling disconnected from Adelaide.
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard agrees China is increasing its influence in the Pacific, where Australia has numerous aid and development projects.
After a speech to the Foreign Correspondents' Association in Sydney on Thursday, Ms Gillard was asked if Australia's influence was waning as China stepped up its presence in places like Fiji.
The prime minister recognised China's growing power.
"As China's weight and power continues to rise then of course it will have a stronger and more diverse relationships around the world, including in the Pacific," she said.
Ms Gillard said Australia wanted to see more countries working in aid and development in the Pacific, but believed there needed to be more accountability.
"We believe that aid and development money needs to be the subject of proper accountabilities and transparencies so people can see the work that is being done," she said.
On Fiji, Ms Gillard said Australia continued to look forward to "free and fair" elections being held in the island republic which has been run by Commodore Frank Bainimarama since a 2006 military coup.
"We stand ready to assist with preparations for those elections, for the conduct of those elections," she said.
"We believe that Commodore Bainimarama needs to be held to his promises and accountability and they need to be held on time and property done."
A MEDIATOR has been called in to try to resolve an increasingly bitter pay dispute between Tasmanian bus drivers and the state government.
Drivers marched on Parliament House in Hobart on Wednesday, angry they had been locked out of work with all services cancelled by state-owned transport company, Metro.
Around 100 gathered outside Metro's headquarters and 60 took part in the March after two planned stop-work meetings led to the shutdown.
The state's 400 drivers are seeking an annual pay rise of three per cent over three years, while Metro has offered 2.1 per cent and a faster progression to the top rate.
Services have been disrupted since action began more than a month ago and Metro chief executive Heather Haselgrove said an independent facilitator would meet both parties next week in an attempt to end the deadlock.
"Metro has always said that our door is open to continue negotiations so we are pleased with this outcome," Ms Haselgrove said in a statement.
Commuters including school students returning after their Easter break were forced to make other transport arrangements on Wednesday.
More disruptions will occur on Thursday morning.
Tasmania's Minister for Sustainable Transport Nick McKim has been criticised by the Rail Tram and Bus Union and the state's Liberal opposition for failing to intervene in the dispute.
The opposition says the dispute has exposed a split in the power-sharing arrangement between Mr McKim's Greens and Labor cabinet members who opposed stand downs.
"If this government can't even agree on how to run the buses, how can we trust them to agree on how to run the State?" opposition spokesman Matthew Groom said.
Mr McKim said the dispute needed to be resolved by the parties.
"This is a matter ultimately between Metro and its workforce and I've continually urged both parties to sit down at the negotiating table and work their way through this issue, and I still believe that's what needs to happen," he told ABC radio.
A NEWBORN baby abandoned on the street in the battleground Syrian city of Aleppo has been named "Gift from God" by the family who adopted her even at the cost of an extra mouth to feed.
In a city that has been devastated by fighting since July last year, where jobs have disappeared and prices for even basic goods have risen beyond most people's reach, parents face impossible choices.
Doctors say the abortion rate has increased, as parents take fright at the prospect of having to fend for another child. Others have sent children to live with family members, or abandoned them altogether.
Hibat Allah, as she is named in Arabic, was lucky to survive her abandonment in a rebel-held neighbourhood of the city in December, her adoptive parents recall.
"She was left in a bag at the entrance to a building. It was 3am, she was crying, and no one had cut her umbilical cord," mother Umm Moawiya, a hairdresser turned volunteer field nurse, told AFP.
"She was lucky. In 12 hours, she was seen by 20 doctors in five hospitals. She was blue in the face and needed oxygen, but hospitals in liberated (rebel-held) areas did not have the electricity needed to run the incubator.
"Eventually I found a hospital in an occupied (army-held) area willing to keep her for two days."
Umm Moawiya was tasked with looking after the baby, who at just two kilos required the special care that could only be provided by a person with some medical care experience.
With four children already, Umm Moawiya's husband admits he not did immediately welcome the idea of adopting the baby when his wife brought her home and suggested it.
"But my wife and children insisted," Abu Moawiya said. "We named her 'Hibat Allah' because she really is a gift from God."
Earlier this year, NGO Save the Children warned of a risk of increased child abandonment in a special report on the plight of Syria's youth.
"In the panic of escape, many children become separated from their families. In other cases, parents make the tough decision to send children away to relatives in areas deemed less insecure," the report published in March said.
"As the situation deteriorates further, many foster families will no longer be able to cope, increasing the risk that children may be handed over to institutions or abandoned to live on the street and fend for themselves in a country at war."
And gynaecologist Nashwa Shakfi, who works with Syrian women arriving in Lebanon, told AFP in February that many pregnant Syrian women felt unable to keep their babies.
"Many of them think they won't be able to pay for their baby's needs, so they prefer to abort," she said.
Overcoming his initial hesitation, Abu Moawiya went to register Hibat Allah's adoption at one of the religious courts that the rebels have set up to administer justice in areas under their control.
"If her parents want to reclaim her, they will have to go there and petition for her," said the 45-year-old trader, who has spent his whole life in Aleppo.
"God willing, no one will come for her," said his wife.
"Many people have come to us, trying to adopt her, but we don't want to let her go. There was even someone who offered to take her to Germany."
Even Umm Moawiya admits that the addition to the family was not something that she and her husband had sought.
"With the fighting and bombing happening all around us, I prayed that I would not become pregnant," she said. "Eventually, a fifth child came to us anyway."
The Reserve Bank kept the cash rate on hold at 3.0 per cent at its April board meeting. Source: AAP
HOME owners will continue to enjoy the benefits of low interest rates, with the Reserve Bank of Australia opting to keep the cash rate on hold in April.
The RBA held the cash rate at three per cent, equal to its lowest level on record, at its monthly board meeting on Tuesday.
It has kept the rate on hold in 2013 after cutting by 1.25 percentage points between May and December last year.
RBA governor Glenn Stevens said with economic growth expected to be a little below trend over the coming year, it was prudent not to change the cash rate.
However the central bank has room to cut if economic conditions deteriorate.
"The inflation outlook, as assessed at present, would afford scope to ease policy further, should that be necessary to support demand," he said in a statement accompanying the decision.
Mr Stevens said the risks to the global economy appeared to have eased in recent months while commodity prices, a key driver of the Australian economy, remained high by historical standards.
AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver it appeared the RBA was in "wait and see mode" on interest rates.
The RBA faced the dilemma that while lower interest rates were having some effect on the economy, the Australian dollar remained high and credit growth was weak.
"There's no indication that they're about to move next month," Mr Oliver said.
"To get further the easing, the signs of improvement that we're currently seeing would have to peter out or there'd have to be some sort of global shock and they certainly don't seem in any rush to move."
UBS economist George Tharenou said that although a further interest rate cut was possible, it was looking increasingly likely the RBA would keep the cash rate on hold for the rest of 2013.
Mr Tharenou said a recent improvement in house prices was a sign that last year's interest rate cuts were having the desired effect on the economy.
He said the RBA appeared more confident that the non-mining sectors of the economy would pick up in 2013 as the mining investment boom peaked.
"Our view is that, baring some unforeseen risk event, the RBA is going to remain on hold from here," he said.
THE search is widening for a light plane that's been missing for almost a day in the Northern Territory.
The Cessna 210 took off from Bullo River Station carrying an electrical contractor and his family about 2pm (CST) on Monday.
It was due to land at an airfield south of Darwin a few hours later, but did not arrive.
The electrical contractor, aged 45, who was also the pilot, is believed to have moved to the territory recently.
Local police say he was travelling with his 53-year-old wife and two children, aged 12 and 15.
Four planes and four helicopters have been searching a 1800 square kilometre area between Cape Ford and Point Jenny.
That search was expanded on Tuesday afternoon to include five planes and seven helicopters and will take in more areas, including north of Port Patterson.
Sergeant Meacham King says water police have also joined the search effort.
"Police remain hopeful of a successful outcome. However, bad weather is hampering the search," he said.
Bullo River Station, once owned by the late pastoralist, author and Telstra businesswoman of the year Sara Henderson, is now owned by daughter Marlee Ranacher and her husband Franz.
Ms Ranacher is hoping for good news.
"I've got my fingers crossed," she told AAP.
"I sincerely hope they find it, it would be a very sad end to Easter if they didn't."
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said on Tuesday afternoon there were "significant concerns" for the family of four.
AN Australian-led international research team has discovered a gene associated with the most common form of epilepsy, a discovery which will help with diagnosis and the development of treatments.
Through genetic counselling, it will help people plan a family, says lead researcher Professor Ingrid Scheffer of the University of Melbourne.
Two per cent of people have epilepsy and most do not know the cause of their condition. The research will help some of those with the most common form, focal epilepsy, discover the underlying cause.
Prof Scheffer says a gene test will help in cases where everything else in the brain looks normal.
"It will give you a cause. That has important implications in terms of genetic counselling and managing the risk to your own offspring."
A small proportion of people with the gene also have psychiatric or autism spectrum disorders, says Prof Scheffer, a senior principal research fellow at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.
"Therefore genetic counselling is even more important.
"Knowing the gene means people can go forward and get pregnant and have proper medical assistance to ensure their baby does not have the disorder."
Prof Scheffer says 90 families took part in the study, which was conducted in partnership with Associate Professor Leanne Dibbens from the University of South Australia.
One of the participants, 25-year-old Vicky, is battling to digest the implications of the discovery.
"This puts the possibility of children into my thoughts for the first time," says the Melbourne administration assistant, who does not want her full name disclosed.
"This opens so many doors for people who want to have children.
"I don't know how this makes me feel. It is still a bit fresh. The possibility of children is a major U-turn for me."
Scientists in Europe and Canada also worked on the research, which is published in the April 1 issue of the journal Nature Genetics.
CHINESE shares were up 0.21 per cent in early trading, after manufacturing activity improved in March, dealers said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on Monday rose 4.69 points to 2,241.31.
China's official purchasing managers index (PMI) was 50.9 in March, higher than February's 50.1, the government and an industry group said on Monday.
Another measure of PMI by British bank HSBC rose to 51.6 in March from 50.4 in February.
Hong Kong was closed for the Easter break.
A NSW police employee charged with misappropriating firearms from a police armoury will remain behind bars after appearing in a Central Coast court.
Alan James Cumberland, 38, who works with firearms at the NSW police centre in Sydney, is charged with 13 firearm offences, including aggravated possession of firearms and unauthorised manufacture of firearms.
Cumberland handed himself into police on Saturday after a statewide manhunt.
It's alleged that a raid of his Berkeley Vale home on Thursday uncovered guns, parts and ammunition believed to have been misappropriated from the Surry Hills centre.
Cumberland did not apply for bail in Gosford local court on Sunday and it was formally refused.
Meanwhile, Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Dein told reporters there were "very serious" issues related to the Sydney police armoury, and an internal review was underway.
German TV correspondent Joerg Armbruster has been wounded in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Source: AAP
A GERMAN television correspondent has been wounded in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, public broadcaster ARD reports.
Joerg Armbruster, 65, Middle East correspondent for ARD, was stable after emergency surgery in a Syrian hospital, another German public broadcaster, regional network ARD, said.
Armbruster was covering the Free Syrian Army rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
