16 boats arrive since PNG deal struck

THERE have been 16 asylum seeker boat arrivals since the Rudd government announced a week ago its new hardline policy to resettle refugees in Papua New Guinea.

On Saturday, Home affairs Minister Jason Clare revealed details of the latest arrivals.

Border protection authorities intercepted boat number 13 carrying 76 passengers and two crew north of Christmas Island on Thursday.

It came after HMAS Bathurst assisted boat number 12, carrying 96 passengers and three crew, when it ran into trouble north-northwest of Christmas Island on Wednesday.

People on board both boats have been taken to Christmas Island for initial identity and health checks before they are transferred to Papua New Guinea.

A spokeswoman from Mr Clare's office said the number of passengers on three other boats - making a total of 16 boats in the week - was still being confirmed.

Close to 1000 people, the total number of passengers on the 13 boats, are waiting on Christmas Island to be transferred to PNG.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke will address the media in Sydney on Saturday afternoon following his recent visit to inspect conditions at the Manus Island tent city detention complex in PNG.

During the visit Mr Burke spoke with whistleblower Rod St George who alleges up to half a dozen men were assaulted and sexually abused by some detainees.

Under the federal government's deal with PNG, people arriving by boat without a visa will be denied resettlement in Australia, be taken to Manus Island for processing and if their refugee status is approved, resettled in PNG.

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Albo calls for patience on poll date

The Deputy Prime Minister has called for people to be patient about the federal poll date. Source: AAP

DEPUTY Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says no one in the Rudd government has a "rush to the polls mentality" but it will be before or after his league team wins the premiership.

Mr Albanese on Saturday called for patience, as speculation about the federal election date reaches fever pitch.

"No one in the government has had a rush to the polls mentality," he told reporters, flanked by scores of red balloons at a community campaign event for Chinese Australian lawyer Jason Yat-sen Li, Labor's candidate for the Sydney seat of Bennelong.

He said the government would consider calling the election at an appropriate time.

"It will be before or after the Souths win their twenty first premiership," he joked.

Mr Albanese is a South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter.

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9 dead, 8 missing in China landslides

NINE people have died and eight are missing after rain caused landslides in a northwestern Chinese province rocked by a strong earthquake earlier this week.

The landslides struck on Thursday just south of the city of Dingxi where Monday's earthquake left 95 dead, frive missing and more than 800 people injured.

Xinhua News Agency says the more serious landslide buried 13 people in Nanyu village and nine bodies have been recovered. It says rescue efforts are underway in the neighbouring village of Yongguang where four people are missing.

The area along the Yellow River has rolling hills of loose soil blown south from the Gobi desert. Thunderstorms have loosened the terraced hillsides that were made unstable by the quake.

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Eight injured as fuel tank explodes

EIGHT people have been injured after an underground fuel tank exploded, shattering the windows of nearby homes and businesses in Sydney's northwest.

An ambulance spokesman says the injured included locals and passersby, and some have possible hearing damage.

Three people were working on the disused tank on Blaxland Road, Eastwood, when it exploded about 12.20pm (AEST) on Friday, a fire spokesman told AAP.

It's understood they were attempting to remove the underground tank.

"There has been an explosion but no fire," the spokesman said.

"There have been some injuries and some damage to surrounding buildings with broken glass and windows."

Two of the workers are believed to have been taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a stable condition, while the other one was treated at the scene.

Another five people are being treated for possible hearing damage, the ambulance spokesman said.

Three fire units are at the scene, along with the hazardous chemical crew.

"We will be there for some time as we have to check that the area is safe before we can head back," the fire spokesman said.

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Vic's 'kid'-napped goats found safe

IT'S a kidnapping with a twist and a happy ending for Victorian kids Duey and Hazel.

Abducted from a Mornington school over the weekend, the baby goats have been found safe and seemingly unfazed by their little adventure.

Mornington locals came across Duey munching flowers on Wednesday night while Hazel was found not far away on Thursday morning while loitering near residences in the area.

The kidnappers had to cut through a cyclone fence to steal the bleating duo from their home at Padua Secondary College's agricultural compound.

However it was not all smooth sailing, with police saying the evidence at the scene showed the feisty goats put up a fight before being carried off.

Both goats have since been returned to their anxious owners and police are seeking the driver of a white Ford BA ute which was seen in the vicinity of where Duey was found.

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Emergency waiting times improve

THE time patients spend in hospital emergency departments is falling, with half of Australia's major facilities recording improvements.

National Health Performance Authority (NHPA) figures show 26 of 52 major metropolitan hospitals have recorded higher percentages of emergency department patients who leave within four hours.

Between 43 per cent and 80 per cent of patients were treated within the timeframe in the first quarter of this year, reflecting improvements of at least five percentage points from a year ago.

But hospitals in most states still need to make further improvements to reach the nationally agreed 2015 target for 90 per cent of patients to leave emergency departments within four hours.

NHPA chief Dr Diane Watson said the performance numbers allowed managers to see which hospitals were making the biggest strides.

"It can be difficult to know what is possible if you don't know how you compare to your peers," she said on Thursday in a statement.

The hospital that recorded the biggest improvement was Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.

It met the waiting time target 62 per cent of the time, up from 33 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.

Out of 11 major metropolitan hospitals that improved waiting times by more than 10 percentage points, seven were from Queensland, three from NSW and one from Victoria.

But three major metropolitan hospitals - including two in Western Australia - went backwards, recording a performance decline of nine percentage points.

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek declined to comment on individual hospital performance but told journalists in Sydney most hospitals were doing better "on most measures".

However it was important to continue to strive for improvement, she added.

"We do see that some hospitals have already reached, for example, the 90 per cent mark for treatment of people within that four hour time limit," she said.

"But in most cases it's one, or two, or three hospitals in a state."

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Nose-first landing injures eight in NY

EIGHT people have been injured after the front landing gear of a Southwest Airlines plane with 150 people on board collapsed on landing at New York's La Guardia airport.

The accident left the Boeing 737-700 with its nose resting against the runway and forced the temporary closure of the airport, which mostly handles flights to and from other US cities.

The airline confirmed that emergency services had helped with the evacuation of the passengers and crew of flight 345 from Nashville.

"Eyewitness reports indicate the aircraft's nose gear collapsed upon landing," it said in a statement on Monday.

"Initial reports indicate local responders are caring for five customers and three flight attendants who have reported injuries at this time. Southwest is co-operating with local authorities, and the (US aviation safety body) NTSB has been notified."

Television images showed the plane with its nose angled down to the ground and its evacuation slides out. The fuselage was surrounded by emergency vehicles.

Passengers on board the plane saw sparks flying as the nose scraped along the runway, according to accounts given to waiting relatives and friends.

All take-offs were suspended for more than two hours after the incident.

Three people were killed and 180 were injured earlier this month when an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed while landing in San Francisco.

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Brain study debunks sex addiction

IT'S bad news for Tiger Woods, Russell Brand and others who blame their wild behaviour on sex addiction.

A new study by brain researchers at the University of California Los Angeles suggests that sex addiction is not a real disorder.

The study, published in the scientific journal Socioaffective Neuroscience and Psychology, examined the neural responses to pornography of 39 men and 13 women who reported having difficulty controlling their desires.

The study found that the neural responses were different to the way drug addicts' brains respond to images of drugs.

"Their brains did not respond to the images like other addicts to their drug of addiction," study author Dr Nicole Prause told Psychology Today.

"If our study is replicated, these findings would represent a major challenge to existing theories of sex 'addiction'."

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Rudd has more work to do before election

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd says the government has more policy challenges to deal with before he calls an election.

Asked about the timing on Monday, Mr Rudd said his government had spent the few weeks since he reclaimed the Labor leadership dealing with issues like asylum seeker policy and economic challenges.

"In this period of government we've been focused on the outstanding policy challenges that we face and there are still a number to address," he told reporters after a caucus meeting in Sydney.

"These are big challenges for government, we still have other challenges to deal with."

Today was the last day Mr Rudd could have visited the governor-general if he wanted an early August 24 election.

The following Saturday, August 31, is firming as favourite but Mr Rudd's latest comments suggest he could be planning to go later.

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Brisbane school fire destroys labs

FIRE crews have put out a huge blaze that badly damaged a Brisbane school's science block.

Students and staff evacuated Mitchelton State High School after fire broke out about 8.30am (AEST) on Monday.

No one was injured, the Department of Community Safety told AAP.

Firefighters were still dampening down hot spots.

The cause of the fire was not yet known.

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