Apartment blocks evacuated in east Sydney

ABOUT 60 people have been evacuated from two apartment blocks in Sydney's east after a fire broke out at an electrical substation.

The apartment blocks in Maroubra have been evacuated as a precaution after the adjoining substation caught fire.

The fire is not spreading, but the 15 firefighters at the scene can't enter the substation until energy authorities kill power, an emergency services spokesman told AAP.

"We're not going to send anyone in because all sorts of nasty things can happen at a substation," he said.

There's no indication of what caused the blaze at this stage, but it's not belive to be deliberate.

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14 Sri Lankan asylum seekers sent home

A MAN making his second bid for asylum was among 14 asylum seekers sent home after allegedly hijacking a ship off the coast of Sri Lanka, the federal government says.

Speaking in Sydney, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the 14 asylum seekers left Cocos Islands on a plane bound for Sri Lanka at 1pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

He said the group, which also included three children, had all been on the Chejan - a fishing trawler that was allegedly hijacked on October 13 off the Sri Lankan coast.

The boat had been missing until it was intercepted on Thursday north-west of the Cocos Islands by ACV Hervey Bay.

He said the government had decided to remove all but one of the alleged 15 hijackers because they faced "serious charges in Sri Lanka".

"The government took the view that it's appropriate that they face those charges and the removal occur as soon as possible," Mr Bowen told reporters.

"The Australian government took the view that the Sri Lankan government should be able to cooperate and these people should be able to face these charges."

He said the government was not pressured by Sri Lanka to remove the group and did not say why one of the alleged hijackers had not been expelled.

He also denied the government had acted overly secretively on the issue.

"I don't think there's been secrecy, we've been progressing their removal and that entails conversations with other governments and it entails steps being put in place," he said.

The group included one man who had already been removed from Australia after a previously failed asylum bid, Mr Bowen said.

"I'm very clearly now, we are showing that if they return again we have steps available to us which we will implement," he said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the Chejan should never have reached Australian waters.

"Labor has gambled on our borders by allowing alleged pirates to enter our waters and be given the opportunity to make a protection claim," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship confirmed on Saturday that seven more Sri Lankan men had returned home voluntarily from Christmas Island.

They departed Perth on Friday on a commercial flight for Colombo.

Mr Bowen said he expected even more people return home in the future as the government's policy of offshore processing takes effect.

People who opt to depart voluntarily can receive individual reintegration support to assist with their return through the International Organisation for Migration.

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Qld govt faces test over Caltabiano

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman is in crisis management as a senior public servant he hand-picked is investigated for allegedly misleading parliament.

Michael Caltabiano on Thursday stood down on full pay from his $500,000-a-year post as transport and main roads director-general over concerns he may have misled a budget estimates hearing last week.

Political analyst Dr Scott Prasser says Mr Caltabiano, having been a Liberal state MP, a Liberal Brisbane city councillor and a Liberal party president, isn't "any old public servant".

"He has strong political links, so this is a very challenging situation," Dr Prasser, a former Australian Catholic University academic, told AAP.

"How he is dealt with if he is guilty will show us how far the Newman government's standards of integrity go.

"They can give in to politics and give him a slap on the wrist and say 'naughty boy', or decide that he should be made an example of like they did with former police minister David Gibson."

Mr Newman dumped Mr Gibson as police minister in April over unpaid speeding fines.

Mr Caltabiano was among Mr Newman's first appointments, sparking accusations he was creating jobs for mates.

Dr Prasser said the appointment had been doomed to fail.

"He probably had a falling out with the transport minister because you can't have two political people running a department," he said.

Queensland Transport Minister Scott Emerson took the unusual step of referring his own director-general to parliament's ethics committee.

Mr Newman told reporters on Friday he and Mr Emerson had concerns about Mr Caltabiano's testimony.

"And we made the decision to refer the matter," he said.

Mr Emerson said while he had the premier's support, it was "my decision to send it to the Speaker Fiona Simpson, asking her to refer the matter to the ethics committee".

He said he had asked Mr Caltabiano about apparent discrepancies between what he told the estimates hearing and what the media reports had said.

When asked about his relationship with departmental liaison officer Ben Gommers - the son of Arts Minister Ros Bates - Mr Caltabiano told the hearing he had known him personally, not professionally.

But subsequent media reports allege Mr Caltabiano was named, alongside Mr Gommers, on the register of lobbying firm Entre Vous.

Mr Gommers, who earns up to $105,000 a year, is currently the subject of a Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation into his employment at Mr Caltabiano's department.

The Parliamentary Ethics Committee is now investigating Mr Caltabiano as well.

The committee can only make recommendations. It's up to the LNP-dominated parliament to decide what action, if any, will be taken.

Ethics committee chairman and LNP MP Alex Douglas said it was rare for parliament not to follow the committee's recommendation.

And while the committee is headed by an LNP member, he said it was bipartisan.

"People should be reassured that the ethics committee, which is one of the instruments of how parliament manages itself, takes itself really seriously and is impartial," Dr Douglas said.

The Newman government reintroduced laws making it a criminal offence, punishable by up to seven years' jail, to lie to parliament.

The Beattie government removed the legislation in 2006 when former health minister Gordon Nuttall was accused of misleading a parliamentary committee.

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Suicide bomber kills 32 in Afghan mosque

A SUICIDE bomber has killed at least 32 people and wounded 34 when he struck inside a mosque in Maymana city in northern Afghanistan during Eid al-Adha prayers, officials say.

The attacker was wearing a police uniform when he blew himself up on Friday in the crowded Eid Gah mosque in the provincial capital of Faryab province, deputy provincial governor Abdul Satar Barez told AFP.

"As a result of the explosion, 32 people are dead, 17 civilians and 15 police and intelligence agents. The provincial police chief, Abdul Khaliq Aqsai is among the wounded," he said.

Most provincial government officials were also at the mosque, which was crowded on the first day of the four-day holiday for the festival of Eid, which is celebrated throughout the Muslim world.

"We had just finished Eid-ul-Adha prayers and we were congratulating and hugging each other," Barez said.

"Suddenly a big explosion took place and the area was full of dust and smoke and body parts of police and civilians were all over the place. It was a very powerful explosion."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suicide bombings are a favourite weapon of Taliban Islamists trying to topple the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

Eid al-Adha is a celebration in which Muslims slaughter animals for feasts and distribute a portion of the meat among the poor, and the first day draws large crowds to mosques across the world.

Northern Afghanistan is relatively peaceful, with the Taliban, who were ousted from power in a US-led invasion in 2001, concentrating their operations in the south and east of the country.

But they have recently stepped up their activities in the north, despite the presence of more than 100,000 NATO troops in the country.

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Tokyo stocks close down 1.35%

TOKYO stocks have ended 1.35 per cent lower on profit-taking, with selling pressure fuelled by a rebound in the yen after recent weakness.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday closed down 122.14 points at 8,933.06, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues was down 1.36 per cent, or 10.19 points, at 741.23.

Hirokazu Fujiki, strategist at Okasan Securities, said: "The market is now subject to negative factors as players are trying to lock in profits."

The dollar topped Y80 on Thursday, driven by upbeat US jobs and sales figures as well as speculation the Bank of Japan (BoJ) was likely to expand an Y80 trillion ($A969.81 billion) asset-purchase program to help boost the flagging economy.

But the greenback weakened in late Tokyo trade, dipping below the psychologically important Y80 level.

"It's still all about expectations for BoJ easing," Monex market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama told Dow Jones Newswires.

"If the central bank decides to dramatically expand its asset purchases to include, for example, exchange-traded funds, which it is currently considering, the Nikkei could hit 9,300."

Computer-related firms were mixed after Microsoft launched a revamped version of its flagship Windows system, with Fujitsu down 2.26 per cent to Y302 while NEC was unchanged at Y140.

Canon fell 3.21 per cent to Y2,560 after the camera and printer maker said late on Thursday that it would earn less than expected in its latest fiscal year as third-quarter earnings dived by more than a third.

Sharp Corp rose 3.75 per cent to Y166 after the Asahi Shimbun reported the struggling consumer electronics firm was seeking talks with US tech companies over a possible tie-up.

Panasonic shares were off 2.76 per cent at Y493 on reports it may shut down its European mobile phone sales business.

On currency markets, the dollar bought Y79.84 against Y80.26 in New York late on Thursday, where it had touched a four-month high of Y80.34.

The euro changed hands at Y103.38 and $US1.2934 against Y103.78 and $US1.2930.

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Qld bureaucrat faces ethics probe

QUEENSLAND'S Transport and Main Roads director-general Michael Caltabiano has stepped aside after being accused of misleading state parliament over his work history.

Mr Caltabiano could face criminal charges over the matter as the Newman government has made lying to parliament a criminal offence.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson says he has written to Speaker Fiona Simpson, who on Thursday referred statements by Mr Caltabiano to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee.

"During the Transport and Main Roads Estimates Hearing on October 18 Mr Caltabiano said he had known a staff member personally, not professionally," Mr Emerson said.

The minister said he had been assured by Mr Caltabiano that his statement, referring to departmental liaison officer Ben Gommers, was accurate.

Mr Gommers is the son of Liberal National Party (LNP) minister Ros Bates.

Both were connected to lobbyist firm Entree Vous, which is now run by former LNP state director Geoff Greene.

The Courier Mail on Tuesday published a screen shot of the Entree Vous website showing Mr Caltabiano, Ms Bates and her son Mr Gommers as three key players in the firm.

Mr Caltabiano was described as "one of our people" and a testimonial from former Liberal senator Nick Minchin described him and Ms Bates as demonstrating the good side of lobbying.

"I have concerns with some inconsistencies between his statements and media reports," Mr Emerson told reporters.

"I spoke to him about my concerns and he made it clear he had told the truth."

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said Labor had also intended to refer the matter to the speaker when parliament sits next week.

"This is a scandal and the truth needs to come out," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"(Mr Caltabiano) is a Liberal Party powerbroker.

"It is a very serious issue to mislead an estimates committee."

Mr Caltabiano has stepped aside on full pay, under standard arrangements. His deputy Neil Scales will be acting director-general until the matter is fully investigated.

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Breast cancer treatment should be reversed

BREAST cancer treatments in Australia should be "reversed" so that a patient's medication begins before she's operated on, a tumour expert says.

Oncologist Fran Boyle says beginning drug therapy before a sufferer undergoes an operation - which already happens in some parts of Australia - could make it easier for a tumour to be removed.

"(The drugs) travel throughout the body killing any cancer cells that have already spread, (and) they also make the tumour smaller," Professor Boyle told AAP.

"It would be an advantage to give drug treatments before surgery rather than waiting to do the operation and then giving drug treatments somewhere down the line when people have recovered."

Prof Boyle said adopting this procedure of treating breast cancer - which is already being used in parts of Australia - is likely to reduce the consequences of more extreme treatment techniques.

"This is different from how historic breast cancers have been treated, where everyone gets an operation and then you get your drugs afterwards, this is kind of reversing that process", she said.

Prof Boyle was speaking at the national conference in Sydney on Thursday of Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) at which more than 600 survivors of breast cancer gathered to hear the latest developments in treatment and research.

With 37 women diagnosed with breast cancer each day in Australia, the two-day conference is also an opportunity for survivors to share their experiences.

Gerda, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989 and has since seen four other family members diagnosed with the illness, said networking with other survivors helped to deal with the issue.

"There is a real bond, just to know that they are not alone", she told AAP.

"Breast cancer is many different diseases and you can't just compare your breast cancer with the next person's."

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African Union readmits Mali

THE African Union has readmitted Mali after suspending it from the pan-African bloc following a March coup, and backed plans for authorities there to recapture the north from radical Islamists.

The move comes with the International Red Cross warning about the plight of those in the north of the country, where a food crisis looms.

"Council decides to lift the suspension of Mali's participation in the activities of the AU," the bloc's Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told reporters.

Mali's membership was revoked after army officers overthrew the elected government seven months ago.

The subsequent chaos gave free rein to a rebellion by Islamic extremists and Tuareg separatists who took over large swathes of the country's north, before the Islamists forced out their former Tuareg allies.

Fearful the area the size of France could become a sanctuary for al-Qaeda-linked Islamists, Mali's neighbours and Western powers are keen to drive the radicals out.

On Wednesday, the AU also endorsed a plan urging the "restoration of state authority of the northern part of the country".

The plan, which also calls for free elections in Mali early next year, would be presented to the United Nations Security Council for endorsement, Lamamra said.

Last week officials from the UN, AU, Mali and the regional bloc ECOWAS met in the Malian capital to devise a strategy to defeat rebels in the north.

The AU called for Mali's authorities to set up a national body to open talks with any armed groups in the north "willing to engage in dialogue to find the political solution to the crisis", Lamamra said.

The announcement late on Wednesday from the AU came as the International Committee of the Red Cross warned of a growing food crisis in the Islamist north of Mali.

"However, the armed conflict in northern Mali unfolds, the risk of a further worsening in the humanitarian situation in the region and throughout the Sahel is high," said ICRC president Peter Maurer, just back from a three-day visit to the region.

Those fleeing northern Mali to the south of the country or to neighbouring Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Algeria badly needed help, he added.

"They need food and better access to clean drinking water and health care."

ECOWAS has assembled a force of 3000 troops to try to retake Mali's desert north, an area roughly the size of France.

An AU statement on Wednesday said it was working with Mali, the UN, EU and others on plans "for the early deployment of an African-led international force to help Mali recover the occupied territories in the North".

Hundreds of jihadist fighters, mainly from Sudan and Western Sahara, arrived in northern Mali over the weekend to support the Islamist groups ahead of the planned regional intervention.

The armed Islamists have already enforced a harsh version of sharia law there, forcing women to cover their heads and banning cigarettes, alcohol and music.

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Suspect dead after shooting at US family

A MAN found dead at the property where five members of a Southern California family were shot, including two fatally, was the neighbour suspected in the shooting, police say.

Desmond John Moses, 55, was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head, holding a handgun and wearing body armour, police said in a statement on Tuesday. The Los Angeles County coroner's office identified his body after an autopsy.

Moses set his backyard bungalow ablaze early on Saturday before spraying bullets at the family who lived in the front house because he blamed them for an eviction notice he had received from their landlord, police said.

Investigators believe Moses entered the family's home around 4am wearing a dark cap and a white painter's mask.

Filimon Lamas, the father of the family, was fatally shot while shielding three of his children, and his four-year-old son also died, police Chief Mark Fronterotta said.

Gloria Jiminez, the 28-year-old mother, was shot in both legs but managed to carry her son out of the house.

Paramedics found Jimenez collapsed on the street. The child, who had bullet wounds to his head, later died at a hospital.

Authorities said Moses fired 10 times, also wounding a seven-year-old girl in the chest and a six-year-old boy in the pelvis. An eight-year-old boy escaped injury.

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Reef pilot system blasted in govt report

A FEDERAL government report has heavily criticised the safety systems for ships piloted through the Great Barrier Reef.

Following a 12-month investigation, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found no organisation was clearly responsible for managing the safety risks of piloting ships through the reef and nearby Torres Strait.

Under federal maritime law, all ships are required to use licensed pilots to navigate through certain sections of the reef.

The ATSB found major under-reporting of near miss collision and grounding events, and fatigue among pilots was a serious risk.

Australian Reef Pilots chief executive Simon Meyjes says his company has already addressed most of the major concerns underlined in the report, such as creating an industry-wide passage plan.

"These are things that were not unknown to us and that we've been working co-operatively with the regulator for many years now," he told AAP.

Mr Meyjes said he could not accept the report's suggestion that major safety incidents were going unreported.

"We actively encourage incident reporting and if there was ever an incident which went unreported, we've got a disciplinary process in place to correct that," he said.

Similarly, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it had "taken action in response to all of the issues identified".

Greens Senator Larissa Waters said any systemic safety failure would be "unacceptable".

"Australians are deeply concerned that the Great Barrier Reef is becoming a coal and gas highway, and even one ship spill could spell disaster for the reef," she told AAP.

Meanwhile, a Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation report suggested the number of coal ships visiting the state's coast would be less than 40 per cent of the figure used by environmental group Greenpeace.

Greenpeace campaigner Georgina Woods said the total number of ships was only one part of the issue.

"The spin by the coal industry is missing the point. If you have a beautiful masterpiece, a gorgeous painting like Monet's Water Lilies, you can't zoom into a small piece of it and say 'we can cut that piece out' and manage that impact," Ms Woods told AAP.

The ATSB says it expects about 9400 ships to travel through the Great Barrier Reef in the year 2020.

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Petrol sniffing blamed for mall fire

A 29-YEAR-OLD man was sniffing petrol in the roof cavity of a Darwin shopping centre shortly before a fire ignited, a court has heard.

Gabriel Brendon Hazelbane faced Darwin Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with two counts of damage to property and one count of recklessly endangering life.

Prosecutors allege Hazelbane lit a fire at Casuarina Shopping Centre in Darwin on September 6 above the People's Choice Credit Union, after unlawfully entering the roof space above the shop and setting fire to combustible liquids.

Defence counsel Anthony Pyne said his client suffered from substance abuse problems and was in a "difficult and desperate" time in his life.

He said Hazelbane had allegedly set up a bed inside the roof cavity and was sniffing petrol when it accidentally ignited.

Magistrate Daynor Trigg said the fire may have been an accident, but nothing should have been lit in a roof space.

"It sounds like an offence of stupidity rather than something that was intentional," Mr Trigg said.

No one was hurt during the incident.

Hazelbane was bailed to reappear on October 30.

Hazelbane's ex-girlfriend Susannah Maree Rigby also appeared in court, charged with damaging Hazelbane's car and contravening a domestic violence order.

Rigby, 22, pleaded guilty to shattering the windscreen of the car and scratching the word "junkie" into the bonnet with scissors.

She said she had been in a five-year relationship with Hazelbane that ended in January and the couple had two children.

Rigby admitted she did the wrong thing in attacking the car, but said she had been provoked by text messages from Hazelbane taunting her that he had been using the car he had given her to sell drugs and take women.

She was handed suspended sentences.

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Tokyo stocks mixed at close

TOKYO stocks have closed mixed as profit-taking offset earlier gains fuelled by yen weakness that came on the back of poor trade data and speculation of further central bank easing.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday inched up 0.04 per cent, or 3.54 points, to 9,014.25, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares was down 0.58 per cent, or 4.35 points, at 749.37.

The Tokyo market started the morning in positive territory as the dollar briefly climbed above Y80, giving a boost to Japan's hard-hit exporters who have struggled with a strong domestic currency.

But profit-taking erased most of the early gains.

"Its a challenge for the market to charge ahead too much further without seeing some profit-taking after the Nikkei rose for the last six straight days," said Toshiyuki Kanayama, market analyst at Monex Inc. in Tokyo.

The yen, a safe haven during economic uncertainty, has come under pressure after Japan on Monday posted its worst September trade figures in more than 30 years, as the global slowdown and a territorial spat with China weighed on exports.

Adding to concerns about the economy, the Bank of Japan issued a downbeat quarterly report on Monday that pointed to slowing growth.

The downturn has stoked expectations of further easing by the central bank, heaping pressure on the yen.

"It's a relatively simple tale of a profoundly weaker yen that has been, and continues to fuel the market," Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

But "US corporate earnings have not been completely encouraging, and with Japan's earnings reporting season just starting up, investors remain apprehensive", Kawai added.

Camera giant Nikon was up 1.59 per cent at Y2,044, Panasonic gained 0.58 per cent to Y523 while mobile carrier Softbank ended 0.07 per cent higher at Y2,592.

But Toyota Motor was off 0.15 per cent at Y3,145 following a report that said Japan's biggest carmaker was likely to miss its target of producing more than 10 million vehicles globally this year because of a sales downturn in China.

On currency markets, the dollar bought Y79.91, slightly weaker than Y79.95 in New York trade late on Monday, while the euro bought Y104.24, compared with Y104.43 in New York.

The European single currency eased to $US1.3045 from $US1.3060.

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Namoi Cotton posts strong turnaround

A BUMPER crop has helped Namoi Cotton return to profitability compared with the previous corresponding half year.

The cotton processor posted a net profit of $9.8 million for the six months ended 31 August.

This compared with a net loss of $56.7 million in the previous half year.

The cotton processing company said the result had been underpinned by strong ginning (processing of raw cotton) volumes and enhanced risk management practices.

"As a result of our de-risked business model and favourable industry dynamics, Namoi has achieved a substantial earnings turnaround in the first half of the financial year," chief executive Jeremy Callachor said in a statement on Tuesday.

Namoi said the 2012 Australian cotton crop was the largest on record for the industry and was anticipated to total 5.4 million bales, representing a 32 per cent improvement on the previous year's record crop.

Namoi Cotton had to date ginned 1,174,000 bales, with total ginning volumes now forecast final total volumes ginned at between 1.5 million and 1.6 million bales, from 1.3 million in 2011.

Mr Callachor said Namoi Cotton had maintained its leading position as the largest ginning organisation in the Australian cotton industry as a result of its core infrastructure capacity and continued resource, capital and operating investment in its ginning network.

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Qld grassfire danger eases

THE danger from large grassfires has eased in Queensland, but much of the state remains covered by a thick blanket of smoke.

Crews have contained the northern side of a big burn on the Centenary Highway at Ipswich, where Staines Memorial College was evacuated as a precaution on Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters will patrol the area while crews continue to battle the southern part of the fire.

At the height of the operation about 55 fire units, including two water-bombing aircraft, worked on the blaze, although no properties were under threat.

More than 60 fires are burning across Queensland, including on the Darling Downs and the Lockyer Valley, with suspicions that a number have been deliberately lit.

Police at Kingaroy west of Brisbane are investigating a number of fires that were deliberately lit in the area in the past week.

Firefighters are telling people southeast of Three Mile Road and Tin Mine Road, at Crows Nest, to prepare for an approaching bushfire.

A large blaze travelling in a north-westerly direction is expected to sweep through the area in the next 24 hours.

In central Queensland multiple fire crews are fighting a grassfire on Ohl Road and the Capricorn Highway at Gogango, southwest of Rockhampton.

A large blaze is burning on Dollarbird Drive at Tamborine, in the Gold Coast hinterland. Residents of Georgina Drive, Steele Road and Pine View Road at Logan Village have been advised to monitor their properties.

However, a fire weather alert for parts of Queensland has been cancelled.

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Aust troops adopt new combat uniform

NEW Australian-made MultiCam combat uniforms with a distinctly Australian design are on their way to Afghanistan.

Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare said local production of this uniform was under way and the first troops to wear them would be RAAF airfield defence guards and soldiers of the 7th Battalion (7RAR) set to deploy in the next few weeks.

Australia adopted the US Multicam, or multi-camouflage, uniforms in 2010 as the most effective concealment across the range of terrains in Afghanistan. American and British troops also wear them.

Australia initially sourced them from the US manufacturer Crye Precision and soldiers found this uniform comfortable and its camouflage highly effective.

But they did complain they looked just like American soldiers.

Mr Clare said Defence last year purchased a licence from Crye Precision to manufacture them in Australia and Crye developed a uniquely Australian version of the camouflage pattern with feedback from Australian troops in Afghanistan.

"This is best uniform for the work we do in Afghanistan. It provides better concealment and makes it easier for our soldiers to do their job," he said in a statement.

"The feedback I have received from troops has been very positive. They have told me this is the uniform they want, and Australian industry has delivered."

The new uniform is produced by Pacific Brands WorkWear Group in West Footscray, Victoria. The camouflage fabric is produced by Bruck Textiles in Wangaratta.

Mr Clare said 3600 sets of the new uniforms had been ordered in a deal worth $780,000. A further 5500 uniforms will be ordered to equip soldiers deploying next year.

The uniforms have stronger fabric and modifications to improve functionality and durability, the minister said.

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Arson charges laid over Qld grass fires

QUEENSLAND Police have laid a string of arson charges against a 27-year-old man, after more than 70 fires were lit deliberately in the Laidley-Gatton area west of Brisbane in the past three months.

The man, from Mount Berryman a few kilometres from Laidley on the Darling Downs, is due to appear in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

His arrest followed a joint investigation by State Crime Operations Command's Arson Investigation Unit, detectives from the Southern Region, the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and the Queensland Rural Fire Brigade Service.

Southern Region Crime Co-ordinator Detective Inspector Darrin Shadlow says the charges involve a number of offences relating to setting fire to grasslands, as well as endangering property by fire.

"Since July 24, it is believed in excess of 70 wildfires have occurred in the area with many alleged to have been deliberately lit and with the potential to damage or completely destroy houses and sheds," he said in a statement.

"In investigating these types of offences, we rely heavily on the public to provide us information about people acting suspiciously."

"If you see anything at all out of the ordinary, take a note of what you see and call police as soon as possible."

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B-grade horror ruining shark debate

A QUEENSLAND marine scientist says B-grade horror films contribute nothing to the debate on shark attacks.

Bond University Associate Professor Daryl McPhee believes that, with attacks increasing worldwide, serious debate is needed.

"The image of sharks in the media is usually an omniscient killer epitomised by Jaws and that dreadful movie coming out called Bait," Prof McPhee told AAP.

"It looks like a cross between Home and Away and Jaws, it's just another film about a shark stalking some people."

Prof McPhee is to address a community forum at Buderim, on the Sunshine Coast, on Tuesday night to share findings of his own research and raise questions with locals.

Three factors could be behind the rise in shark attacks, he said, citing human population growth, the protection of shark species and a boom in fur-seal populations.

"Human population growth is important, but whether this actually translates to more people being in the water is debatable," Prof McPhee said.

Australia has been protecting the Great White Shark for over 15 years but their exact numbers are still uncertain.

Numbers of fur seals, part of the Great White's natural diet, have been rising since they were protected.

"Whether this changes shark feeding patterns is not known," Prof McPhee said.

Drum lines and shark nets may not be good at stopping sharks, he said, because attacks are still happening on protected beaches.

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Russian troops strike at militants

RUSSIAN troops have reportedly killed 49 militants in a massive security sweep that followed angry comments from President Vladimir Putin about raging violence in the troubled North Caucasus.

The National Anti-Terror Committee said the operation was conducted across several republics of the volatile Muslim region and resulted in the removal of some of the most "odious" guerrilla commanders and their followers.

"The coordinated action helped terminate the activities of several odious gang leaders, gang members and their associates, substantially damaging the system under which the bandits operate," the Interfax news agency quoted a committee statement as saying.

The committee said the "large-scale and massive" raids involved both local and federal troops and that 90 militia bases had been destroyed.

However, it gave no details about the timeframe for the operation or when it started.

Putin held a meeting on Friday on the North Caucasus in which he berated officials for failing to do enough to bring the region under full control after it witnessed two post-Soviet wars against pro-independence rebels in Chechnya.

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Korean man feared drowned off NSW beach

AUTHORITIES hold little hope for a South Korean man who went missing while swimming off a northern NSW beach.

The 23-year-old student was caught in a strong rip just off Woolgoolga's northern beach on Saturday evening.

Authorities spent all day Sunday searching for him, but to no avail.

Scaled-back searches will continue on Monday, including a land-based search around the Woolgoolga headland.

But police admit there's little hope of finding the man alive and attention has now switched to recovering his body.

Meanwhile, the man's 30-year-old friend, who was rescued from the water after being caught in the same rip, is recovering from his ordeal.

The man is understood to have swallowed a large amount of water but was otherwise unharmed.

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Hong Kong steps in to curb strong currency

THE Hong Kong Monetary Authority has reportedly sold $US603 million ($A584 million) worth of Hong Kong dollars in the foreign exchange market in an effort to curb the currency's rise.

The move on Saturday came as the US dollar hit HK$7.75, the lower limit of the trading band in which the greenback is allowed to trade against the local currency, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The Hong Kong dollar is typically allowed to trade in a narrow range between HK$7.75 and HK$7.85.

The HKMA said demand for the local unit was robust due to a weakness in the US dollar and stabilisation of European markets, which triggered capital inflows to Asian currencies and stocks.

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