Teen spends night in sobering up centre

A TEENAGER who was so drunk that he needed physical protection was one of the five people held in Sydney's sobering up centre during its first night of operation.

Four officers and two nurses manned the centre from 9pm (AEST) on Friday until 6am in the morning.

During this time five men were brought in, including a 27-year-old who had failed to move on when ordered to by police in Kings Cross.

Two youths, aged 19 and 21, were also deemed to be in need of physical protection due to their level of intoxication.

Each of the five detainees were issued with a cost recovery notice of $200 after they were released on Saturday morning.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch warned revellers that if they were found drunk and unruly in the CBD they'd be taken to the centre.

"It is still a cause for concern that despite the many warnings given in the lead up to last night we still had at least five young men who came to police notice due to intoxication," he said.

Mr Murdoch said the five men now had time to reflect on their actions.

"And hopefully the $200 cost recovery penalty will go some way towards reminding them to act responsibly in the future," he added.

The detainees were constantly monitored during their detention and provided with food, tea and coffee.

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Tourist bus flips in Cuba, injuring 16

Cuban authorities say a serious highway crash involving a bus has left 16 foreign tourists injured. Source: AAP

CUBAN authorities says a serious highway crash involving a bus carrying foreign tourists has left 16 passengers injured, most of them from Europe.

State-run newspaper Cinco de Septiembre says the government-operated vehicle ran off the road and turned over on Thursday evening. The crash occurred on the route between Trinidad and Varadero, two principal tourist destinations.

Nineteen people were on board. The injured were listed as two Britons, two Czechs, four Dutch, one Filipino, one Irish and six Russians.

Three of the tourists were considered to be in serious condition but none was in immediate danger of dying, Cinco de Septiembre said on Friday.

Two underwent surgery and were in intensive care.

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Teens film high speed NSW car chase

A MAN'S son and nephew have used a mobile phone to film him behind the wheel during a high-speed police car chase in southern NSW.

The teenagers were passengers in the car the 36-year-old ACT man was driving when it allegedly hit speeds of 140k/h during the pursuit from Goulburn to Collector.

Police had first tried to stop the car on the Hume Highway following a registration check about 3pm (AEST) on Friday.

A search revealed the registration plates belonged to another vehicle for which the registration had expired.

But police allege the driver sped off the highway into Mazamet Road, did an abrupt u-turn and re-entered the south bound lanes of the Hume Highway.

Road spikes were deployed just south of Goulburn but a second set was needed to finally stop the car on the Federal Highway at Collector.

The driver's 16-year-old son and 18-year-old nephew were filming the incident on a mobile phone, which was seized as evidence by police.

The 36-year-old Banks driver initially resisted arrest.

He was later charged with police pursuit (Skyes Law), exceed speed, unlicensed driving, unregistered vehicle, uninsured vehicle, use unauthorised number plates and possess property stolen outside NSW.

The man was refused bail when he appeared in court on Saturday and will reappear on Monday.

The two teenagers were released while police carry out further investigations into several other offences they believe the car was involved in.

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Egypt army calls for conciliation

Egypt's army has rounded up the leadership of ousted president Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood. Source: AAP

EGYPT'S military has appealed for conciliation and warned against revenge attacks after it toppled president Mohamed Morsi, as police rounded up senior Islamists ahead of planned rallies by Morsi's supporters.

The military published the statement on its spokesman's Facebook page as scores were injured in clashes between the Islamist Morsi's supporters and opponents in the Nile Delta ahead of the planned rallies.

In the restive Sinai peninsula, a soldier was killed in an attack by Islamist militants early on Friday, as gunmen ambushed several army and police positions with machinegun fire and rockets, and attacked an airport.

The soldier was killed when the militants fired on an army checkpoint near the north Sinai village of al-Gura, medics said, adding two other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Militants attacked a police base with rockets and attacked military intelligence headquarters in the border town of Rafa, security sources said.

A security source said militants were attacking army and police checkpoints in several towns in north Sinai.

The official MENA news agency said military Apache helicopters dispatched to pursue gunmen who attacked an airport in northern Sinai struck a militants' vehicle. It gave no further details.

Some militants in the peninsula had threatened a violent response after Morsi's ouster on Wednesday.

The military statement said it supported the right to peaceful protest, but warned that violence and civil disobedience acts such as blocking roads would "harm social peace".

The clashes in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya broke out hours after chief justice Adly Mansour, 67, was sworn in as interim president until new elections, at a ceremony broadcast live from the Supreme Constitutional Court.

The Islamists accuse the military of conducting a brazen coup against Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected but controversial president, following massive protests calling for the Islamist's ouster.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement has called for peaceful protests on Friday against the "coup", as police continue to hunt its leaders.

The military statement said "exceptional and autocratic measures against any political group" should be avoided, even as security forces rounded up top Muslim Brotherhood officials.

Police arrested the Brotherhood's supreme leader Mohammed Badie "for inciting the killing of protesters", a security official told AFP.

Former supreme guide Mahdi Akef was also arrested, state television reported.

Morsi himself was "preventively detained" by the military, a senior officer had told AFP early on Thursday, hours after his overthrow the night before, suggesting the ousted president might face trial.

"The armed forces believe that the forgiving nature and manners of the Egyptian people, and the eternal values of Islam, do not allow us to turn to revenge and gloating," the army said in its statement.

The United States on Thursday pressed Egyptian officials to avoid the "arbitrary arrests" of Morsi and his supporters, a US administration official said.

In Cairo, anger gave way to gloom as thousands of the embattled Islamist movement's supporters rallied at a mosque, surrounded by the army.

"It's a soft military coup. The military was smart, using the cover of civilians," said one, 26-year-old Ahmed al-Sayyed, in reference to the mass anti-Morsi protests.

Military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced Morsi's overthrow on Wednesday night, citing his inability to end a deepening political crisis, as dozens of armoured personnel carriers streamed on to Cairo's streets.

A judicial source said the prosecution would on Monday begin questioning Brotherhood members, including Morsi, for "insulting the judiciary".

Other leaders of the movement would be questioned on the same charges, including the head of its political arm Saad al-Katatni, Mohammed al-Beltagui, Gamal Gibril and Taher Abdel Mohsen.

Morsi and 35 other Brotherhood leaders have also had a travel ban imposed on them.

Governments across the Middle East welcomed Morsi's ouster in varying degrees, with war-hit Syria calling it a "great achievement".

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Navy wants to turn boats around: Abbott

Tony Abbott says that the Australian navy is acting as an "escort service" for people smugglers. Source: AAP

THE Australian navy would prefer to turn asylum seeker vessels around rather than act as an "escort service" for people smugglers, opposition leader Tony Abbott says.

Asylum seeker policy is expected to be high on the agenda on Friday when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd meets with Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bogor.

Mr Rudd has repeatedly rejected opposition calls to implement a policy of sending back asylum seeker vessels bound for Australia, citing safety concerns.

However, Mr Abbott says other navies, such as the Sri Lankan and US forces, have a policy of turning boats around, and the Australian navy should do the same.

"What we've got at the moment is an escort service for the people smugglers," Mr Abbott told Fairfax Radio on Friday.

"I think it's an embarrassment to our country because the people smugglers are having a lend of us.

"I suspect the naval personnel would be only too happy to respond to orders that allow this problem to be solved."

Mr Abbott said Mr Rudd's refusal to turn boats around on safety grounds was a "completely self-serving argument".

"The Australian navy has no problem with boarding pirate vessels in the Persian Gulf.

"You'd think that was rather more dangerous than boarding a boat-people vessel," he said.

In a change of tack following months of criticism of Julia Gillard's handling of asylum seeker policy, Mr Abbott appeared to absolve the former prime minister of blame, instead pointing the finger at Mr Rudd's dismantling of the Pacific Solution.

"Julia Gillard did her best to fix it (while) she was prime minister, but she wasn't able to fix the mess that Mr Rudd created."

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Bolivia' threatens to close US embassy

BOLIVIA'S president has threatened to close the US embassy as leftist Latin American leaders joined him in blasting Europe and the United States after his plane was rerouted amid suspicions US fugitive Edward Snowden was aboard.

President Evo Morales, who has suggested the United States pressured European nations to deny him their airspace, warned he would "study, if necessary, closing the US embassy in Bolivia.

"We don't need a US embassy in Bolivia," he said. "My hand would not shake to close the US embassy. We have dignity, sovereignty. Without the United States, we are better politically, democratically."

Morales arrived home late on Wednesday after a long lay over in Vienna, saying his plane was diverted there because it was barred from flying over four European nations, sparking outrage among Latin American leaders.

The Bolivian leader's air odyssey began hours after Morales declared in Moscow he would be willing to consider an asylum application from Snowden, who is seeking sanctuary in several Latin American nations to evade US espionage charges.

In a show of support, Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, Cristina Kirchner of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Jose Mujica of Uruguay and Desi Bouterse of Suriname met with Morales in the central city of Cochabamba.

At a rally before the meeting, Maduro claimed that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had ordered France, Portugal, Italy and Spain to deny access to Morales's plane on Tuesday.

"A minister of one of these European governments personally told us by telephone that they were going to apologise because they were surprised, and that those who gave the order to aviation authorities in this country ... were the CIA," he said.

After the meeting, the leaders issued a statement calling on the European governments to publicly apologise "in relation to the serious incidents that occurred", but Morales said earlier that apologies were not enough.

Correa said the leaders would "take decisions and show that we won't accept this sort of humiliation against any country of (Latin) America.

"Imagine if this happened to a European head of state, if this had happened to the president of the United States. It probably would have been a casus belli, a case for war," he said. "They think they can attack, crush, destroy international law."

Correa had called for a larger summit gathering leaders of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), but the presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru were not present, even though they too condemned the incident.

In an implicit criticism of his absent peers, Correa said: "If what happened doesn't justify a meeting of heads of state of our South America, what justifies one?"

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos voiced support for Morales, but warned on Twitter against "converting this into a diplomatic crisis between Latin America and the EU (European Union)".

Bolivian officials accused France, Portugal, Italy and Spain of denying entry to Morales's jet late on Tuesday as he flew back home from Russia due to "unfounded rumours" that Snowden was on board.

Morales has also lashed out at the United States, urging Europeans to "free themselves from the US empire".

The US consulate's walls in the city of Santa Cruz were sprayed with red graffiti, one reading "Gringos Obama out", while about 100 protesters burned flags and threw rocks at the French embassy in La Paz late on Wednesday.

Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, is in legal limbo in a Moscow airport, trying to escape US justice after leaking details of a vast US phone and internet surveillance program.

The Bolivian government has lodged a complaint with the United Nations and planned another to the UN Human Rights Commission.

Russia joined Latin American leaders in condemning France, Spain and Portugal, while Venezuela's Maduro said his government would review relations with Madrid.

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Home building sector recovery gaining pace

A RECOVERY in the home building sector seems to be taking hold, with approvals for houses gaining for the fifth month in a row.

Approvals for fully-detached houses rose 2.5 per cent in May, seasonally adjusted, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.

HSBC Australia and New Zealand chief economist Paul Bloxham said the gain was a positive sign for the housing sector.

It shows that other parts of the economy, besides mining, are getting stronger, he said.

"We held onto the gains from the previous month and the detached house numbers are rising solidly," he said.

"This is a sign of gradual rebalancing of growth in the Australian economy."

Total building approvals for new homes fell 1.1 per cent across Australia in May, which was mostly in line with market expectations.

That figure was weighed down by a 9.8 per cent fall in approvals for other dwellings, which includes apartments and townhouses.

Mr Bloxham said the other dwellings category is volatile from month to month, and not much should be read into the fall in that category.

He still expects the Reserve Bank of Australia to make one more cut to the cash rate by the end of the year.

"That may be all they need to do because of the fall in the Aussie dollar," he said.

JP Morgan senior economist Ben Jarman said building approvals were improving, but not enough to balance out the easing mining investment boom.

"Those areas of the economy that are sensitive to rates, like building, are starting to pick up," Mr Jarman said.

"The question is, is it picking up enough from an overall growth point of view to offset the drags that are coming through in gross domestic product from your fading mining investment and the like.

"We think ultimately it will fall a bit short of what's required to fully offset the drags that are coming through.

"Housing alone certainly won't make up the difference, other things are going to have to rise too, like non-mining business investment, and that's where the signs are still sort of patchy."

Mr Jarman said lower interest rates were helping building approvals, along with state government first-home buyer incentives favouring new building activity over existing home purchases.

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Chrysler recalls 490,000 cars, SUVs

Chrysler is recalling about 490,000 cars and SUVs worldwide to fix faulty automatic head restraints. Source: AAP

CHRYSLER is recalling about 490,000 cars and sports utility vehicles worldwide to fix a glitch on automatic head restraints.

The US car manufacturer says potentially faulty microcontrollers have been installed in certain vehicles that may prevent head restraints from automatically moving forward during some kinds of rear-impact collisions.

The recall affects 2011-2013 Chrysler Sebring, 200 and Dodge Avenger midsize cars; 2011-2013 Jeep Liberty SUVs and 2011-2012 Dodge Nitro SUVs.

Most of the recalled vehicles - about 442,000 - are in the United States, but the recall also affects 25,000 in Canada, 10,000 in Mexico and 12,000 in other countries.

The car maker says it's also recalling about 69,000 pickup trucks worldwide to update electronic stability control (ESC) software. Again, most are in the US.

Chrysler says it's unaware of any related injuries or accidents from the problems with the head restraints or the ESC warning lamps.

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Egypt army detains ousted president Morsi

Egypt's army has toppled president Mohamed Morsi after a week of bloodshed that killed nearly 50. Source: AAP

EGYPT'S army has detained Islamist president Mohamed Morsi after a week of deadly clashes and mass protests calling for him to go after a year in office.

His defence minister, armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, announced Morsi's overthrow on Wednesday on state television, even as police began rounding up key Morsi aides and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Warrants have been issued for the arrest of a total of 300 Brotherhood officials, state media reported.

Thousands of protesters camped out on the streets of Cairo for days celebrated wildly at the news of Morsi's downfall, letting off fireworks and sounding car horns.

But at least seven of Morsi's supporters were killed in clashes with security forces in Alexandria and the eastern city of Marsa Matrouh, security officials said.

The official MENA news agency also reported three people killed in the southern province of Minya when pro-Morsi supporters attacked the Islamist's opponents.

Morsi and his senior aides were "under house arrest" in a military facility, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member told AFP.

The ousted president was later taken to the defence ministry, Gehad El-Haddad added. His father, senior Morsi aide Essam El-Haddad, is one of those detained.

Egypt's army is "preventively" holding Morsi, a senior army official said on Thursday.

"He is being held preventively for final preparations," the official added, suggesting Morsi might face formal charges.

Police also began arresting leaders of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement, an interior ministry general told AFP. Saad al-Katatni, head of Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party, was already in custody, he added.

Morsi issued a defiant call for his supporters to defend his elected "legitimacy" in a pre-recorded speech posted online after Sisi's statement.

Thousands of his supporters remained camped out in northern Cairo, but Egyptian television stations stopped broadcasting live feeds of the pro-Morsi rally after the military announced his overthrow.

In his speech, Sisi laid out details of the roadmap for a political transition.

The Islamist-drafted constitution would be frozen and presidential elections held early, he said, without specifying when.

The armed forces, which had deployed troops and armour across the country, would "remain far away from politics", he stressed.

In Cairo, celebrations at the news began immediately.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital to celebrate, cheering, whistling, letting off firecrackers and honking car horns for several hours.

"It's a new historical moment. We got rid of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood," said one celebrator, Omar Sherif.

In an amateur video posted online, Morsi declared: "I am the elected president of Egypt" and urged people to "defend this legitimacy".

And Morsi's national security adviser Essam al-Haddad, said on Facebook: "For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let's call what is happening by its real name: military coup."

But the opposition Congress Party of Amr Mussa insisted "this is not a coup".

"Consultations will start from now, for a government and reconciliation," said Mussa, a former Arab League chief, who last year ran against Morsi for the presidency.

Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, had come under massive pressure in the run-up to Sunday's anniversary of his maiden year in office.

His opponents accused him of failing the 2011 revolution by concentrating power in the hands of his Muslim Brotherhood.

The embattled 61-year-old had proposed a "consensus government" as a way out of the crisis.

But it failed to satisfy his critics and the army stepped in.

Its commander named the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly al-Mansour, as interim leader of the Arab world's most populous country.

Mansour, a hitherto little known judge, is expected to be sworn in on Thursday.

Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, sat beside army chief Sisi as he announced on state television that Morsi's rule was over.

So too did the heads of the Coptic Church and Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning.

The choreography was designed to show broad civilian support for the military's move against Morsi.

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Federal judge OKs HSBC's $US1.9B penalty

A US federal judge has approved a deal allowing British bank HSBC to pay a record $US1.9bn penalty. Source: AAP

A FEDERAL judge approved a deal that will allow HSBC to pay a record $US1.9 billion ($A2.09 billion) penalty to settle accusations the British bank helped Mexican drug traffickers, Iran, Libya and others under US suspicion or sanction move money around the world.

The settlement, originally announced in December, is the largest penalty ever imposed on a bank.

The Justice Department's case maintained that HSBC's failure to monitor itself allowed criminals and suspect countries like Cuba, Myanmar and Sudan to move hundreds of millions in prohibited transactions through US financial institutions from the mid-1990s through 2006.

Judge John Gleeson of the US District Court for New York's Eastern District approved the plan on Monday. It requires court supervision of HSBC for five years, after which the US will seek to dismiss the case.

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Arizona wildfire still out of control

Investigators from across the US are examining how 19 elite firefighters died in an Arizona fire. Source: AAP

INVESTIGATORS from across the US have poured into an Arizona town to learn why 19 elite firefighters died in an out-of-control wildfire and whether human error played a role.

The investigation into the country's biggest loss of firefighters since September 11, 2001, will look at whether the crew paid attention to the forecast, created an escape route, and took other precautions developed after a similar disaster in Colorado nearly two decades ago.

The team also will look at whether the crew should have been pulled out before the fire exploded.

Within hours on Sunday, violent wind gusts turned what was believed to be a relatively manageable, lightning-ignited forest fire into a death trap. In a desperate attempt at survival, the firefighters unfurled their foil-lined emergency shelters, but those offer only limited protection when in the direct path of a fire.

The lone survivor was serving as a lookout and relaying key information to his colleagues, officials said on Tuesday.

Brendan McDonough, 21, notified the others that the weather was changing rapidly and that the fire had switched direction because of the wind. He told them he was leaving the area and to contact him on the radio if they needed anything, said Wade Ward, a Prescott Fire Department spokesman.

Ward said McDonough "did exactly what he was supposed to".

McDonough "has no desire to speak to anybody at this point," he added.

The federal government overhauled its safety procedures following the deaths of 14 firefighters in Colorado in 1994.

"There are so many striking parallels between this tragedy and what happened on Storm King in 1994, it's almost haunting," said Lloyd Burton, professor of environmental law and policy at the University of Colorado.

Those changes included policies under which no firefighters should be deployed unless they have a safe place to retreat. They must also be continuously informed of changing weather.

The Hotshot team based in Prescott entered the smoky wilderness over the weekend with backpacks, chainsaws and other heavy gear to remove brush and trees and deprive the flames of fuel.

But the blaze grew from 80 hectares to about 800ha in a matter of hours.

Dick Mangan, a retired US Forest Service safety official and consultant, said it is too early to say if the crew or those managing the fire made mistakes.

The fire which killed them remains out of control. More than 400 firefighters are working on the blaze after the area ravaged by flames quadrupled in size from 809 hectares to more than 3237ha.

The US military has ordered four air tankers to join the fire-dousing efforts.

The Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) planes will be redeployed from other states to help tackle blazes including the Yarnell Hill fire, which remained zero per cent contained despite a doubling of ground crews fighting it.

The extra firefighting aircraft, which are specially-equipped military C-130 planes, can drop 3000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, and can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

They are expected to all be in place by midday on Wednesday local time, said a statement by the US military's Air Expeditionary Group for wildfire fighting, based in Boise, Idaho.

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Retail spending up in May

Retail spending rose 0.1% in May, official figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN retail spending rose 0.1 per cent in May, official figures show.

That followed a surplus of $171 million in April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

Economists had expected a surplus of $50 million in May.

During the month, exports rose 4.0 per cent, while imports rose 2.0 per cent, the ABS said.

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Facebook trolls attack MP Ed Husic

Federal Labor MP Ed Husic has been attacked on social media after swearing his oath on the Koran. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Labor MP Ed Husic has been attacked in social media for using a Koran when he was sworn in as parliamentary secretary by the Governor-General.

The Australian-born member for the western Sydney seat of Chifley, the son of Bosnian immigrants, in 2010 became the first Muslim elected to federal parliament and is the first to take on a ministry position.

He was sworn in as parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and parliamentary secretary for broadband in Canberra on Monday.

Overnight, his Facebook page attracted posts from people angry he had used a Koran instead of a Bible to take his oath.

"You have created history of the worst order, to swear in on a Koran!! This is Australia with Australian Laws," said one poster calling themselves Dinki Di Sheila.

"Swore to serve Australia using the same book terrorists do to serve Al-Qaeda ....Disgusting," said another.

These were also positive posts referring to Mr Husic's elevation to Mr Rudd's new line-up.

"Congrats on your appointment as Parliamentary Secretary Ed. Well deserved acknowledgment of your talents, commitment and hard work. Choice of portfolio is perfect for you Ed," one said.

"So proud of you Ed ..." another added.

The milestone was acknowledged by Governor-General Quentin Bryce, who told Mr Husic "this is a wonderful day for multiculturalism and everything it stands for in our country".

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said people should respect Mr Husic's choice.

"I respect his choice," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"I think the Australian people should as well."

Federal Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg, who swore his oath of office on the Jewish bible, criticised those who attacked Mr Husic for using a Koran when he was sworn in.

"The comments that have been written on his Facebook like 'War is coming' and 'Australia is a Christian country' and 'You're a disgrace, Ed', they're totally unacceptable," Mr Frydenberg told ABC radio in Melbourne.

"There's definitely elements of extremism and racism in the community, but we've got to call it out when you see it."

Mr Frydenberg said Mr Husic was a positive model for many people in the Muslim community and had been doing work behind the scenes to bridge gaps between cultures.

Mr Husic's office has been contacted for comment.

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MacTiernan mulls over Perth nomination

Vincent mayor Alannah MacTiernan will reveal on Thursday if she'll nominate for the seat of Perth. Source: AAP

FORMER West Australian government minister Alannah MacTiernan says she'll decide in the next 48 hours whether to nominate as Labor's candidate for Stephen Smith's seat of Perth.

Ms MacTiernan, the Mayor of Vincent, said she would announce her intentions on Thursday when nominations close.

"Obviously, there's a process after that," she told AAP.

"There's not much I can add. I'm not going to engage in a commentary while making a decision."

Senior Labor sources expect Ms MacTiernan to nominate.

In 2010, she stood unsuccessfully for the seat of Canning, but lost to Liberal Don Randall.

As WA's Planning and Infrastructure Minister from 2001 to 2008, she championed the development of the Perth-to-Mandurah railway line, which proved a big success.

Ms MacTiernan hit national headlines in March when WA Labor was trounced at the state election and she called time on Julia Gillard, saying something radical needed to be done to improve the party's fortunes.

Barrister Tim Hammond on Monday announced he would not nominate for the federal seat being vacated by the Defence Minister, who is retiring at the election after holding Perth for 20 years.

Mr Hammond, who unsuccessfully contested the seat of Swan at the 2010 election, reportedly does not want to nominate because he and his wife have a 17-month-old daughter and want to have more children.

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Brosnan's daughter dies of cancer

Pierce Brosnan is in mourning after his daughter lost her three-year battle with ovarian cancer. Source: AAP

ACTOR Pierce Brosnan is in mourning after his daughter lost her three-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Charlotte Brosnan passed away on Friday, aged 41, from the same disease that killed her mother, Australian actress Cassandra Harris, in 1991.

"On June 28 at 2pm my darling daughter Charlotte Emily passed on to eternal life, having succumbed to ovarian cancer. She was surrounded by her husband Alex, her children Isabella and Lucas and her brothers Christopher and Sean," Brosnan said in a statement.

"Charlotte fought her cancer with grace and humanity, courage and dignity. Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our beautiful dear girl. We pray for her and that the cure for this wretched disease will be close at hand soon. We thank everyone for their heartfelt condolences."

The former Bond star married Harris in 1980, and adopted Charlotte and her brother Christopher after their father's death in 1986.

Brosnan and Harris also went on to have a son together, named Sean.

The actor is now married to journalist Keely Shaye Smith, with whom he has two boys, 16-year-old Dylan and Paris, 12.

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PrimeAg strikes final sale agreement

RURAL property owner PrimeAg has struck a $76 million deal to sell its remaining assets and shares, and de-list from the sharemarket.

The owner of farms Australia will sell the last of its shares for $45 million to Australian Food and Fibre, a private agricultural company based in Queensland.

PrimeAg has also agreed to sell a property at Emerald in Queensland to a group affiliated with US investment firm Global Endowment Management.

The deals follow a decision by the company in early 2013 to sell all of its assets and distribute the proceeds to its shareholders.

PrimeAg has already sold off properties to US-based farm investor TIAA-CREF Global Agriculture.

On Monday it said it expected to generate between $374 million and $382 million for shareholders from all of its share and asset sales, about 10 per cent less than the recognised value of its assets as of June 30, 2012.

The proposed final sales, which will need shareholder approval, were the best offers received and there were no were alternative bids, PrimeAg said.

If it gets the approval, the company will be fully privatised by November this year.

PrimeAg shares were up one cent at 84.5 cents at 1349 AEST.

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Butler urged to set goals for cutting CO2

MARK Butler is being urged to use his new appointment as climate change minister to commit Australia to more ambitious targets for cutting pollution.

Mr Butler on Monday was named climate change minister in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's new ministry, exactly one year to the day Labor introduced its carbon price.

He'll pick up from Greg Combet, who resigned from politics after last week's dramatic Labor leadership change.

The shift has raised speculation Mr Rudd might try to bring forward the start date for a floating carbon price, and end the fixed-price period that is agitating business groups.

Under Labor's clean energy laws, Australia's existing carbon pricing mechanism isn't due to change from a fixed price to a market-based emissions trading scheme until July 2015.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said his resolve to abolish the carbon tax wouldn't be shaken if Mr Rudd did go down that path.

"Whether it is a fixed tax or a floating tax, it's still a tax," he told reporters at a Canberra metalworks factory, where he marked the one-year carbon price anniversary.

The Australian Conservation Foundation's Tony Mohr said fiddling with the carbon price was less important than other climate initiatives at stake.

"There's a range of other unfinished policies that are hovering in the shadows and could become commitments during the election or relegated to the policy backbench," he told AAP on Monday.

The most important of these tasks before Mr Butler was to spell out what future pollution-reduction targets Australia would commit to, he added.

Australia has agreed to reduce its emissions by 5 per cent from 2000 levels by the end of the decade, and by up to 25 per cent depending on the action of other nations.

The Climate Institute's John Connor agreed actions were the real test in politics, and Mr Butler is facing a number of key challenges.

Setting emissions targets, as well as planning for the impacts of climate change and improving energy efficiency, would be crucial tests of his time in the portfolio, he said.

As for Mr Butler himself, stakeholders seemed upbeat but admitted knowing little about him personally.

The World Wildlife Fund's Kellie Caught said she'd heard Mr Butler was "extremely consultative", and hoped Mr Rudd's previous form on climate change would bear fruit under his government.

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Egypt protests turn violent, five dead

Egyptians have flooded the streets of Cairo determined to oust Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Source: AAP

FIVE people have died as protesters flooded Egypt's streets calling for Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to step down, in massive demonstrations reminiscent of the 2011 revolt which ultimately paved the way to his leadership.

"It is the biggest protest in Egypt's history," a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that "millions" of people were on the streets across the country.

But as clashes broke out later on Sunday, five people were killed.

A 26-year-old man died and several others were wounded as protesters attacked the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, a hospital official said.

Television pictures showed the building on fire as dozens of people attacked it, throwing stones and fire bombs.

Supporters of the Brotherhood fired buckshot at the attackers in a bid to repel them, an AFP journalist at the scene witnessed. Later, automatic weapons fire could be heard around the building.

Gehad al-Haddad, a spokesman for the Islamist movement, said around 150 "unidentified thugs" had attacked the offices.

Three people were killed in the central province of Assiut when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on protesters, a security official said.

One person died and 40 others were injured when supporters and opponents of Morsi clashed in Beni Sueif province, south of Cairo.

Both those incidents took place outside offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"Dialogue is the only way through which we can reach an understanding....," Morsi's spokesman Ehab Fahmy told reporters.

"The presidency is open to a real and serious national dialogue."

But as chants of "Leave!" rang out around Cairo, the main opposition National Salvation Front called for a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience.

They urged Egyptians to stay on the streets until Morsi stepped down.

One opposition leader called on the army to intervene if Morsi refused to quit.

"The armed forces must act, because they have always been on the side of the people," which "has expressed its will", said Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 presidential election.

The best outcome would be if Morsi went of his own accord, he added.

Anti-Morsi protests were held in the coastal city of Alexandria, the Nile Delta cities of Mansura, Menuf, Tanta and Mahalla, the canal cities of Suez and Port Said and in the president's hometown of Zagazig.

In Cairo's Tahrir Square, protesters waved red cards and Egyptian flags as patriotic songs boomed from large speakers.

"The people want the ouster of the regime," the protesters chanted, echoing the signature slogan of the 2011 revolt that ousted Hosni Mubarak and brought Morsi to power.

Morsi supporters have been holding counter rallies for days to defend his legitimacy and there had been fears of major confrontations.

But Sunday's anti-government protests eclipsed their gathering in Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood, which the army estimated to number around 25,000 people.

Police and troops were deployed at key buildings nationwide, including the vital Suez Canal waterway, security officials said. Hospitals were put on high alert.

Banks and most offices closed on Sunday, a working day in Egypt.

Morsi, previously a senior Brotherhood leader, is Egypt's first freely elected president, catapulted to power by the uprising that ended three decades of Mubarak rule.

His opponents accuse him of betraying the revolution by concentrating power in Islamist hands and of sending the economy into freefall.

Morsi supporters say he inherited many problems from a corrupt regime, and that he should be allowed to complete his term which ends in 2016.

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Russia has 'solution' for Snowden: Correa

RUSSIA will decide the destination of fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, who is currently holed up in Moscow, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa says.

"To process the asylum application, (Snowden) must be in Ecuadorian territory. At this moment, the solution of Snowden's destination is in the hands of Russian authorities," the president said late on Saturday in an interview with the private Oromar channel.

Snowden, who faces espionage charges in the US over his revelations about a vast US surveillance program, has been in Moscow's international airport since arriving from Hong Kong last Sunday.

The ex-contractor for the National Security Agency, whose passport has been revoked, has requested asylum in Ecuador.

"We have not sought out this situation. Snowden is in contact with (WikiLeaks founder Julian) Assange, who recommended he seek asylum in Ecuador," Correa said.

The president said his government would listen to opinions from US authorities, but that the final decision rested with Ecuador.

Earlier on Saturday, Correa spoke with US President Joe Biden on the topic, making many of the same points.

In his weekly address, Correa said Biden had asked Ecuador to reject the asylum request.

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Gunpowder blast kills man in Qld

A MAN is dead and two others have been seriously injured after gunpowder exploded in far north Queensland.

Police say the men were believed to have been trying to dispose of expired gunpowder in a burn-off on a rural property west of Mareeba on Saturday morning.

It caused an explosion, killing a 58-year-old Cairns man and seriously injuring another 58-year-old man and a 33-year-old man.

One suffered chest injuries and the other had serious lacerations to his arm.

Police say the cause of the blast is not suspicious.

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Crunch meeting over future of Browse

THE future of the stalled multi-billion dollar Browse gas project will be discussed when the joint venture partners meet for talks on Monday.

The troubled project, believed to be worth between $30 billion and $90 billion, is led by Woodside, who want to exploit three gas fields off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

Premier Colin Barnett has said a July 1 crunch meeting would be held between venture partners Shell, BP, Japan Australia LNG and PetroChina International Investment.

It is believed the Perth meeting concerns Woodside's preference for floating processing, whereby Browse Basin gas will be processed on a large purpose-built vessel stationed far off the coast.

This has angered Mr Barnett, who was determined to see onshore processing and the subsequent flow of local jobs.

His government is pressing ahead with land acquisition at James Price Point, setting aside space for future gas developments.

After years of work on the project, and resistance on environmental grounds, Woodside scratched plans to build an onshore processing plant in April, saying it would not deliver the returns the company needed.

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