Goward grilled in NSW parliament

NSW Community Services Minister Pru Goward has come under sustained opposition fire amid the continued fallout over conflicting child protection worker numbers.

The minister told a budget estimates hearing last week she wasn't aware of a draft Ernst & Young report that found only 1797 caseworkers on the government's books.

Ms Goward had consistently claimed there were about 2000.

On Tuesday, she was forced to admit the draft report had been sent to her office multiple times, and was even tabled at a meeting she attended last month, but that she hadn't read it.

But minutes of the July meeting have emerged, which include four separate references to the Ernst & Young report.

Opposition Leader John Robertson says the suggestion that Ms Goward could have missed every mention defies belief.

"This minister's position is completely untenable," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"This minister is either lying, incompetent or absolutely negligent when it comes to her responsibility of protecting the most vulnerable children in our community from being put in harm's way."

Ms Goward was unbowed during parliamentary question time on Wednesday afternoon, as Labor MPs used every question to grill her over her handling of the matter.

"I have always said I'm committed to transparency. I'm rock solid on the reforms this government is delivering to improve the child protection system," Ms Goward shot at the opposition.

Ms Goward said Labor's repeated calls for her resignation and claims that she misled parliament amounted to a "grubby personal attack".

Premier Barry O'Farrell on Tuesday declared his continued support for the minister.

Opposition family and community services spokeswoman Linda Burney said at least 25 caseworker positions were also unfilled on the state's North Coast.

"Leaving more than 25 caseworker positions unfilled in one of the most needy regions is a disaster for children's welfare on the North Coast of NSW," Mr Burney said in a statement on Wednesday night.

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33 killed in bus accident in Malaysia

A passenger bus has plunged into a deep ravine in Malaysia, killing at least 33 people. Source: AAP

A PASSENGER bus has plunged into a deep ravine while travelling downhill near a Malaysian highland resort, killing 33 people, an official said.

Sixteen people survived the accident, which occurred on a winding slope in central Genting Highlands, a popular destination that houses Malaysia's sole casino on Wednesday, said fire department official Azizan Ismail.

The bus, which fell about 60 metres into the ravine, was carrying mostly Malaysians and several tourists believed to be from the Middle East, Azizan said.

He said one body had been recovered from the bus, with 32 more bodies remaining inside the vehicle.

The cause of the accident was not known. The bus driver was among those believed killed, Azizan said.

More than 200 firefighters, police and medical officers used ropes and cranes to reach the bus, which had been heading to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's main city.

The cause of the accident was not known. The bus driver was among those killed, Azizan said.

Genting Highlands attracts thousands of domestic visitors and foreign tourists from Singapore, China and other countries every week. Serious accidents are rare on the relatively well-maintained roads leading to the area's main resorts.

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Facebook unveils global net access plan

Facebook has announced a partnership aimed at connecting four billion people still not online. Source: AAP

FACEBOOK and other technology giants have launched an initiative designed to give the whole world access to the internet.

The project is entitled Internet.org and its goal is to extend internet access to five billion people by cutting the cost of smart phone-based internet services in developing countries.

"Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday.

"There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the knowledge economy," he said, adding that the project aimed to make it easier and cheaper to connecting to the web.

The other partners in the project are Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Opera, while Twitter and LinkedIn are also due to sign up.

Today some 2.7 billion people, just over a third of the world's population, had access to the internet, and the number of new users was growing only slowly each year, a statement said.

"The goal of Internet.org is to make internet access available to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected, and to bring the same opportunities to everyone that the connected third of the world has today," the statement said.

The seven founding partners are going to develop joint projects, share knowledge and mobilise governments and industry to bring the world online.

Specifically, they want to simplify mobile apps to make them more efficient and improve telephone components and networks so they perform better while consuming less energy.

They also want to develop lower-cost, higher-quality smartphones and partnerships to more broadly deploy internet access in underserved communities.

Zuckerberg insisted in an interview with CNN that the project was not simply aimed at generating more customers.

"If we were just focused on making money, the first billion people we've connected have way more money than the rest of the next six billion combined. It's not fair but it's the way that it is," he said.

The partnership emulates one launched by Facebook in 2011 called Open Compute Project, which also aims to improve the materials used in call centres and make them less energy-hungry.

That project was originally met with scepticism but has gradually won over the major players in the computer industry.

The new thrust comes at a key time for tech groups. Mature markets are saturated and have little potential for significant growth, while poor regions like Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia are pools of potential new customers.

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Turkey bans NSW MPs from Gallipoli service

Turkey has warned that some NSW MPs will be denied visas to attend the Gallipoli service. Source: AAP

TURKEY warns some NSW MPs won't not be welcome at the Gallipoli service after state parliament officially recognised the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians earlier in the year.

The NSW legislative council in May passed a motion calling for the official recognition of the Assyrian, Armenian and Greek genocides.

Turkey strongly condemned the move and said the motion was not compatible with historic facts.

"Although the solid friendly relations existing between the peoples of Turkey and Australia will not deteriorate because of this unilateral decision ... its negative repercussions are nonetheless inevitable," Turkey's foreign ministry said in May, which ABC television reported on Wednesday.

The proponents of such initiatives would "doubtlessly be deprived of the hospitality and friendship that we will never withhold from the people of Australia", the ministry warned.

"These persons who try to damage the spirit of Canakkale/Gallipoli will also not have their place in the Canakkale ceremonies where we commemorate together our sons lying side by side in our soil," it said.

Turkish consul-general Gulseren Celik was asked whether the statement meant that Premier Barry O'Farrell and other NSW MPs would be denied visas to attend the Gallipoli service.

"Yes," she told ABC television.

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Al-Jazeera sues AT&T for dropping channel

Al Jazeera America has launched its operations, and will be available in almost 48m US households. Source: AAP

AL-JAZEERA has lodged a suit against US communications giant AT&T for dropping the broadcast of its new Al-Jazeera America news channel on the day it launched.

AT&T's move affects some five million US households, a significant hit for Al-Jazeera America, which had said some 40 million homes were expected to have the channel available.

"Unfortunately AT&T's decision to unilaterally delete Al-Jazeera America presented us with circumstances that were untenable - an affiliate that has wilfully and knowingly breached its contractual obligations," a statement from Al-Jazeera America said late on Tuesday.

"Accordingly, we had no choice but to take this action and to enforce Al Jazeera America's rights under its agreement with AT&T - and to compel AT&T to do the right thing."

AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said Al-Jazeera had breached its obligations and that the company's U-verse television systems would not carry the channel, despite previously carrying Current TV, which was bought out by Al-Jazeera.

"As a result of our inability to come to terms on a new agreement and due to certain breaches by Al-Jazeera of the existing agreement we have decided not to carry Current TV on U-verse," Siegel said in a prepared statement.

The channel, operated by the Qatari media group behind the Middle East's biggest satellite broadcaster, went live on Tuesday.

The launch was accompanied by a big promotional push, and it pledged to outdo its rivals with serious, in-depth journalism.

Americans will be able to see 14 hours of news, documentary and discussion programming tailored to the US market daily, and updates at the top of every hour 24 hours each day.

But main the selling point will be long-form reporting of stories overlooked by other news organisations.

It is likely to face a tough sell to US audiences because of its history in the Middle East, where it was the outlet for videos distributed by Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Some in America regard Al-Jazeera's output as anti-Western.

Al-Jazeera is also in negotiations with Time Warner Cable over carrying the channel.

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Asylum boat tragedy leaves up to five dead

UP to five asylum seekers are believed to have drowned after a boat carrying more than 100 people sank north of Christmas Island.

Australian authorities called off search and rescue operations on Tuesday night after rescuing 106 people, Customs and Border Protection says.

"The suspension follows confirmation from on-scene crews and interviews with survivors that all survivors have been recovered," Customs said in a statement.

Information from survivors suggested that up to five people remained unaccounted for, but they may have gone down with the boat.

After an extensive search for survivors and bodies, none were sighted.

"It is therefore believed any people unaccounted for have gone down with part of the vessel," Customs said.

The 106 survivors are being transferred to Christmas Island for health and security checks.

They will all eventually be sent to Papua New Guinea or Nauru and could be resettled in those nations if found to be genuine refugees.

Meanwhile, federal Labor's hardline resettlement plan is facing its first legal challenge.

Sydney lawyer Adrian Joel, who represents a would-be refugee on PNG's Manus Island, lodged a challenge in the Federal Court on Monday. It's believed the case will eventually be heard by the High Court.

Mr Joel is expected to argue that PNG is not a suitable destination for asylum seekers.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dismissed suggestions the policy may go the same way as the Gillard government's Malaysia people swap deal, which was struck out by the High Court in 2011.

"We have exactly the right policy message on this and exactly the right administration to back it up," Mr Rudd told reporters in Brisbane.

The latest boat tragedy comes as Immigration Minister Tony Burke and Foreign Minister Bob Carr attended a regional anti-people smuggling conference in Indonesia on Tuesday.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott warned against Senator Carr and Mr Burke signing up to any agreement that may come from the talks due to the fact that the government was in "caretaker mode" ahead of the election next month.

A legal challenge being mounted by PNG's opposition against the asylum seeker plan also picked up steam on Tuesday, with lawyers applying to add Manus detainee and asylum seeker Rawed Reza to the list of challengers to the controversial scheme.

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Musharraf indicted over Bhutto's murder

AN anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has indicted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on charges of conspiracy to murder late opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, officials say.

It was the first time that any of the four generals who have ruled Pakistan have been indicted.

A formal trial could begin any time. If convicted, Musharraf could face a maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment, a prosecution lawyer said.

Musharraf pleaded not guilty when the judge in Rawalpindi city, near the capital Islamabad, read out the charge sheet against him on Tuesday.

The former strongman, under house arrest at his farmhouse in Islamabad for more than three months, was taken to the court under tight security.

There had been some doubt whether police would produce him in the court because of death threats from Islamist militants.

Taliban insurgents had said in recent weeks that they would send suicide bombers to kill Musharraf.

The expected indictment was temporarily postponed at an August 6 hearing because police did not take Musharraf to court after a specific threat.

Defence lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri said his client would fight the charges.

Bhutto, who was twice elected prime minister, was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack in December 2007.

There are concerns that the trial could widen mistrust between the civilian government and the powerful military.

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Russia scrambles to contain record floods

Floods in the Russian far east have broken records as authorities evacuated more than 19,000 people. Source: AAP

RUSSIANS in the Far East are battling rising floodwaters as authorities evacuate more than 23,000 people from affected areas and scramble to prevent the outbreak of infection.

Heavy rains pounding Khabarovsk, a Far Eastern city located near the Chinese border, since July have swelled the local Amur River to nearly 7 metres - a level unseen since monitoring of the area began in 1895.

The floodwaters damaged property, infrastructure and crops, displaced tens of thousands and raised fresh questions about the Russian government's readiness to handle natural disasters.

There have been no reports of fatalities, but more than 23,000 people have been evacuated so far, the office of the Kremlin's Far Eastern envoy Viktor Ishayev said on Tuesday.

National television footage showed locals making their way through a flooded area by boat and a cow wading through muddy waters, submerged nearly up to its neck.

The floods have affected the Yakutia, Primorsky Krai and Amur regions as well as the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, but the Khabarovsk region was hit hardest.

Over the night, the region's Amur river, which serves as a natural border with China where it is known as Heilong Jiang, has risen by 16 centimetres to 673 centimetres.

It is expected to rise by another 40 centimetres over the next two days.

"According to estimates, the water levels near Khabarovsk can reach 730-780 centimetres on August 24-28," the Khabarovsk city administration said.

Yury Varakin, head of the situation centre at Russia's weather service (Rosgidromet), said the water levels around Khabarovsk reached a level unseen since regular monitoring began in 1895.

"The highest water level stood at 642 centimetres in 1897," he said.

"In many areas the river spread out over tens of kilometres. The unfavourable situation will remain until the end of the month."

The military have been deployed to help hurriedly erect flood defence bunds along the river, with authorities saying they have prepared 10,000 sand bags to use in case the waters breached the defences.

Ishayev asked the General Prosecutor's office to look into how the authorities have been handling the emergency.

"Residents in a number of areas say: 'If you started a bit earlier then you'd have saved residential settlements.' And they are right," Ishayev said in televised remarks.

He indicated some areas did not have proper infrastructure to help protect them against the floods.

"The water will be receding rather slowly," Ishayev added.

Authorities said many in the affected areas had been left without access to money after Russia's biggest bank Sberbank shut its branches and ATMs.

Of the more than 29,000 people who needed to be vaccinated, only 2,000 received necessary shots even though the local authorities had enough vaccines against hepatitis A, diphtheria and typhoid fever, Ishayev's office said.

The defence ministry sent an airlift carrying 20 tonnes of vaccines and medicine to the Far East, adding it had vaccinated 2,000 servicemen involved in relief efforts.

Another 2700 will be vaccinated shortly, said the defence ministry, adding that it was also ready to immunise the local population.

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UK man sold fake bomb detectors

A BRITISH businessman convicted of making and exporting fake bomb detectors has been jailed for seven years.

Gary Bolton sold the homemade plastic devices to international clients for up to 10,000 pounds ($A17,300) each, claiming they could detect explosives, drugs, tobacco and ivory.

But prosecutors say the devices, which were sold to countries including Mexico and Thailand, were nothing more than boxes with handles and antennae.

Bolton, 47, was sentenced on Tuesday. He had denied two counts of fraud, but was convicted by a jury last month.

In a separate trial in May, another British businessman, James McCormick, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for selling fake bomb detectors based on a golf ball finder to countries including Iraq.

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UK goat-sex man banned from farms

A MAN has been banned from all farms where animals are kept after admitting having sexual intercourse with a goat.

Robert Newman, 23, will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty at North West Wiltshire Magistrates' Court in Chippenham to a charge of having sex with a living animal contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Newman, of Potterne Road, Devizes, Wiltshire, had originally denied the offence which took place in April this year at Devizes and was due to stand trial but later pleaded guilty.

He is due to be sentenced on September 12 after a pre-sentence report has been prepared.

In the meantime Newman was released on conditional bail and must obey a curfew between 7pm and 7am. He is also not allowed to enter any land where farm animals are kept.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of six months' imprisonment on summary conviction.

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