Snowdon makes surprise Afghanistan visit

VETERANS' Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon has concluded a surprise visit to Afghanistan, declaring Australian troops close to completing their mission.

Mr Snowdon met senior Australian commanders at the main base at Tarin Kowt, as well as Afghan government officials.

He said there were clear indications of the growing capability of Afghan forces who would take full responsibility for security in Oruzgan province at the end of this year.

"Although Australia is close to completing a successful mission in Afghanistan, we remember that 39 young Australians made the ultimate sacrifice and many more have been wounded or otherwise injured. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten," he said in a statement.

Mr Snowdon said he saw for himself the progress in remediating the base at Tarin Kowt and preparing for redeployment of ADF personnel and equipment back to Australia.

"This is a crucial component of Australia successfully concluding its mission in Oruzgan at the end of this year," he said.

During the visit, Mr Snowdon told Australian soldiers they had made a tangible and meaningful contribution to the security and future of Afghanistan.

"All Australians should be rightfully proud of the outstanding work done by our servicemen and women on this mission of such importance," he said.

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US charges Snowden with espionage: reports

US officials have asked Hong Kong authorities to detain Edward Snowden, a US newspaper reports. Source: AAP

US authorities have filed espionage charges against rogue intelligence technician Edward Snowden and asked Hong Kong to detain him, a US official says.

Confirming a report in the Washington Post, the official said a sealed criminal complaint has been lodged with a federal court in the US state of Virginia and a provisional arrest warrant has been issued.

Snowden was charged with espionage, theft and "conversion of government property".

A report on NBC News said he was accused of sharing classified documents with individuals who were not cleared to received them.

The one-page criminal complaint was filed under seal on June 14 in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, and made public on Friday evening by government officials.

An accompanying affidavit in support of the charges, prepared and signed by FBI Special Agent John A Kralik Jr, remained under seal.

The criminal complaint said Snowden engaged in unauthorised communication of national defence information, wilful communication of classified communications intelligence information - both charges under the Espionage Act - and the theft of government property.

All three crimes carry a maximum 10-year prison penalty.

The 30-year-old technician fled Hawaii on May 20 and flew to Hong Kong, an autonomous Chinese territory, from where he proceeded to leak details of secret US intelligence programs to international media outlets.

The leaks embarrassed US President Barack Obama's administration, which was forced to defend US intelligence agencies' practice of gathering huge amounts of telephone and internet data from private users around the world.

Following reports of the sealed complaint, all eyes will turn to Hong Kong and Beijing to see whether China will agree to help the United States by complying with the provisional warrant and holding Snowden.

Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous territory with its own legal system and a provision for granting political asylum, but it is subordinate to China in foreign policy matters and has an extradition treaty with the US.

A US government official, speaking anonymously because the case is still under investigation, told McClatchy newspapers that officials hope the charges will be enough to satisfy authorities in Hong Kong to begin the extradition process.

That process could become bogged down if Snowden fights extradition and argues that he is being singled out and prosecuted for political reasons.

The official added that a more formal, federal grand jury indictment against Snowden likely will follow later in the northern summer.

"We're just getting under way," the US official said.

The US and Hong Kong have a standing agreement on the surrender of fugitives.

However, Snowden's appeal rights could drag out any extradition proceeding.

The success or failure of any extradition proceeding depends on what the suspect is charged with under US law and how it corresponds to Hong Kong law under the treaty.

In order for Hong Kong officials to honour the extradition request, they have to have some applicable statute under their law that corresponds with a violation of US law.

Snowden has told Britain's Guardian newspaper that he might seek asylum in Iceland, which has strong internet freedom laws, but he is thought to still be in Hong Kong and might now find it difficult to travel.

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Justice Department move confirmed his view that the leak was "a treasonous act".

"I hope Hong Kong's government will take him into custody and extradite him to the US," Nelson said.

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Singapore haze hits critical 400 level

SINGAPORE'S smog index has hit the critical 400 level, making it potentially life-threatening to the ill and elderly people, according to a government monitoring site.

The level was reached at 11am (1300 AEST) on Friday, after a rapid rise in the Pollutant Standards Index, which measures the haze crisis caused by Indonesian forest fires.

Indonesian and Singaporean officials have been holding emergency talks on how to extinguish the fires on farms and plantations on Sumatra island, which are also affecting Malaysia.

According to Singapore government guidelines, sustained PSI average levels above 400 on a 24-hour basis "may be life-threatening to ill and elderly persons".

General practitioner Philip Koh said he had seen a 20 per cent spike in consultations in the past week, and estimated that about 80 per cent of all his patients are suffering from haze-related ailments.

"My patients are telling me they are worried about how long this is going to last and how much higher this is going to go. It is already high at 400 now, how much higher will it go?" he told AFP.

Koh also said many were turning to his clinic to buy protective masks, as supplies are low at retailers.

"Our supplies are running low here too," he said.

If the 400 index average is sustained over a 24-hour period, the government advises all children, elderly people and persons with existing diseases to stay indoors, keep windows closed and avoid physical exertion as much as possible.

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A million Brazilians protest in cities

About 300,000 have rallied in Rio de Janeiro, bemoaning massive spending to stage the World Cup. Source: AAP

BRAZILIAN President Dilma Rousseff has called an emergency cabinet meeting after at least a million people rallied for better public services and against the high cost of staging the World Cup.

Sources quoted by the daily O Estado de Sao Paulo said authorities were "frightened" by protesters' attempts to break into the foreign ministry building in Brasilia. The presidential office would not comment on the reports.

The mounting pressure on Rousseff's government in the face of the biggest street protests the South American country has seen in 20 years prompted her to cancel a trip to Japan planned for next week and call the emergency meeting for Friday.

Late on Thursday, security forces struggled to maintain order in several cities, firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse groups of rowdy protesters who hurled stones and lit fires.

Police fired tear gas in Rio de Janeiro, scene of the biggest protest where 300,000 people demonstrated near City Hall, while in the capital Brasilia, security forces blocked protesters trying to break into the foreign ministry and throwing burning objects.

Police and experts quoted by Brazilian media said at least one million marched in more than 100 cities across the country of 194 million people, an intensification of a movement sparked two weeks ago by public anger about a hike in public transport fares.

The protests have spiralled into a wider call for an end to government corruption in the world's seventh largest economy, a call fuelled by resentment over the $US15 billion ($A16.36 billion) cost of hosting the Confederations Cup and the World Cup.

In Rio, police fired tear gas to disperse a small group of stone-throwing protesters. At least one person was hurt in the clashes, which sparked panic in the crowd.

Demonstrators also set ablaze a vehicle owned by the SBT television station.

A protester died after a motorist hit him and two other demonstrators in the southeastern city of Ribeirao Preto, police said.

In the northeastern city of Salvador, one of the host cities for the Confederations Cup, police fired tear gas against some of the 20,000 protesters massed two kilometres from the stadium where Uruguay defeated Nigeria 2-1.

Vehicles used by world football's governing body FIFA were stoned in the Bahia state capital and riot police had to intervene.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, meanwhile, called for an investigation into the possible use of "excessive force" on demonstrators and journalists during protests last week.

On Wednesday, protesters had scored a major victory when authorities in Rio and Sao Paulo, Brazil's two biggest cities, cancelled the controversial transit fare hikes, but that was not enough to placate the demonstrators.

In Sao Paulo, an estimated 110,000 people flooded the main Paulista Avenue to celebrate the fare rollback and keep the pressure on Rousseff's leftist government to increase social spending.

Several protesters called for Rousseff, Sao Paulo State Governor Geraldo Alckmin and Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad to be impeached.

The protest was largely peaceful except for clashes between a group of ultra-leftists marching behind their red banners and a majority of demonstrators who objected to the presence of political parties.

"This is a social movement, not a political movement. This has nothing to do with ideology," 28-year-old protester Maria Vidal told AFP. "We don't want parties in the demonstration."

Protesters say they want higher funding for education, health and housing. They are also railing against what they view as rampant corruption within the political class.

Social media networks have been key to the organisation of the mass protests, with demonstrators using the slogan "It's more than just 20 cents" - a reference to the bus fare hikes - to rally people to their cause.

The movement has no political colouration and no clearly identified leadership.

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Qld hospital concealed fatal death: union

THE Queensland Nurses Union is calling for an independent investigation into the Wesley Hospital manager who did not disclose a previous legionnaires' disease death at the facility.

The Brisbane hospital is dealing with a deadly outbreak of legionnaires', which killed one patient and put another in intensive care this month.

Its management has previously told reporters there were no past cases.

However, Queensland Health this week told reporters it is now including a 2011 legionnaires' death at the private hospital in its investigation.

UnitingCare Health executive director Richard Royle on Wednesday admitted he knew of the 2011 death; a fortnight ago he denied any knowledge of past cases.

The Queensland Nurses Union's acting secretary, Des Elder, says withholding information and making false statements are serious offences.

"There absolutely has been a cover-up," Mr Elder said.

"I don't think there's any question that the hospital management has tried to conceal that there had in fact been a previous occurrence of legionella previous years ago when they made statements to the press quite openly that there had not been."

He said had the Wesley been a public hospital, Mr Royle would be held accountable for making false statements.

"It would be a breach of the code of conduct in Queensland Health for a CEO to lie," he said.

Mr Elder suggested a public hospital chief executive would face disciplinary action under the same circumstances, but declined to say whether he believed Mr Royle should be sacked.

However, he called for an independent investigation into the false statement and the delay in passing relevant information to Queensland Health.

"For too long the private sector has been treated with kid gloves by both the state and federal governments, and this crosses party political lines," he said.

"There's a reluctance to take strong action to ensure that accountability that everyone requires of a public health system is there in the private health system."

Premier Campbell Newman told reporters earlier on Thursday he was disturbed to hear the 2011 death was never made public.

"I believe the hospital had the duty back then to reveal what went on, but of course Queensland Health had a duty to reveal," he said.

"It's not clear to me why the previous government failed to tell Queenslanders what was going on."

He said private hospitals were required to comply with the same accountability standards as the public sector.

The Wesley withheld information about the 2011 death from media, but it was reported to health authorities at the time.

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Visa crack down put off to next week

THE federal government's crackdown on skilled migration visas appears to be on shaky ground after independent MP Rob Oakeshott said he won't support the legislation.

During heated debate on the bill in parliament on Thursday, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott explosively likened Prime Minister Julia Gillard to anti-immigrant One Nation founder and one-time MP Pauline Hanson.

Mr Abbott said Labor's legislation was divisive and accused Ms Gillard of using it for base political purposes.

"We saw a member of this parliament set out to make perfectly decent Australians feel like strangers in their own country," he told the lower house.

"It's an embarrassment."

Labor claims there's been widespread rorting of the 457 skilled worker visa scheme at the expense of Australian jobs.

Its legislation requires employers to conduct labour market testing and only hire foreign workers if no Australian worker is available.

Mr Abbott said the government should be tackling the problem of asylum seeker boat arrivals.

"Instead, they have decided to raise a false problem," he said.

"They can't get tough on illegal arrivals by boat, so they have decided to get tough on legal arrivals by plane."

Mr Oakeshott won't support the legislative changes, saying authorities should make full use of existing sanctions and penalties to crackdown on any abuses of the 457 visa system.

"We don't need new law. We need existing law to be acted upon," he told parliament.

The NSW MP also called for relevant agencies to show "backbone" in pursuing bosses suspected of breaching the system.

"Let's send the dogs onto those that are breaking the laws," he said.

However, fellow cross-bench MP Craig Thomson said he would support the legislation, while criticising the tone of the parliamentary debate.

"It's quite extraordinary that this parliament is at such a state that we see political points on both sides being made, rather than looking at what is the legislation, what are the real issues here and what are the solutions to it," he said.

"This is not ground-breaking legislation but it's important legislation."

The other key independent MPs - Andrew Wilkie and Bob Katter and Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt - are expect to vote in favour of the bill.

But the positions of NSW independent Tony Windsor and former Liberal Peter Slipper remain unclear.

Debate on the Migration Amendment (Temporary Sponsored Visas) Bill 2013 was adjourned until next week.

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Legionnaires' probe looks at past case

HEALTH authorities are revisiting a 2011 legionnaires' death at a major Brisbane hospital to see if it is linked to the recent outbreak of the disease.

The Wesley Hospital was effectively shut down for almost two weeks after the death of a patient who contracted legionnaires' disease.

The 66-year-old male cancer patient died from the disease on June 2 and a second patient, a 46-year-old woman, was admitted into intensive care with the lung infection days later.

A third patient tested positive to the legionella bacteria, which causes legionnaires' disease, on June 13 but is not presenting symptoms.

Queensland's Chief Health officer Dr Jeannette Young says records from the past five years showed there was one other legionnaires' death at the Wesley.

The male patient died from the disease in October, 2011.

Because it was a single case, no investigation was launched into the source of the bacteria.

Dr Young says she wants to know if he also caught the bacteria from taps or the hospital's water system.

Pathology labs have bacteria samples from all four cases.

"They can genotype the entire genome of the bacteria in all four cases and see if it matches up and see what degree of probability all cases came from the same source," Dr Young said.

The state's 17 public hospitals and health centres and 103 private hospitals have begun testing their water systems for legionella.

Previously, only routine legionella tests were done on the air-conditioning systems.

Dr Young says she will look at changing laws to ensure water systems are also routinely checked.

She says it's still unclear exactly where the bacteria at the Wesley originated and whether redundant pipes at the hospital had a part to play.

Pathology labs have also been asked to confirm that all legionella pneumophila cases in the past five years, particularly hospital-acquired cases, were correctly notified to Queensland Health.

A report on the outbreak and recommendations to prevent future outbreaks is due on September 30.

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Facebook apologises for outage

FACEBOOK has apologised after its website went down, attributing the outage to an internal issue.

"Earlier today, an internal issue in our web infrastructure caused the site to be slow or unavailable for a brief period of time," a Facebook spokesman told AAP.

"We resolved the issue quickly, and should now be back to 100 per cent. We apologise for any inconvenience."

The popular social networking site, which has about 12 million Australian users and claims about 1.1 billion worldwide, began experiencing problems about 11am (AEST) on Wednesday.

Millions of users, including Australians, were unable to log on for about 20 minutes, with most receiving an error message on the site's launch page.

Some took to rival networking site Twitter to giggle at the predicament.

"So I'm trying to look at a hot babe's Facebook page - doesn't work 3 tries - turns out the whole website was down," one joker sniggered into his keyboard.

Others appeared genuinely panicked at the prospect of not being able to upload pictures of their breakfast and poke their mates.

"Holy ******* **** Facebook is down worldwide," another tweeted.

Facebook did not elaborate on the nature of its internal issue.

Messages posted online, purportedly linked to the hacking collective Anonymous, claimed responsibility for attacking the site.

But AAP could not verify the claim and it would appear an unlikely scenario.

If it was attacked, and it's a big 'if', one possible motive could be the social network recently becoming embroiled in the US National Security Administration PRISM data-mining scandal.

Former CIA whistle-blower Edward Snowden blew the lid on the PRISM data collection system, allegedly involving a number of tech firms handing user data to US intelligence agencies.

On June 14 the company published a transparency report revealing it received between 9000 and 10,000 user-data requests from US government entities.

Facebook also announced on Wednesday that it has passed a major milestone in its development, with more than one million advertisers now using the site.

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Thomas Kelly killer pleads guilty

THE young man charged with killing Thomas Kelly in Sydney's notorious Kings Cross party strip has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Kieran Loveridge, 19, entered the plea when his matter came before Central Local Court in Sydney's CBD on Tuesday.

He was originally charged with murder but the prosecution accepted the lesser plea of manslaughter.

Police accused Loveridge of going on a bashing spree in Kings Cross about 10pm (AEST) on July 7 last year.

He was charged with assaulting five males, including Mr Kelly.

The victim, an 18-year-old accounting cadet, was walking with his girlfriend and talking on his mobile phone when he was attacked.

Loveridge also pleaded guilty to four counts of common assault and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The additional pleas relate to his other four victims.

The Department of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charge of murder in relation to Mr Kelly's death.

Loveridge did not express emotion.

Mr Kelly's family members sat in the gallery when the pleas were entered and clutched each other's arms during the brief appearance.

When the magistrate asked Loveridge to acknowledge his guilty pleas, he responded, "Yes, ma'am."

He was committed to sentencing in the Supreme Court on August 2.

Outside court, Thomas Kelly's parents, sister and extended family expressed their dissatisfaction over the plea deal.

"We're here today for our son Thomas, who cannot speak for himself and will never speak again," his mother, Cathy Kelly, said in a prepared statement to reporters.

"Although we are here to represent him, we have had no rights or say at all in the procedures that have brought us here, or in the decision that has been made here today."

A police source confirmed to AAP the family is not happy with the court outcome.

She also said although they chose to turn off their son's life support two days after the incident, his life had ended when he was assaulted.

"That decision was made for us on July 7 (2012) at 10.07pm when our beautiful, defenceless son Thomas was king hit with such force and violent intent.

"When his head hit the pavement, the very essence of what made him Thomas was gone then and there.

"He was a young man who loved his family and friends, and epitomised respect."

Ms Kelly also took aim at people who commit violent acts and have total disregard for the consequences of their actions.

She said this behaviour will continue and violent offenders will "remorselessly reoffend over and over again".

"Our family has lost a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew and cousin," Ms Kelly said.

"We will never forget our darling Thomas.

"We will never stop missing him, and our lives will never be the same."

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Two-thirds of Chile faces desertification

TWO-THIRDS of Chile's territory is facing desertification in which the bone-dry Atacama Desert grows by over a metre a day, President Sebastian Pinera has warned.

The changing topography and consequences for the land "is one of the greatest threats to sustained development, and to sustainable development, and to the quality of life of millions of people around the world", Pinera said in an address on Monday marking World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.

"It is estimated that two-thirds of our territory, about 48 million hectares, are affected in some measure by desertification," he added.

"This means that more than 1.5 million fellow Chileans are living with and suffering with consequences of this desertification."

In 2007, Chile launched a program that tries to combat the desert's march, involving a series of small dams, cloud seeding to increase rain, reforesting and soil improvement work.

It's a start, but it has not stopped desertification yet.

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