China Walmarts remove tainted donkey meat

Walmart has removed several batches of tainted donkey meat from its stores in China. Source: AAP

WALMART has removed several batches of donkey meat from its stores in the Chinese city of Jinan after discovering that it was being sold fraudulently mixed with undeclared meat from other animals.

After a series of DNA tests, it was found that the donkey meat, a normal dish in the eastern province of Shandong, was mixed with flesh from other animals, including fox meat, the official China Daily said on Friday.

The head of the local company that produced the meat, Dezhou Fujude Food, has been detained and production at the factory suspended.

Walmart has apologised to Chinese consumers and has promised to return all the money paid for the product by all customers who bought the Five Spices brand of donkey meat.

Walmart China has launched an internal investigation, CEO Greg Foran said.

"At Walmart, we take the issue of food fraud very seriously.

"To this end, Walmart China is going beyond what local law requires and is adding DNA tests to its sample tests of meat products to ensure high quality and safety of the products sold in Walmart stores," the company said in a statement.

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Walker died of traumatic injuries: coroner

A coroner's report has ruled the death of late Fast and Furious star Paul Walker as an accident. Source: AAP

THE Porsche carrying late Fast and Furious star Paul Walker was doing more than 160 kilometres per hour when it crashed, nearly cutting the high-powered vehicle in half, a coroner's report has revealed.

The 40-year-old actor's body was charred beyond recognition in the November 30 accident, according to the report released on Friday by the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

The report said Roger Rodas, Walker's friend and financial adviser, was driving the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT at an unsafe speed, estimated by witnesses to be 100 miles per hour (160km/h) or more.

Rodas was also killed in the crash.

The report says the deaths have been ruled accidents and were due to the "combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries".

A more comprehensive report, obtained by TMZ, lists several other injuries, including multiple bone fractures.

The report also states none of Walker's organs were suitable for donation because of the extent of his injuries.

Walker's jaw, collarbone, left upper arm, ribs and pelvis were fractured by the impact of the crash.

The crash happened in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, where Walker and Rodas had attended a charity event.

Neither man tested positive for alcohol or drugs including marijuana, cocaine, opiates and methamphetamine, the coroner's report said, adding that autopsies were conducted on December 3, but toxicology results were only confirmed on Friday.

The report said Walker was found "wearing remnants of a black T-shirt, a pair of black jeans and a pair of gray boxer briefs" and was "lying supine in the passenger seat".

The report said the driver lost control of the car "for unknown reasons," causing it to spin around and hit a curb, after which the driver's side of the Porsche struck a tree and then a light pole.

"The force of those collisions caused the vehicle to spin 180 degrees and continue in an easterly direction. The passenger side of the vehicle then struck another tree and burst into flames," it said.

"The vehicle was totalled with major traffic collision damage all around, and it appeared that the vehicle was almost split in half," the report added, saying: "The majority of the vehicle was also charred."

It said Walker's body "cannot be positively identified visually".

Rodas also suffered multiple injuries: his skull was fractured and his brain was exposed, the autopsy report said.

Investigators found no mechanical problems with the Porsche or problems with the roadway.

Walker's death stunned fans of the high-octane series The Fast and the Furious, and was a major blow to studio giant Universal Pictures, for whom the franchise is a huge money maker.

Universal announced the studio had shut down production of Fast and Furious 7 following Walker's death.

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Summernats to hit full throttle in Asia

BUCKLE up world - Summernats is going international.

The once-infamous street machine festival will make the trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for four days from August 29 this year.

Speaking at the second day of Summernats 27 in Canberra on Friday, festival co-owner Andy Lopez said the Malaysian version would be built upon similar principles of the Australian festival, which has received a family-friendly makeover in recent years.

Mr Lopez said Malaysia had a strong base of motoring enthusiasts, as could be seen in its support for the races it hosts in the Formula One and Moto GP.

"One of the most attractive things about Kuala Lumpur is that it's a regional centre, it draws on Thailand, Singapore and even Indonesia," he said.

"There's great car scenes in all of those countries, and it sits right there in the centre."

Chin Jit Pyng, founder of JPM Motorsports, who is running the festival in conjunction with Summernats, said they'd decided to go for a full-throttle, four-day Summernats festival in KL after a small trial last year.

Ten winners from Summernats in Canberra this week will get a free trip to the Malaysian festival with their cars to show Asia the best Australia has to offer.

Summernats 26 Burnout Champion Mark Schwirse, who will compete in the Burnout Masters this year, said he'd love the chance to show Asia what he's got.

"I reckon we'd be able to show anybody in the world how to do a burnout," he said.

And with Summernats the king of the tyre-shredding burnout, and Malaysia the sultan of rubber tree plantations - it might just prove to be a match made in heaven.

Australians who register for the Malaysian festival on the Summernats website will receive free entry.

Summernats 27 will run in Canberra until Sunday afternoon.

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Hottest year sparks climate change fight

The Bureau of Meteorology's annual statement shows 2013 is Australia's hottest year on record. Source: AAP

A SWELTERING 2013, Australia's hottest year on record, is the product of climate change and the warming trend is set to continue, experts say.

Labor and the Greens have also seized on the record-setting weather to accuse Prime Minister Tony Abbott of ignoring the science and listening to the "tinfoil hat brigade" about climate change.

The Bureau of Meteorology's annual climate statement shows that 2013 was Australia's hottest year since records began in 1910, with the hottest spring and summer, the hottest January and September, the hottest summer day and the warmest winter day.

The national mean temperature was 1.2 degrees celsius above the 1961-1990 average.

The record-breaking heat is continuing into 2014, with four weather stations in central Queensland recording highest-ever temperatures on Thursday.

Climate monitoring manager David Jones says there's no simple, natural factor to explain why the past year was so hot.

For instance, the monsoon arrived exceptionally early in November - which would usually cool things down - yet temperatures were still hot.

Drought years are also hot, but 2013 wasn't one.

"The globe is warming and Australia is warming. The trend's pretty clear," Dr Jones told AAP.

"This background warming trend has been with us for quite a few decades and is likely to continue now through the rest of the century."

Climate scientists say the record-breaking weather is due to climate change.

Victoria University's Professor Roger Jones said the burden of climate extremes needed a coordinated national response.

Acting Greens leader Richard di Natale said it went against all evidence for the government to unwind the carbon tax.

"Tony Abbott's a reckless ideologue who ignores the science and is intent on listening to people who are part of the tinfoil hat brigade," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"The experts right around the world are telling him loudly and clearly that we've got a big problem on our hands and we've got to start taking action to fix it."

Acting opposition leader Penny Wong said the only people in Australia who didn't believe in climate change were Mr Abbott and his cabinet.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that was nonsense.

"What we will do is take direct action that will reduce emissions and we'll meet our five per cent reduction target," she told reporters in Perth.

"Under Labor's carbon tax, prices go up and emissions go up so Labor's response was a nonsense."

Senator Wong said the government's direct action policy was "a con job you have when you think that climate change is absolute crap".

Environment Minister Greg Hunt was asked to comment directly on the Bureau of Meteorology's finding that "the past year emphasises that the warming trend continues" but did not respond.

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Bon Jovi still highest-grossing tour act

BON Jovi have re-affirmed their status as the highest-grossing tour act.

The American rockers have ended 2013 on a career high after banking $US259.5 million ($A292.61 million) to score the year's highest-grossing tour.

The Livin' On A Prayer stars have been trekking across the globe on their Because We Can: The Tour shows since February, and their huge success has landed them the top spot in Pollstar.com's annual list.

The figure is a record for the stars themselves, despite guitarist Richie Sambora quitting the gigs in April to spend more time with his daughter.

Beyonce's The Mrs Carter Show World Tour, which kicked off in April, was a distant second with a haul of $US188.6 million, while Pink claimed third place with $US170.6 million for her The Truth About Love tour.

Justin Bieber and Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band rounded out the top five, while Rihanna, Taylor Swift and One Direction also placed high on the list.

The Pollstar data re-affirms Bon Jovi's status as the highest-earning touring act of the year - Billboard magazine editors also honoured the band with the same title in early December.

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WA man in court over NYE murder

A 23-YEAR-OLD man appeared briefly in court charged with the murder of a young man at a New Year's Eve beach party north of Perth.

James Dorloff, 20, died after being attacked, possibly with a knife or machete, on the 400-metre-long Wedge Island, shortly before 1.30am (WST) on Wednesday.

Joseph Robert Houston has been charged with his murder and with intent to do grievous bodily harm unlawfully wounding another.

He appeared briefly in the Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday and was remanded in custody on a seven-day hospital order for a mental health assessment.

Houston will next appear in court on January 9.

Outside court, his father offered his condolences to the Dorloff family.

Johnny Cady, who was with Mr Dorloff at the party, posted a photograph of his friend on Facebook with the caption: "Thank you for riding shotgun through this car wreck that is my life."

Two other people, both aged 25, were injured - a man was flown by rescue helicopter to Royal Perth Hospital and a woman was taken by ambulance to Joondalup Health Campus.

The Wedge Island Protection Association (WIPA) issued a statement saying anti-social behaviour in the area had increased since the opening of Indian Ocean Drive three years ago due to ease of access by two-wheel drive road vehicles, social media and lack of sufficient resources to control anti-social behaviour.

WIPA said the incident happened outside the settlement and did not involve shack occupants.

The group said it would continue to offer input to local authorities to better manage the risks associated with gatherings near the Wedge Island area and anti-social behaviour.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Avoid shonky claims in 2014: Choice

Consumer group Choice is urging shoppers to stop listening to supermarket chains' low price claims. Source: AAP

GETTING mathematical at the supermarket banana stand may not be top of anyone new year's resolution list.

But it should be, says consumer group Choice.

The group is urging Australian shoppers to stop listening to supermarket chains' low price claims and start doing their own sums.

With supermarkets spending millions each year telling consumers they will get "lower prices every day" and prices are "down, down and staying down", savvy consumers should look past the catchy slogans and compare the unit price on all products when doing the weekly shop, the group says.

Choice issued its top 10 new year's consumer resolutions on New Year's Day, with other top tips including how to avoid the "Australia Tax" when shopping online.

By learning how to use a virtual private network (VPN), Australian online shoppers can avoid being slugged with a price tag of up to 50 per cent more on some IT products and cosmetics.

Other resolutions include exercising scepticism when it comes to some "free-range" produce claims, comparing private health insurance bills and returning any faulty Apple products within two years.

When it comes to free range, reading the package carefully makes all the difference, Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said.

"If the stocking density is above the 1,500 birds her hectare set out in the national model code you might want to reconsider paying a premium," he said.

Consumers should also remember that "No refund" signs are illegal when the product is faulty and online reviews can't always be trusted.

"Each year, Australian consumers are confronted with shonky claims, over-priced goods and ever-more complex products and services," Mr Godfrey said.

"Following a few simple resolutions when shopping in-store and online will help to take the pressure of the family budget and encourage businesses to work harder for your loyalty."

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Latvia becomes 18th country to adopt euro

Latvia has become the 18th member of the eurozone, despite opposition from half of the country. Source: AAP

LATVIA has become the 18th member of the eurozone, which for all its dents and bruises still represents stability and security to the Baltic country's leaders.

The euro became Latvia's official currency after midnight local time Tuesday (2200 GMT/0900 Wednesday AEDT) as New Year's rockets exploded in the skies over the capital, Riga.

Latvia's political leaders see eurozone membership as a natural step, deepening the Western integration they have sought since Latvia broke away from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

However, polls show about half the country opposes the currency switch. Some are reluctant to give up Latvia's own currency, a powerful symbol of independence.

There's also concern over the eurozone's recent financial woes and resentment toward the austerity imposed by the government to fulfill the bloc's stringent membership criteria.

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Scooter company on track for first profit

SCOOTER maker Vmoto expects 2013 will be its first profitable year, thanks to growing sales in China.

The company makes electric and petrol scooters in China, and distributes them to more than 30 countries.

Vmoto also owns 10 retail outlets in China, with four of those stores having opened in the last two months.

On Monday, the company said November was another profitable month, and the company still expects to make its maiden annual profit, of between $300,000 and $600,000, in the 2013 calendar year.

Vmoto listed on the Australian share market in 2002.

It expects to have had made 42,000 scooters in the year, and had sold 3,197 of its own scooters in China by the end of November.

"The gradual buildup in sales month-on-month are testament to the Vmoto brand becoming increasingly recognised as a premium product for electric scooter riders in China," it said.

The company's shares gained 0.1 of a cent to 3.1 cents.

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Woman sexually assaulted in Vic

A SOUTH American woman has been sexually assaulted by a man who gave her a lift on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.

Police say a man approached the 28-year-old, who is working in Australia as a nanny, at McCrae on Sunday and offered her a lift to a train station.

He drove her to an isolated part of Shoreham, punched her in the face and grappled with her, before she got out of the car and tried to flee.

The man then allegedly ran her down and sexually assaulted her.

He fled the scene in his car, described as a gold-coloured Holden utility.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jason Walsh said the woman was extremely distressed and traumatised by the attack and had decided to leave Australia earlier than planned.

"She received minor facial injuries, however, emotionally will be scarred forever," he said on Tuesday.

Police say the man told the woman his name was Dane, and is described as Caucasian in appearance, of thin build, about 25 years old and about 165cm tall with short, light-brown or blond hair and light-brown eyes.

He was wearing a dark T-shirt, possibly black, light beige pants, possibly cargos and dark-coloured shoes.

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Man killed, four kids injured in NSW crash

A MAN has been killed and four children injured in a single-vehicle crash in the state's Hunter region.

Police said the crash occurred on George Downs Drive at Bucketty, about 50 kilometres south of Cessnock, about 1pm (AEDT) on Monday.

A man died at the scene. CareFlight said its doctor worked with ambulance paramedics to treat four children at the crash scene, before airlifting an 11-year-old girl to hospital at Westmead.

The girl's mother, who escaped serious injury in the crash, accompanied her daughter, who had head and neck injuries, on the helicopter.

The Westpac Rescue helicopter later transported the three other children to Westmead Hospital, CareFlight said.

The man's death takes NSW's road toll to seven.

The national road toll period runs from midnight December 23, 2013 until midnight January 3, 2014, local time, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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More cameras to monitor Adelaide

CLOSED-CIRCUIT television coverage of Adelaide's nightclub, restaurant and entertainment districts will be boosted with the state government to spend almost $5 million on more cameras and monitoring staff.

Acting Premier John Rau says the money will pay for another 25 cameras and for eight more protective security officers to boost monitoring of the growing network.

The new cameras are on top of 20 being installed by the city council on and near the new Adelaide Oval footbridge and in the redeveloped Victoria Square.

A further 230 cameras will be installed as part of the Adelaide Oval upgrade and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital development.

Together with private security cameras, there are now several hundred monitoring Adelaide's CBD and beyond.

Mr Rau says the growing network will improve safety without raising privacy issues in an era when "virtually everybody is wandering around with a camera in their pocket" anyway.

"The idea that people in public places, or even private places for that matter, have as much privacy as they would like, I think is a bit illusionary," he said.

Assistant Commissioner Bronwyn Killmier said police welcomed the increase in the camera network.

She said they helped patrols respond quickly to developing situations, sometimes preventing crime or at least preventing minor incidents escalating into major confrontations.

Traders have also welcomed the new cameras in Adelaide's west end nightclub district, which is striving to improve its image as a dangerous place to be at night.

"For too long the west end has been seen as a bit of no-go area, a place where people are actually frightened to come," West End Association president Andrew Wallace said.

"This investment in safety will actually make this place more attractive and seem safer to people."

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Stephen Wade said the government had been too slow to act on improving safety in the city.

Mr Wade said that eight years ago, the government had commissioned a review to identify gaps in Adelaide's camera network.

"Eight years later, we're only starting to look at filling those gaps," he said.

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WA's Taste Master reluctant to leave

JUMPING out of a plane was not as frightening as scaling the famously hair-raising Gloucester Tree in Western Australia's South West region, the man with one of the best jobs in the world says.

Rich Keam counts the 72-metre tree near Pemberton as the only challenge that's bested him in his enviable role as Tourism WA's "taste master" over the past four months.

The 35-year-old Englishman believes he scored the best of all seven gigs offered by Tourism Australia - including "chief funster" in NSW - as he's tasked with munching his way through WA's considerable culinary delights after beating more than 600,000 other applicants from around the world.

With about six weeks of his six-month contract remaining, he's yet to take in the temperate towns of Denmark, Albany and Esperance in the state's Great Southern region, and Geraldton in the Mid West.

But he's been dazzled by the Kimberley's rugged beauty, relished the South West - where he rubbed shoulders with top chefs such as Heston Blumenthal at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape - and taken the plunge from a tiny plane in the middle of Perth.

"I was absolutely terrified," Keam said of the tandem dive that landed him in the city's central Langley Park.

"I'm tall, so I had to stick my leg out onto the wheel and go head first down. That was surreal."

However, it wasn't as scary as trying to climbing 153 thin pegs to the top of the Gloucester Tree, a former fire lookout in the middle of Karri forest.

Keam twice made it about 15 metres up then declared: "I'm coming down!".

"My eyes were blurring, I got sweaty hands.

"I'd sooner jump out of a plane.

"If there was a harness, I'd do it, but that's the challenge, isn't it - to do it without a harness."

Keam said another top adventure was participating in the Kickstarters Gascoyne Dash, which starts in desert inland from Carnarvon.

The Brighton-based film costumer reached 220km in a souped-up buggy driven by WA's off-road racing champion Bradley Cooper, but it was the people he met in the fishing town that left the greatest impression.

"I just had a great time there," he said.

"There were really friendly people in Carnarvon - some real characters."

And after sampling boab tuber chutney, ants and pearl meat, Keam's gourmet highlight was at the Sal Salis luxury eco-camp on the Coral Coast at Ningaloo Reef, where he feasted on pork belly and mud crab salad.

"I was the only person there," Keam said.

"It was so peaceful and serene, looking out at the ocean, so I took two hours to eat it."

Keam says he'll miss WA - the ultimate self-drive holiday destination with its vast distances - and its family-friendly capital.

"I don't really want to leave.

"I'd like to stay here for a couple of years."

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Icebreaker 100 miles from stuck ship

AN Australian icebreaker is closing in on a ship wedged in Antarctic sea ice as part of a second rescue mission to free the stricken vessel.

A group of scientists, explorers and tourists has been stuck on the Russian research ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, about 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart, for the past five days.

Two icebreakers have given up on efforts to push through the thick and dangerous ice floes near Antarctica to try to free the trapped research vessel.

A third icebreaker, Australia's Aurora Australis, is on its way to the ship and is due to arrive about 11pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

It is the last ship in the area that will be able to help.

The Aurora Australis was about 100 nautical miles from the trapped ship at 2pm (AEDT), the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement.

If it can't battle through the ice, AMSA says a second option may be to consider ferrying trapped passengers with a helicopter.

The locked-in ship, with 74 people on board, including several New Zealanders, sent a distress call on Christmas Day after becoming trapped in heavy sea ice.

The ship had been undertaking the Spirit of Mawson voyage, which is retracing Sir Douglas Mawson's Antarctic expedition.

Professor Chris Turney of the University of NSW is leading the expedition, consisting of scientists, explorers and enthusiasts undertaking climate research.

He insisted during several interviews with international media outlets that everyone was in good spirits despite the ordeal.

The Aurora icebreaker is rated at being able to push through ice slightly deeper than one metre thick.

China's Snow Dragon icebreaker, which came within six-and-a-half nautical miles of the stuck ship before turning back out of safety fears, is standing by in case its helicopter will be needed.

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