Lufthansa pilots to strike

Lufthansa pilots have overwhelmingly voted to go on strike for better pay and conditions. Source: AAP

AN overwhelming 97 per cent of Lufthansa pilots have voted to go on strike for higher pay and better benefits, their union says, after counting ballots.

Major travel disruptions are expected in the coming weeks on Lufthansa flights and the company's budget airline, Germanwings, but no date for the stoppages has yet been set by the so-called Cockpit Union (VC).

The union will announce any stoppage 48 hours in advance, union spokeswoman Ilona Ritter said on Friday at Frankfurt international airport, where Lufthansa has its headquarters.

She said that VC would exempt the busy April 11-21 Easter vacation from strikes, provided Lufthansa was not "aggressive" towards the union.

The strikes will not affect Lufthansa's subsidiaries Swiss and Austrian Airlines, which have separate labour contracts.

The airline group, which is Europe's biggest, is in on a drive to cut labour costs so it can compete with Gulf-based long-haul carriers and a raft of cheap and cheerful carriers on European routes.

Lufthansa urged the union to resume negotiations, but said it had no concessions to make.

The group's 5400 pilots are demanding pay hikes and a revival of a deal that allowed them to retire at 55 with up to 60 per cent of their last pay. Currently, the average pilot's retirement age is 59.

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Reasonable chance of finding plane: RAAF

Three planes have left Perth to continue the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane. Source: AAP

THERE is a reasonable chance of finding something in the Indian Ocean in the search for the missing Malaysian Airline plane MH370, Royal Australian Air Force group captain Craig Heap says.

Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss said from Perth's north on Saturday afternoon the Australian search effort had so far covered some 500,000 square kilometres.

There had been no finds of note since some large debris was defined last week, he told a large international media contingent at the RAAF Pearce air base.

Mr Truss said there had already been 15 sorties from the base, mainly Australian and New Zealand Orion aircraft.

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New laws for farm, mine disputes in Qld

RESOURCE companies will no longer be able to use court action to railroad Queensland farmers under new state laws.

Under the old system, if landholders and resource firms couldn't strike a compensation and land access deal within 40 days, the company could take the farmer to the Land Court.

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney says the threat of costly court proceedings had been used by companies in the past as leverage over landholders.

But under new laws passed by parliament on Thursday, resource firms will have to apply for a development approval with the state government if negotiations with farmers fail.

Mr Seeney says, if a project is approved or knocked back, both parties have the right to appeal in the Planning and Environment Court.

"I have watched for years as rural producers felt threatened, resource companies felt constrained and local councils were caught in the crossfire of disputes that needn't have happened," the deputy premier said in a statement.

The Queensland Farmers Federation says the new rules put land owners at the forefront of decision making about projects on their land.

"It begins to address the power imbalance between farmers and resource proponents and quite rightly prioritises agricultural activity on what is a finite and critical resource for Queensland," chief executive officer Dan Galligan said.

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Vic kindy kidnapper jailed for bashing

SERAFETTIN Huseyin once kidnapped a group of terrified kindergarten kids and doused them in petrol to highlight his wife's medical compensation battle over the birth of their son.

More than two decades on, it was a belief that his wife misled him about the timing of that pregnancy that led Huseyin to bash her with a hatchet in an attempt to permanently disfigure her.

In an attack described by a judge as "cold, calculated and premeditated", Huseyin struck his sleeping wife with the butt of a heavy steel hatchet at least three times in their Dandenong home in November 2012.

Huseyin, who was found guilty by a jury of intentionally causing serious injury, was jailed on Friday for nine-and-a-half years and must serve at least seven years before being eligible for parole.

The now 62-year-old had planned the attack for nine months, believing his wife had misled him about the timing of, and reason for, her pregnancy, which resulted in the birth of their son more than 30 years earlier.

It was that birth, he believed, that caused his wife health problems, caused the compensation battle and led to him kidnapping four children at a Hawthorn kindergarten in 1989.

Huseyin served 14 years in jail for the kidnapping.

Sentencing him on Friday, Victorian County Court Judge Frank Saccardo said both crimes involved Huseyin using extreme and violent measures to bring attention to what Huseyin believed was a wrong done to him.

"In that sense, it is clear that you have little regard for the rights and safety of members of the public or your family," he said.

Judge Saccardo said the crime was cowardly and committed against a defenceless woman.

The attack was interrupted by the couple's son, just as Huseyin had the hatchet above his wife's head to deliver another blow.

The attack left Huseyin's wife with a fractured cheekbone and wounds to the back of her head.

Judge Saccardo said Huseyin had shown no remorse for his crime and had refused to undergo a psychological assessment.

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PM angry as carbon tax repeal defeated

The PM has slammed the opposition for blocking his carbon tax repeal package in the Senate. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has vowed to push on with scrapping the carbon tax despite the Senate voting down the measures.

The Senate rejected the Abbott government's package of nine bills to abolish the fixed price on carbon emissions on Thursday.

Mr Abbott said Labor was breaking its commitment to remove the tax.

"The carbon tax is an act of economic vandalism," Mr Abbott told question time.

"You can't trust (Labor) anywhere near an economy."

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San Francisco ups loans for home buyers

SAN Francisco will now lend as much as $US200,000 ($A221,717) to some home buyers toward a down payment on their first house or condominium.

Mayor Ed Lee's decision to double the previous limit of $US100,000 was intended to help middle-class residents who have been hit hard by the housing crunch.

The new loan limit goes into effect this month, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The move came as the median home price in the city reached $US925,000 due to low supply and high demand, especially among the city's influx of well-paid technology workers. The city said the previous loan limit is now too low to do much good.

The increased limit will be available to people who make up to 120 per cent of the city's median income, which is currently $US116,500 for a family of four.

"Our city's middle class is deeply affected by the housing crunch - they make too much to qualify for our traditional affordable housing, but not enough to afford much of the new market-rate construction," Lee said.

When a borrower sells or refinances, the loan has to be paid off along with a percentage of the property's appreciation. The money is then returned to the loan pool.

The mayor's office said the fund has provided $US14.7 million in loans since it was launched in 1998. Some $US12 million in loan repayments and appreciation have flowed back into the fund.

Melissa deKelaita, 29, bought a small one-bedroom apartment in 2012 after learning about the program from her real estate agent.

"I was able to achieve and do something that I never thought I'd be able to do at this point in my life by myself," deKelaita said.

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Soldiers injured in Qld training exercise

Three soldiers have been hurt during a training exercise in Queensland involving a Howitzer. Source: AAP

THREE soldiers have been injured, two seriously, while firing a gun at an army base in central Queensland.

The soldiers were injured during a training exercise involving a howitzer field gun at the Shoalwater Bay base near Rockhampton about 10.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday, Defence said in a statement.

Two soldiers are in a serious condition and the third is stable.

"The incident ... involved the firing of an illumination round from an army M777A2 Howitzer," a statement from the defence force said.

The soldiers were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital.

Details about the soldiers, their injuries and the cause of the accident have not been released.

The Australian Defence Force Investigative Service is investigating the incident.

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Dramatic boost for ICU infection survival

AUSTRALIAN and New Zealand hospitals have dramatically improved the survival chances of people admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) with severe infections, according to a 12-year study.

The improvements are so good that patients in the two countries are more likely to survive than anywhere else in the world, says study co-author Associate Professor David Pilcher, of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society.

He and colleagues from Monash University reviewed more than 100,000 patients treated in 171 ICUs from 2000 till 2012.

At the start of the study patients had a 34 per cent of dying. That figure was slashed to 18.4 per cent by 2012.

The number and severity of infections increased over the period of the study, says Prof Pilcher.

"We don't know the specific reasons," he says. "It could include greater recognition of infections in wards or the emergency departments.

"An increasing incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria could be a factor."

People with severe infections, commonly known as septicemia, are the most common emergencies treated by ICUs and make up almost 10 per cent of the 1,037,115 patients treated at the ICUs over the period.

Elderly people and those with compromised immune systems are most at risk, but patients could become severely infected after an operation or as a complication from pneumonia or another illness.

There was also an overall improvement in ICU survival during the period, according to the study, which is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Prof Pilcher says there is a gap in information about what happened to ICU patients after they were discharged from hospital.

"Many people go to rehabilitation centres, chronic care facilities and nursing homes. We don't know what happens to them next.

"We don't know if they can walk and talk and feed themselves or if they are alive one year later.

"This is a positive story. But if we are going to continue to improve we need to know how well these patients do when they leave. That's our next area of focus."

He said there was no single reason for the improvement.

"It's not due to a magic bullet or a specific antibiotic or therapy," he said.

"This reflects overall good care.

"It is partly due to the training of nurses and doctors, and good facilities.

"It is also due to the ability to provide 24-hour one-on-one nursing for every patient."

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Australia pushed to lead election inquiry

CAMBODIA'S opposition party is calling on Australia to lead an investigation into that country's elections, which were marred by allegations of corruption and political violence.

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy is in Canberra with two of his MPs trying to drum up support for an inquiry into Cambodia's electoral commission and claims of irregularities in last July's poll.

He will meet with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Wednesday to ask the government to front an international campaign to "restore democracy" in the Southeast Asian nation.

"Australia is well placed to take such a lead to help Cambodia," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

"Australia is, in our eyes, a model of democracy in this part of the world."

He recalled the prominent role Australia played in the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1991, which helped Cambodia transition towards democracy after the genocidal horror of the Pol Pot years.

But he said the path to full democratic reform had derailed since then, and major reforms to the electoral commission and a fresh poll were needed to get it back on track.

Last year's election was tarnished by claims ink used in the poll washed off, and that some people were preventing from voting while others cast double ballots.

Mr Rainsy's Cambodia National Rescue Party won 55 seats in parliament, but the ruling Cambodian People's Party led by Prime Minister Hun Sen secured 68 seats in contested circumstances.

Ms Bishop raised Australia's concerns about political violence and human rights violations in Cambodia when she met with Prime Minister Sen in Phnom Penh last month.

She couldn't meet with Mr Rainsy, and suggested instead they meet in Canberra.

The Australian Greens have suggested the $85 million in Australian aid slated for Cambodia this financial year could be withheld unless democratic reforms were made.

Greens leader Christine Milne said Australia wouldn't be alone in pushing for a UN inquiry, as the US and European Union had also expressed concerns about the fledging democracy.

"Australia could really be a leading light and show to the world that we do have some interest in democracy and human rights in the region," Ms Milne said in Canberra.

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Anger over Victorian coal fire clean-up

PROFESSIONAL cleaners will help some people return to their ash-damaged homes in the Victorian country town of Morwell.

But others who will have to clean up themselves are unhappy about it.

Ash and smoke from a burning coal mine forced people from their homes more than two weeks ago.

The state government is providing $2 million to help clean up the town, with professional help given to those who need it most - over-65s, young children, pregnant women and those with heart and breathing disorders.

The others are being left to do their own cleaning.

"Asking residents to clean up the toxic coal ash is just exposing us to further risk," says Simon Ellis, who represents householders in the area.

Hundreds of people have been forced from their homes since bushfires ignited the nearby Hazelwood coal mine last month, spewing ash and smoke over the town.

In announcing an assistance package in the Latrobe Valley town on Tuesday, Premier Denis Napthine said priority would be given to the most vulnerable.

The package will provide vacuum cleaners and high-pressure hoses for other householders to use.

"These are high-quality vacuum cleaners that are able to deal with particles and the ash associated with this incident," Dr Napthine said.

Latrobe City Council will co-ordinate the program and also distribute buckets, gloves, dust masks and goggles.

Mr Ellis, who is president of residents advocacy group Voices of the Valley, accused the government of shirking its responsibility by not offering professional cleaning to everyone.

"Coal ash is toxic and needs to be professionally cleaned from the whole house and roof cavity," he said in a statement.

"Any relief package should include the costs of a comprehensive professional clean-up.

"People are crying out for help - it's just not good enough."

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