ACTOR Jeremy Renner is a dad.
The Hurt Locker star and girlfriend Sonni Pacheco confirmed on Friday that they are the parents of Ava Berlin Renner.
A statement released by Renner's spokeswoman Susan Patricola says the new parents "are beyond thrilled".
Renner played a military explosives expert in the 2008 Oscar-winning film.
Renner has also starred in The Bourne Legacy and The Avengers.
A US Zumba instructor who has pleaded guilty to using her studio as a front for prostitution. Source: AAP
A DANCE instructor accused of using her Zumba fitness studio as a front for prostitution has pleaded guilty to 20 counts in a scandal that captivated a quiet US seaside town.
The agreement that followed a second day of plea negotiations on Friday spares Alexis Wright from the prospect of a high-profile trial featuring sex videos, exhibitionism and pornography.
Prosecutors will recommend a jail sentence of 10 months when she's sentenced on May 31.
Wright quietly answered "guilty" 20 times when the judge read the counts, which include engaging in prostitution, promotion of prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion and theft by deception.
"We're very satisfied with it. It's an appropriate outcome, given the gravity of her actions," Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell said after the brief court hearing.
The 30-year-old Wright was accused of conspiring with insurance agent Mark Strong Sr to run a prostitution business in which she kept detailed records indicating she made $US150,000 ($A144,314) over an 18-month period.
She was also accused of using a hidden camera to record sex acts without her clients' knowledge.
She was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the agreement were misdemeanours, including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.
Strong, 57, of Thomaston, was convicted this month of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and sentenced to 20 days in jail. He was originally charged with 59 counts.
The scandal became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients, leading to a guessing game of who might be named publicly in the coastal town of Kennebunk, a community better known for its beaches and sea captains' homes than for crime.
Those who have been charged so far include a former mayor, a high school hockey coach, a minister, a lawyer and a firefighter.
A MAN who allegedly hacked and injured 23 school children in central China will be tried on charges of intentional homicide and jeopardising public safety.
The municipal prosecutor's office for the city of Xinyang in Henan province said in a statement that it has charged Min Yongjun, who allegedly broke into an elderly woman's house one morning in December last year and stabbed her with a kitchen knife before he went to a nearby elementary school in Chenpeng village in Guangshan county and injured the 23 children as they arrived for class.
The prosecutor's office says the woman and seven students were severely injured.
There has been a string of such stabbing attacks on schoolchildren in China in recent years, alarming parents and schools which increased safety measures.
JAPANESE shares ended higher at the end of quiet regional trade on Friday but the euro edged lower on lingering concerns over Cyprus despite the island's bank's reopening to relative calm.
Lenders in the Mediterranean nation began trading Thursday for the first time since a controversial bailout was agreed, with the first capital controls of their kind in the eurozone blocking a bank run that analysts feared could ripple across region.
Investors were also eyeing tensions on the Korean peninsula, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered preparations for strategic strikes on the US mainland and military bases after US stealth bombers flew training runs over South Korea.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended 0.50 per cent higher, adding 61.95 points to 12,397.91. The market finished the first three months of 2012 almost 20 per cent higher.
In other markets Seoul gained 0.57 per cent, or 11.37 points, to end at 2,004.89, while Taipei finished up 0.66 per cent, or 51.73 points, at 7,918.61.
In late afternoon trade Shanghai was 0.10 per cent higher.
Markets in Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila and Mumbai were closed for the Easter holidays.
In forex trade, the euro edged up to $1.2804 from $1.2814 in New York late Thursday, while it bought 120.43 yen from 120.64 yen.
The single currency has been on a downward roll as traders fret about the situation in Cyprus, which this week agreed a rescue plan with its creditors that includes a levy on bank deposits over 100,000 euros.
There had been fears ahead of the reopening of the country's banks that savers would rush to take out as much money as they could - and lead to a knock-on effect in other troubled economies.
However, while the euro avoided a big sell-off analysts said the Cyprus crisis was still not over, while Italian politicians struggle to produce a governing coalition more than a month after elections despite the economy being in dire straits.
The dollar weakened to 94.06 yen, from 94.12 yen, ahead of a Bank of Japan meeting next week that is expected to see the launch of more aggressive easing by the central bank.
Traders will also have an eye on meetings of the European Central Bank and Bank of England.
Wall Street provided a healthy lead, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high thanks to growing confidence in the US economy, while the Dow, hit yet another all-time high itself.
A WOMAN has suffered burns in a gas cylinder explosion at Berowra Waters in Sydney's north.
The woman, believed to be aged in her 20s, was standing near a barbecue when the cylinder exploded at about 1pm (AEDT) on Friday.
Police said the woman was airlifted to hospital.
She reportedly suffered burns to her chest, face, arms and legs.
Earlier on Friday the NSW Department of Fair Trading urged consumers of gas and electrical products to make sure their appliances were in proper working condition.
"All gas barbecues and small camping gas appliances must be approved to be legally sold, so make sure your product has an approval mark," NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said in a statement.
"Check hoses on barbecues, they can crack and perish," he said.
A DECADE since an elderly woman's remains were found in her Melbourne home two years after she died, Australians are being urged to celebrate Neighbour Day in tribute to her.
The special annual celebration of community was launched in 2003 just after 75-year-old Elsie Brown's body was found by police two years after she died.
Mail, store catalogues and newspapers had piled up at her front door but neighbours didn't connect that with anything being amiss.
Australians are being urged to get together with their neighbours on Sunday as the country celebrates Neighbour Day to promote safer and more tolerant communities.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard sent a message of support, saying Neighbour Day was an opportunity to remember the importance and value of of strong communities.
"We all have an obligation to keep an eye out for those around us, particularly those who are most vulnerable," she said in a statement.
Ms Gillard said small gestures such as having a chat with neighbours or organising a community get-together could go a long way to creating safer and more inclusive neighbourhoods.
"I encourage all Australians to take part in Neighbour Day."
One of the aims of the special day is to ensure protection of the elderly, the vulnerable and the disadvantaged in communities.
Neighbour Day founder Andrew Heslop, whose letter to the editor of The Age newspaper about Mrs Brown's case kicked of the idea, said on Friday the success of the day was a living tribute to her.
He said street parties, barbecues, lunches, festivals and other events run by councils, resident groups, tenancy associations, developers and churches would bring residents together.
"It could be as simple as boiling the kettle and having a cup of tea, a slice of cake or a Tim Tam," he said in a statement.
SCIENTISTS say they have proved Chinese medicine and conventional drugs work well together in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
After a controlled 48-week clinical trial of 800 adults with type 2 diabetes, researchers from Queensland and Beijing are confident the conventional drug glibenclamide is significantly more effective when used with a preparation called Xiaoke Pill.
Xiaoke Pill is a compound of Chinese herbs and glibenclamide.
The research shows patients treated with Xiaoke Pill and glibenclamide are more than a third less likely to experience hypoglycaemia - dangerously low levels of blood sugar - than those treated with only glibenclamide.
They are also less likely to experience other symptoms of diabetes, including fatigue, hunger and palpitation.
"Traditional Chinese medicine has long been used to treat diabetes in China and around the world but until now there has been a lack of evidence regarding its safety and efficacy," says Dr Sanjoy Paul, of the University of Queensland's School of Population Health.
"This absence of scientific understanding has caused scepticism and criticism."
Dr Paul says more studies are needed to interpret just how traditional Chinese medicine works to reduce hypoglycaemia, but the study results highlight its potential to reduce the treatment gap in developing countries where diabetes is at epidemic proportions.
"A vast majority of people in developing countries depend on herbal medicine for basic health care," Dr Paul says.
The study is published in the journal Plos One.
SOCIAL media detectives are being called on to track down thieves who stole a wooden parrot from a tiki bar in Perth.
The outraged owners of the Hula Bula Bar in Victoria Avenue have used their Facebook page to post images of the group, and video of the alleged theft.
CCTV shows four men and a woman laughing as the parrot is ripped away from a bamboo beam.
Pete Long from the Hula Bula Bar said permanent damage was done to the bar, and he wanted help in catching the offenders.
"This group spent half an hour watching out for staff so they could violently pry a wooden parrot statue off a bamboo beam in our back room. They caused permanent damage to our custom built bar and stole an irreplaceable decorative parrot.
"If you are one of these people, please return my parrot and pay for repairs, and you might get served in a Perth bar again ... maybe."
HOWLS of protest have followed a decision to let lead carbonate shipments resume through Fremantle port.
Canadian company Rosslyn Hill Mining was on Wednesday given permission to ship lead from its Wiluna mine in Western Australia's Mid West region to the port south of Perth, subject to strict conditions.
The company, formerly known as Magellan Metals, breached transport rules in 2007, 2010 and 2011.
In the first instance, it was barred from shipping lead through the southern WA port of Esperance after extensive lead contamination was discovered in the town.
The alarm was raised after thousands of dead birds were discovered.
In 2011, the company stopped mining at Wiluna altogether after traces of airborne lead were found in containers carrying sealed bags of lead carbonate sent by rail to Fremantle.
On Thursday, WA Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said the state government had made a mistake in giving the company another chance.
"The state government must not allow this trade to resume," he said.
The new set of strict conditions includes transporting the lead carbonate in sealed, double laminated, waterproof and sieve-proof bags, inside sealed containers.
Senator Ludlam said the conditions did not go far enough and suggested exporting lead in ingot form as it greatly reduced the danger of contamination.
"The company has shown itself not competent to export this material in carbonate form, and state regulators are too understaffed to keep the company honest," she said.
Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt agreed ingots would be the safest form in which to transport the toxic heavy metal, saying the council would keep a keen eye on the company.
MAJOR fires are threatening homes in Victoria's east and west.
The CFA says a fast-moving grassfire at Dereel, west of Melbourne, may have already destroyed a home or a shed and damaged 12 buildings.
Three firefighters battling the blaze were taken to hospital on Wednesday afternoon suffering smoke inhalation and burns.
An ambulance spokesman told AAP the men were in a stable condition at Ballarat Base Hospital.
The CFA issued two emergency warnings because of the fire, which has burned more than 1230 hectares.
A spokeswoman told AAP a wind change on Wednesday night could send the blaze towards the community of Mount Mercer, and an emergency warning was in place for Dereel.
CFA chief officer Euan Ferguson said the fire could destroy homes.
"The risk that more dwellings may be affected and perhaps even destroyed by fire around Dereel is very real," he told ABC television.
A relief centre was opened at the Linton Recreation Reserve.
An emergency warning was also issued for a separate bushfire at Hallston, east of Melbourne.
The CFA said the fast-moving, out-of-control fire would threaten the communities of Hallston, Dickies Hill Junction, Allambee South, Berrys Creek before 8pm (AEDT).
The fire was burning across 312 hectares and creating spot fires a kilometre ahead of the front, the CFA said.
Earlier on Wednesday, crews at Officer battled a fire that was looming near a major electricity connection between Melbourne and power generators in the Latrobe Valley.
Australian Energy Market Operator spokesman said Joe Adamo said the fire did not pose a threat to Melbourne's electricity supply.
North Korea has issued fresh threats to attack the US mainland, Hawaii, Guam and South Korea. Source: AAP
NORTH Korea says it is cutting a military hotline with South Korea, meaning that all direct inter-government and military contact has been suspended after it previously cut a Red Cross link.
"From now, the North-South military communications will be cut off," the North's official Korean Central News Agency quoted a military official as saying.
"Under the situation where a war may break out any moment, there is no need to keep up North-South military communications," the official told a South Korean counterpart before the hotline was disconnected.
He said the link would remain severed as long as the South's "anachronistic hostile acts continue".
Several weeks ago North Korea severed the Red Cross hotline used by the two governments to communicate in the absence of diplomatic relations.
The hotline mentioned on Wednesday is important because the Koreas use it to communicate as hundreds of workers travel back and forth to the Kaesong industrial complex. Officials say more than 900 South Korean workers were in Kaesong on Wednesday.
It also comes a day after North Korea's military put its "strategic" rocket units on a war footing, with a fresh threat to strike targets on the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam, as well as South Korea.
North Korea is angry over routine US-South Korean drills and recent UN sanctions punishing it for its February 12 nuclear test.
Rome has printed one million bus and metro tickets bearing Pope Francis' silhouette. Source: AAP
ROME has printed one million bus and metro tickets bearing Pope Francis' silhouette, the city's transport operator says.
Transportation office Atac said the limited edition tickets will go on sale on Wednesday and depicts the Argentinian pontiff as he greeted the crowd from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica just after his appointment on March 13.
The tickets are valid for a limited period on all of Rome's bus and metro services.
"Atac pays homage to the new pope who appreciates public transport," it said, referring to the Argentinian pontiff's habit of using the bus- and metro system when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno welcomed the news.
"It's a beautiful initiative," he said. "It's a way of greeting the new pontiff and wish him welcome."
Just two weeks into his pontificate, the Pope has gained a strong following for his simple and friendly manner, drawing large crowds to the Sunday Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square.
Upon the beatification of John Paul II two years ago, Atac launched a similar initiative, issuing limited edition tickets that were adorned with the late Pope's portrait.
A FINKS bikie has been jailed in Perth for 15 months for refusing to answer questions before the Australian Crime Commission.
Stephen John Wallace, 49, pleaded guilty to five offences of failing to answer questions at an examination in Perth in October 2009.
Wallace had made an affirmation to tell the truth but then refused to answer five questions including whether he was a member or associate of the Finks, if he had been "patched" in July 2009, and if he knew fellow infamous bikies Frank Condo or Troy Desmond Mercanti.
In sentencing on Tuesday, West Australian District Court Chief Judge Peter Martino told Wallace he had had a choice during the examination.
"You could comply with your legal obligations and answer questions, or you could choose to break the law and not answer questions," he said.
"You chose to break the law."
Judge Martino noted Wallace had a long criminal record, including convictions for importing heroin into Australia.
He also considered that Wallace had served two years in prison for contempt of court by failing to answer questions before the state's Corruption and Crime Commission.
Judge Martino said general deterrence was an important factor.
"People must know that if they refuse to comply with their lawful obligation to answer questions at an examination before the Australian Crime Commission appropriate penalties will be imposed," he said.
Wallace was sentenced to 15 months in prison but could be free after just five months if he gives a $5000 undertaking to behave for two years.
If he breaches the undertaking, he will have to serve the rest of the sentence.
THE Bali Nine's Andrew Chan has been dealt a massive blow with Indonesia's National Narcotics Board believed to have recommended that his death sentence should be upheld.
A senior source involved in considering Chan's clemency application has told AAP that the narcotics board's decision was also in line with the recommendation of a Supreme Court judge.
Both the narcotics board and Supreme Court Justice Salman Luthan were asked by the office of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to provide a recommendation on Chan's clemency request.
"For Andrew Chan ... the goods involved so many kilos, right? It's difficult when it comes to this," he told AAP.
"So, we're just following what's requested to us and what's been recommended, that it's a 'no.'"
Justice Salman completed his recommendation in relation to Chan's clemency bid more than a month ago. It has been forwarded to the president's office.
"Our recommendation for it is no, as which is the recommendation of Supreme Court as well," the source told AAP.
Chan was sentenced to death in 2005 for his role in a plot to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia.
The latest development is also a worrying sign Myuran Sukumaran, 31, who along with Chan, filed for clemency early last year.
They are the only two members of the Bali Nine still on death row.
Dr Yudhoyono does not have to accept the recommendations, and is likely to also seek advice from officials at Kerobokan jail as well as the Justice Ministry.
In October last year, he granted clemency to Indonesian Merika Pranola, who was also convicted of drug smuggling despite the Supreme Court having recommended she be executed.
The advice from the judge and narcotics board emerged on Tuesday and comes after Indonesia earlier this month carried out its first execution since 2008.
Adami Wilson, from Malawi, was shot by firing squad in the Thousand Islands, an archipelago popular with tourists located off the coast of the capital Jakarta.
The 48-year-old was caught in 2003 attempting to smuggle one kilogram of heroin into Indonesia.
A spokesman for the Indonesian human rights group, the Commission for the Missing and Victims of Violence (Kontras), has described the execution of Adami as a worrying sign.
Haris Azhar said that while political factors and Indonesia's relationship with Australia would be considered when it comes to Sukumaran and Chan, there also seemed to be a groundswell of public opinion in favour of the death penalty.
There seemed to be "a big applause" when Adami was executed, Mr Haris said recently.
"This is a signal that people support it."
Indonesia has said another nine convicts would be executed this year.
However, Sukumaran and Chan are not on that list.
The PM called on the opposition and the Greens to support the people-swap plan with Malaysia. Source: AAP
THE Australian Greens and refugee advocates are calling for a coronial inquest into the boat capsize near Christmas Island that left two asylum seekers dead.
Three others who were injured in Monday's tragedy are being treated in Perth after being airlifted from Christmas Island overnight by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the deaths are "incredibly distressing" and wants the opposition and Greens to back recommendations made by the Houston expert panel, which include her people-swap plan with Malaysia.
"The thing that is stopping me from bringing it into operation is that unfortunately the leader of the opposition and his team has decided it is in their political interest to see more boats," Ms Gillard said in Perth.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott rejected the call, telling reporters in Sydney that when Ms Gillard referred to the Malaysia deal, she was looking for an excuse to do nothing.
"Because the Malaysia people-swap involves just 800 people and just at the moment we're getting 800 people a week," he said.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the government's no-advantage rule and offshore processing policies are not preventing people getting on boats.
She wants a coronial inquest and a review of Australia's boat interception protocols.
"We need to make sure we are doing absolutely everything we can to avoid these tragedies from happening," she said in Adelaide on Tuesday.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said it was yet another "damning indictment of the government's flawed, irregular immigration policy".
"This is not a border security problem but a humanitarian challenge," he said.
"Unless and until there is a sophisticated policy addressing source, first asylum and transit countries, the boats will keep coming."
The three injured include a boy, believed to be six to eight years old, who nearly drowned. He is receiving treatment in Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.
Royal Perth Hospital is treating a pregnant woman who nearly drowned and a 36-year-old man who has serious scalp wounds.
The fishing boat carrying 95 people capsized after stopping for an Australian Customs vessel, Ocean Protector.
Customs was responding to a call for help made by a passenger on Sunday night.
After two officers boarded the boat on Monday morning, two large waves struck the vessel and it rolled.
Customs officers plucked people from the water, but two, a woman and a boy, were dead, believed drowned.
Two more suspected asylum-seeker boats, carrying 105 and 83 people, were intercepted by Australian authorities near Christmas Island on Monday.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said 35,000 people had arrived by boat under Labor.
"Only a change of government will restore the proven measures of the Howard government," Mr Morrison said.
A THREE-METRE long dinosaur stolen from a Canberra museum has been recovered.
Police found the fibreglass Utahraptor inside a house in Page on Monday afternoon after a tip-off.
A 20-year-old man admitted stealing the statue as a birthday prank, ACT Policing said.
He appeared contrite and apologetic and told officers he had been planning to return the dinosaur to its home at the National Dinosaur Museum on Monday evening.
The statue's tail had been taken off but otherwise it was undamaged.
ANTI-MUSLIM mobs have rampaged through three more towns in Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist heartland over the weekend, destroying mosques and burning dozens of homes.
President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in central Myanmar (Burma) on Friday and deployed army troops to the worst hit city, Meikhtila, where 32 people were killed and 10,000 mostly Muslim residents were displaced. But even as soldiers imposed order there after several days of anarchy that saw armed Buddhists torch the city's Muslim quarters, anti-Muslim unrest has spread south toward the capital, Naypyitaw.
A Muslim resident of Tatkone, about 80 kilometres from Meikhtila, said by telephone that a group of about 20 men ransacked a one-storey brick mosque there late on Sunday night, pelting it with stones and smashing windows before soldiers fired shots to drive them away.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, he said he believed the perpetrators were not from Tatkone.
A day earlier, another mob burned down a mosque and 50 homes in the nearby town of Yamethin, state television reported. Another mosque and several buildings were also destroyed the same day in Lewei, farther south. It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence, and no clashes or casualties were reported in the three towns.
The upsurge in sectarian unrest is casting a shadow over Thein Sein's administration as it struggles to bring democratic reform the Southeast Asian country after half a century of army rule officially ended two years ago this month.
Two similar episodes rocked western Rakhine state last year, pitting ethnic Rakhine Buddhists against Rohingya Muslims in bloodshed that killed hundreds and drove 100,000 from their homes.
The Rohingya are widely denigrated as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and most are denied passports as a result. The Muslim population of central Myanmar, by contrast, is mostly of Indian origin and does not face the same questions over nationality.
The emergence of sectarian conflict beyond Rakhine state is an ominous development, one that indicates anti-Muslim sentiment has intensified nationwide since last year and, if left unchecked, could spread.
PERTH'S fleet of gas buses will remain on the road despite another being destroyed by fire, as transport bosses demand answers from manufacturer Mercedes Benz.
A month after Perth drivers threatened to walk off the job unless answers were given about the cause of several gas bus fires, another caught fire at a depot in Welshpool on Sunday night.
The bus was not in service and there were no passengers or staff on the bus at the time.
But the blaze destroyed the bus, worth around $550,000, and damaged another.
It sparked more fears about the potential safety risks to drivers and passengers, and prompted more urgent action from the Perth Transit Authority (PTA).
The PTA's David Hynes said there was still no possibility of gas buses being taken off the road, because they represented about 40 per cent of Perth's total bus fleet.
"To take them off the road would absolutely cripple the bus service and public transport," Mr Hynes said.
"I can understand the drivers would be (concerned).
"We are doing everything we can."
In February, a Transperth bus driver ordered about 20 passengers off a bus after seeing a warning light on the dashboard.
The driver turned off the gas valve, but the back of the bus soon caught fire.
On December 14, another gas bus was engulfed in flames and almost destroyed.
Mr Hynes said urgent requests were being made to Mercedes in Germany in a bid to discover the cause of the fires.
"I would expect we are making some fairly robust phone calls at the moment asking them to be involved further," he said.
Transport Minister Troy Buswell had previously implemented a five-point plan, including doubling inspections and examining the capacity to improve fire suppression systems.
An upgrade of those systems, costing about $1.5 million, will be fast-tracked to begin this week.
A report on the possible causes of the previous fires is due to be released within a week.
Senior Labor minister Anthony Albanese has called on his party to unite behind PM Julia Gillard. Source: AAP
OPPOSITION frontbencher Christopher Pyne says he's receiving text messages from Labor MPs still agitating for Julia Gillard's removal as prime minister before the election.
Mr Pyne's claim comes as the first opinion poll since the ALP leadership spill shows most voters believe the office of the prime minister has been damaged, as the party's primary vote languishes at rock-bottom lows.
He said he rejected former prime minister Kevin Rudd's statement that he would never return as Labor's leader following events of the past week.
"I'm still getting text messages from supporters of his in the caucus telling me that they plan to remove Julia Gillard in 71 days (June 3)," Mr Pyne told ABC television on Sunday.
"So the civil war continues and the losers from this are the Australian people."
Mr Rudd did not contest the ballot when he realised he lacked the numbers after Ms Gillard declared the leadership vacant on Thursday to end months of speculation.
A Galaxy Poll released on Sunday showed 56 per cent of Labor voters said the prime minister's office had been damaged by leadership instability, while 87 per cent of coalition voters agreed.
The coalition had a two-party preferred vote of 55 per cent to Labor's 45 per cent, which would give the opposition a 39-seat majority with a uniform swing at the September 14 election.
Senior minister Anthony Albanese called on the party on Sunday to unite and fight Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and the coalition instead of itself.
But Mr Pyne said Mr Albanese should not to be a part of Ms Gillard's new cabinet when she reshapes her ministry for the sixth time in nearly three years after eight Rudd supporters stood down last week.
Mr Pyne said it was untenable for Mr Albanese and fellow cabinet members Mark Butler and Bob Carr to continue in their roles given their apparent support for Mr Rudd.
"You can't have Anthony Albanese leading the House for Julia Gillard in whom he hasn't expressed confidence, whom he wanted to replace her deputy prime minister and treasurer with himself," Mr Pyne said.
Mr Albanese, however, says he will not resign.
"I believe it is certainly in the Labor Party's interest collectively that I continue to do the job that I've done both as a minister and particularly as Leader of the House," the transport minister told Sky News.
Ms Gillard refused to comment on her new cabinet while attending events in Melbourne and Sydney on Sunday.
After delivering a short speech at Greek Independence Day celebrations in Sydney, her only comment to reporters was: "It's a great day for our Greek community."
The coalition plans to place a no-confidence motion in the government when parliament returns on May 14.
Mr Abbott said if the crossbenchers were listening to their electorates they would join the coalition and vote for it.
Mr Pyne said a successful no-confidence motion could lead to a House of Representatives and half Senate election in July.
The Australian Electorate Commission states an election before August 3 would be for the House of Representatives and the four territory senators only.
Victorian Premier Denis Napthine has toured areas of the state's northeast devastated by a tornado. Source: AAP
VICTORIAN Premier Denis Napthine is encouraging people to take their Easter holidays in towns where a tornado cut a devastating path.
More than 20 homes and 100 caravans were destroyed when the freak storm smashed through towns on the Victoria-NSW border on Thursday night.
The tornado packed winds of between 250 and 300 km/h, sending roofs, caravans, vehicles and trees flying, injuring 20 people.
Dr Napthine toured the affected towns of Koonoomooo, Yarrawonga and Bundalong on Sunday.
"The devastation in the area affected has just been horrific," he told reporters at Koonoomoo.
The premier said the best way for other Victorians to help was to holiday in the tourist-dependent region.
"Come up here over Easter. It'll be open for business," he said.
"Show your support for the local community. Spend a few dollars in the town and help rebuild the local economy of this devastated community."
Dr Napthine said emergency accommodation had been provided to all those whose homes had been left uninhabitable.
The federal government has made available disaster assistance payments for those affected by the tornado.
POLITICIANS and prominent Greek Australians have joined with thousands in a central Sydney park to celebrate Greece's independence from the Ottoman Empire.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, environment minister Tony Burke, opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison, NSW Liberal MP David Clarke and NSW opposition leader John Robertson were all at The Domain on Sunday for the occasion, along with an Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Cypriot high commissioner and the president of the NSW Greek Orthodox community.
Joining them to mark the 1828 exit of Greece from the Ottoman Empire were about 3000 people, mainly families who had come to watch their children's church or school group perform traditional Greek dances and songs.
In a speech to those enjoying the sunny weather and Hellenic festivities, Ms Gillard said it was "a day of seriousness and also of enjoyment".
"(It is) a day to commemorate great patriots and a day to celebrate what they won and what their descendants have built around the world," she said.
Chrys Rontziokos, 40, was at the celebration with her children and parents, who emigrated to Australia in 1966.
She said the event was a great chance to catch up with other members of the Greek community.
"Everyone gets together on this day, people we haven't seen for a very long time," she told AAP.
"It's a beautiful culture that we've got. People who aren't Greek love our culture."
