Clive Palmer's margin slims to three

Clive Palmer's lead has shrunk to just three votes in the Queensland federal seat of Fairfax. Source: AAP

CLIVE Palmer's lead has shrunk to just three votes in the Queensland federal seat of Fairfax.

A recount of preferences is under way in the Sunshine Coast seat after Mr Palmer finished 36 votes ahead of Liberal National Party candidate Ted O'Brien when the Australian Electoral Commission completed initial counting after the September 7 poll.

Margins less than 100 trigger a recount.

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Chopper Read admitted to hospital: manager

Crime figure and author Mark "Chopper" Read has been admitted to hospital, his manager says. Source: AAP

CRIME figure and author Mark "Chopper" Read has been admitted to hospital as his battle with liver cancer continues.

Read was admitted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Monday with an ongoing and serious illness, his manager Andrew Parisi said in a statement.

"Neither Mark or his family will be providing any information regarding his prognosis and would appreciate privacy in these most difficult times," he said in the statement.

Read spent more than 23 years in jail up until 1998 for crimes including armed robbery, assault and kidnapping.

He was portrayed by Eric Bana in the 2000 film Chopper, and his autobiographical books have made him Australia's best-selling true crime author.

In April 2012 he revealed that he had cancer and at the time said doctors had told him he may have weeks or up to six years left to live.

At the time he tweeted: "Looks like the big C has finally bitten".

This year Chopper has looked increasingly weak at his public appearances.

Only last week, vision from his show A Night with Chopper showed an emotional Chopper as he hugged his wife and 10-year-old son.

And in a newspaper interview earlier this month he said that he was told by doctors he would not live beyond Christmas, but was "not worried about dying".

Mr Parisi said the media would be advised of Read's condition in coming days.

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Gillard takes swipe at Rudd's takeover

Former PM Julia Gillard (R) has taken a swipe at Kevin Rudd in her first major public appearance. Source: AAP

FORMER prime minister Julia Gillard has taken a swipe at Kevin Rudd, saying a key difference in their leadership takeovers was that she spent all of her time in the lead up genuinely trying to help Labor prosper.

Speaking to Anne Summers at the Sydney Opera House on Monday, Ms Gillard made her first major public appearance since being dethroned on June 26.

When asked if her dumping was a reflection of her takeover of Mr Rudd in 2010, Ms Gillard replied it was her view that you should always ask the leader for a legitimate leadership ballot.

"To do things continuously that undermine the Labor party and the Labor government, then of course that shouldn't be done by anyone," she said.

"The key difference is every day I was deputy PM I spent all of my time doing everything I could to have the Labor government prosper."

Ms Gillard said she intentionally stayed out of the media until recently to give Labor the "gift" of silence during the recent federal election.

She said a "perfect political storm" formed following the 2010 election that ultimately led to her being dethroned by Mr Rudd.

This included being forced to hold together a minority government, the legitimacy of which was questioned daily by a hard hitting opposition.

"You had the wildcard of gender, being the first female PM, and then internal instability in the Labor party, so it all came together to create this very difficult environment," she said.

Ms Gillard also zeroed in on Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who triggered her famous misogyny speech last October.

"I thought, 'After everything I've had to see on the internet, after all the gendered abuse that I've seen in newspapers, that has been called at me across the despatch box, now of all things I've got to listen to Tony Abbott lecture me about sexism," she said.

She said while she suffered plenty of abuse from the opposition during federal parliament sessions, most of it wasn't from Mr Abbott.

"Occasionally he would get involved, but more the people behind him, so Christopher Pyne in particular," she said.

Ms Gillard declined to publicly state whether she'd prefer Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese as the new Labor leader.

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Another Sydney garage explosion

A MAN has suffered serious burns from the second garage explosion in Sydney in two days.

At 3pm (AEST) on Monday, police were called to a home on Archer Crescent at Bankstown after reports of a loud explosion in a garage.

A 43-year-old man sustained serious burns to his face and upper body.

He was taken to Liverpool Hospital and later transferred to the burns unit at Concord Hospital.

He is in a serious but stable condition.

A crime scene has been set up at the property but police are yet to identify what caused the explosion.

It comes only a day after a suspected drug lab exploded in the garage of a Barden Ridge home in Sydney's south.

Two men aged 37 and 40, who were inside at the time, suffered extensive burns.

Superintendent Julian Griffiths told reporters on Monday afternoon the 40-year-old was undergoing emergency surgery at Royal North Shore Hospital.

"His condition has been listed as critical, and best described as grave," he said.

He said the 37-year-old was also critically injured and remained in an induced coma.

Equipment suspected of being used to manufacture drugs has been found.

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We will fight scourge of smuggling: Abbott

Australia and Indonesia are resolved to fight people smuggling, prime minister Tony Abbott says. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have had constructive discussions about fighting the "scourge" of people smuggling together.

Speaking after their meeting in Jakarta on Monday, Mr Abbott said they had frank talks and stressed his respect for the sovereignty of Australia's northern neighbour.

"We have had very cordial, constructive and collegial discussions on the issue of people smuggling," he said.

"We are resolved together united to tackle this problem and to beat it - on land and at sea, and at the borders of our countries," Mr Abbott said.

"We are determined to end this scourge which is not just an affront to our two countries, but which has so often become a humanitarian disaster in our seas between our two countries."

The meeting between the two leaders came just days after the tragic sinking of an asylum seeker boat off the coast of Indonesia, and with tensions between the two countries about how to tackle the problem.

Indonesia has raised concerns about the coalition's 'turn back the boats' policy, which Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa last week warned could violate his country's sovereignty and damage relations.

Mr Abbott said he and President Yudhoyono had held "very frank" discussions about "issues of sovereignty and about issues of people smuggling".

"People smuggling is an issue of sovereignty, especially for Australia," Mr Abbott said.

"I appreciate how seriously Indonesia has taken this issue in the past, and I look forward to working even more co-operatively with Indonesia on this issue in the future.

"But I do want to stress publicly as well as privately ... Australia's total respect for Indonesia's sovereignty, total respect for Indonesia's territorial integrity."

Mr Abbott said he acknowledged there had been mistakes in the past and he wanted a new start to the relationship, particularly in agriculture and food security.

"Never again should this country take action that jeopardises the food supply of such a friend and partner as Indonesia is," he said.

Mr Abbott also said he admired what Indonesia had done to improve the autonomy and life of people in West Papua.

"I am confident that they can have the best possible life and the best possible future as a part of an indissoluble Indonesia, as an integral part of Indonesia."

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Kings Of Leon's new album debuts at No.1

Kings of Leon have landed their third consecutive No.1 album on the ARIA chart. Source: AAP

KINGS of Leon have landed their third straight No.1 on the ARIA albums chart after their new album Mechanical Bull debuted at the top.

The Nashville rockers' sixth studio release bumps off Keith Urban's album Fuse, which drops down two spots to No.3.

Another new entry is Drake's Nothing Was the Same at No.2, which becomes his first Top 10 entry and highest charting album all in the same week.

Jason Derulo's third album Tattoos has debuted at No.5, becoming his third Top 10 album.

Jack Johnson is down three places to No.6 with From Here to Now to You, while the fourth Top 10 debut is Jessie J with Alive at No.7.

Pink's The Truth About Love has dropped two spots to No.8 and Rudimental's Home moves up five places to No.9.

Avicii's album True plummets eight places round out the Top 10.

Meanwhile Katy Perry's Roar has spent another week at No.1 on the singles chart.

The top three all hold steady this week, with Miley Cyrus at No.2 with Wrecking Ball and Redfoo at No.3 with Let's Get Ridiculous.

The big mover is John Newman with Love Me Again, which charges up four places, pushing Derulo's Talk Dirty down to No.5.

OneRepublic spends a third straight week at No.6 with Something I Need, Lana Del Rey is down a couple of places to No.7 with her Summertime Sadness and Drake climbs a place to a new peak of No.8 with Hold On, We're Going Home.

Avicii has slipped to No.9 with Wake Me Up, while Lorde is back up two places to No.10 with her EP The Love Club feat Royals.

AUSTRALIAN SINGLES CHART

1(1) Roar - Katy Perry (CAP/EMI)

2(2) Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus (RCA/SME)

3(3) Let's Get Ridiculous - Redfoo (INR/UMA)

4(8) Love Me Again - John Newman (ISL/UMA)

5(4) Talk Dirty - Jason Derulo Feat. 2 Chainz (WAR)

6(6) Something I Need - OneRepublic (INR/UMA)

7(5) Summertime Sadness - Lana Del Rey vs Cedric Gervais (INR/UMA)

8(9) Hold on, We're Going Home - Drake Feat. Majid Jordan (UNI/UMA)

9(8) Wake Me Up - Avicii (UNI/UMA)

10(12) The Love Club Feat. Royals - Lorde (UNI/UMA)

AUSTRALIAN ALBUMS CHART

1(-) Mechanical Bull - Kings Of Leon (RCA/SME)

2(-) Nothing Was The Same - Drake (UNI/UMA)

3(1) Fuse - Keith Urban (CAP/EMI)

4(3) AM - Arctic Monkeys (DOM/EMI)

5(-) Tattoos - Jason Derulo (WAR)

6(3) From Here to Now to You - Jack Johnson (UNI/UMA)

7(-) Alive - Jessie J (UNI/UMA)

8(6) The Truth About Love - Pink (RCA/SME)

9(14) Home - Rudimental (WAR)

10(2) True - Avicii (UNI/UMA)

AUSTRALIAN STREAMING CHART

1(1) Roar - Katy Perry (EMI)

2(2) Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus (SME)

3(3) Wake Me Up - Avicii (UMA)

4(4) The Love Club EP - Lorde (UMA)

5(6) Counting Stars - OneRepublic (UMA)

6(5) Talk Dirty - Jason Derulo Feat. 2 Chainz (WAR)

7(9) You Make Me - Avicii (UMA)

8(7) Burn - Ellie Goulding (UMA)

9(8) La La La - Naughty Boy Feat. Sam Smith (EMI)

10(10) Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke Feat. T.I. & Pharrell (UMA)

AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY CHART

1(1) Fuse - Keith Urban (CAP/EMI)

2(2) The Very Best Of Slim Dusty - Slim Dusty (EMI)

3(-) The Buegrass Album - Alan Jackson (SME)

4(3) The Great Country Songbook - Troy Cassar-Daley & Adam Harvey (SME)

5(-) A.M - Chris Young (RCA/SME)

6(6) Red - Taylor Swift (BIG/UMA)

7(3) 40 Years Of Pride - Charley Pride (RCA/SME)6 (WAR)

8(6) A Hell Of A Career! - John Williamson (WAR)

9(7) Crash My Party - Luke Bryan (CAP/EMI)

10(8) The Story So Far - Keith Urban (CAP/EMI)

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Italy grapples with new Berlusconi crisis

Five cabinet ministers from former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi's party have quit the government. Source: AAP

ITALY is mired in a fresh political quagmire after Silvio Berlusconi pushed his party's ministers to quit the fragile coalition government, a move Prime Minister Enrico Letta has called a "crazy act".

All five ministers from the People of Freedom (PDL) party on Saturday took the decision to step down at Berlusconi's urging, said deputy prime minister Angelino Alfano, the number two in government who was among the resignations.

Italy newspapers put the blame for the new government crisis squarely at the ex-prime minister's feet.

"The convict has made Italy fail," read the headline in the leftist daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, alluding to Berlusconi's conviction for tax fraud.

The centre-right La Stampa and business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore decried "the madness" of the actions taken by the media mogul who has dominated Italian politics for most of the last two decades.

The flamboyant billionaire, who turns 77 on Sunday, dismissed as "unacceptable" a demand by Letta on Friday for parliament to express support for the government next week, in a bid to end a crisis that has plagued the bickering ruling coalition.

Now President Giorgio Napolitano will have to mediate to find a way out of the latest political impasse. He is expected to meet Letta on Sunday.

Letta's government was cobbled together following a two-month stand-off after an inconclusive general election in February.

The premier of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) had won the confidence of financial markets by managing to keep together the improbable right-left coalition.

Italian media on Sunday speculated that if the crisis deepens there could be a reversal in market confidence, making it harder for Italy to deal with its economic difficulties and enact needed reforms.

The revolt among Berlusconi's backers boiled over on Thursday when they first threatened to resign over the former leader's legal problems.

A Senate committee was preparing to vote on whether to eject Berlusconi from the chamber after he was sentenced to a year in prison for tax fraud, a ruling that was upheld by Italy's top court in August.

Letta on Friday told a cabinet meeting tasked with approving key measures to rein in the recession-hit country's budget deficit that no further legislation would be enacted until the political crisis was resolved.

The cabinet had convened to determine how to delay a controversial planned rise in value-added tax, but the meeting ended in disarray amid the escalating tension over Berlusconi's conviction.

As a result, the VAT hike from 21 per cent to 22 per cent will go ahead, with effect from Tuesday, as economists worry that it will dampen consumption.

In encouraging the PDL ministers to resign, Berlusconi said they should not be "complicit in the latest vexation imposed on Italians by the left".

Letta retorted: "To try to justify his crazy and irresponsible act, aimed fully at protecting his personal interests, Berlusconi is... using the VAT as an alibi."

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UK PM backs veil bans at institutions

THE state should back institutions such as schools and courthouses that require individuals to remove face-coverings worn by some Muslim women, British Prime Minister David Cameron says.

Cameron said he did not believe there should be a ban on wearing the niqab - which conceals the whole face except for the eyes - in the streets.

But he made clear he was "happy" to look at the issue of whether the state needed to do more to back up institutions which choose to implement a ban.

"We are a free country and people should be free to wear whatever clothes they like in public or in private," Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.

"But we should support those institutions that need to put in place rules so that those institutions can work properly.

"So for instance in a school, if they want that particular dress code, I believe the government should back them. The same for courts, the same for immigration.

"I think we should back those institutions that want to have sensible policies that actually have a particular purpose."

Asked if he would respond to a judge's suggestion that there should be guidelines for the country on the wearing of the niqab in court, Cameron said: "I'm very happy to look at that.

"Obviously, in court the jury needs to be able to look at someone's face. I've sat on a jury, that's part of what you do.

"When someone is coming into the country, an immigration officer needs to see someone's face.

"In a school, it's very difficult to teach unless you can look at your pupils in the eye.

"It's a free country and I think a free country should have free and independent institutions. No plans for anything on the street, but if the government needs to do more to back up institutions, then I would be happy to look at that."

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Two men in hospital following Sydney fire

TWO men are in hospital following a fire in Sydney's southwest.

Emergency services were called to Australia Road at Barden Ridge at 8pm (AEST) on Sunday after reports a house was on fire.

A garage at the rear of a property was well-alight, police say.

Two men are being treated at Sutherland Hospital for significant injuries.

It's understood the pair drove themselves to the hospital.

The fire has been extinguished but there is extensive damage to the garage.

Police have established a crime scene.

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Siemens to cut up to 15,000 global jobs

GERMANY engineering company Siemens says it will cut up to 15,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2014.

German news agency dpa reported on Sunday that the company wants to cut 5,000 jobs in Germany and another 10,000 jobs abroad.

A Siemens spokesman, whose name was not given, told dpa the cutbacks will not necessarily mean that all the workers will lose their jobs, since some could be transferred to other departments.

Siemens could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Munich-based company has around 370,000 employees and makes a wide range of industrial machinery, including trains, power generators and transmission equipment, and medical scanners.

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