Lorde replaces Frank Ocean at Splendour

Splendour in the Grass have asked NZ Lorde to jump in after headlining act Frank Ocean pulled out. Source: AAP

NEW Zealand teenager Lorde has been handed the break of her life after promoters of Splendour in the Grass asked her to step in to replace Frank Ocean, who pulled out of the festival at the last minute.

It is hoped the 16-year-old Auckland singer-songwriter - whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor - will thrill punters squelching in the mud at the festival outside Byron Bay in NSW when she takes to the stage at 5.30pm (AEST) on Sunday.

Lorde released her debut EP The Love Club in March, which features her number one New Zealand hit Royals.

Her second EP Tennis Court was released in June, following sold-out gigs in Sydney and Melbourne in May.

Lorde's entrance in the festival line-up has bumped up Monsters and Men into Ocean's Sunday night timeslot and The Presets up to the festival's closing slot.

Ocean cancelled all of his upcoming Australian shows on Friday after suffering a small tear to one of his vocal chords.

The singer-songwriter received medical advice to rest his voice.

Concert promoter Live Nation said on Friday it would be working to confirm a return visit to Australia for Ocean and advised those who purchased concert tickets to return them for refunds.

Ocean was scheduled to play at Melbourne's Festival Hall on Friday night and at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on Monday and Tuesday.

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Korean veteran remembers mate's snoring

Fifteen Australian war veterans who fought in Korea have returned to mark the 60th anniversary. Source: AAP

RETURNING to Korea 60 years after fighting in the war has stirred up unexpected memories for Bill Monaghan.

During the Korean War, Monaghan bunked with fellow fighter pilot Bob Macintosh at the Kimpo Airbase, outside of Seoul.

"The room mate I'm sharing with, we were in Kimpo together, I had forgotten how much he snores," the 84-year-old Canberra great-grandfather told AAP on the phone from Korea on Saturday.

The pair are among 15 Australia war veterans who have travelled to Korea to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice signing that ended fighting.

Mr Monaghan joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1949 and was in active combat during the last three months of the war.

His role was to fly over enemy supply lines and try to stop supplies getting through to the frontline.

"I was a frightened young boy from the country who did not know what he'd gotten himself into," he said.

During his twelfth combat mission, his Gloster Meteor plane was hit by enemy fire which took out his right engine.

Unable to return to base on one engine, Mr Monaghan made an emergency beach landing on the island of Paengyong-do held by United Nations forces, where his engine was replaced.

Mr Monaghan returned to Australia in December 1953, to marry his wife Dot.

"She's only divorced me 14 times," he joked, hastily adding that they've had a wonderful married life and are proud of their son and daughter.

More than 18,000 Australians served in the Korean War, 340 soldiers died, 1200 were wounded and 43 are still listed as missing in action.

The 15 Australian veterans are attending a special ceremony at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul on Saturday, alongside Veterans Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon, and have toured some battle ground sites.

Mr Monaghan said it was sobering to visit the famous land battle site at Kapyong.

"You look at the conditions where the (Australians) fought back an overwhelming force of the Chinese, it's very daunting to consider that ... your hat comes off to them every time you think about it."

While the highlight of the trip has been the companionship of his mates, Mr Monaghan was keen to return to Korea and see first-hand the thriving democracy and economy.

"We look over the border at the north and we say it was well worth the effort," he said.

* Korean War veterans will also mark the anniversary at a service at National Korean War Memorial in Canberra on Saturday.

AAP lpm/nl

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Albo calls for patience on poll date

The Deputy Prime Minister has called for people to be patient about the federal poll date. Source: AAP

DEPUTY Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says no one in the Rudd government has a "rush to the polls mentality" but it will be before or after his league team wins the premiership.

Mr Albanese on Saturday called for patience, as speculation about the federal election date reaches fever pitch.

"No one in the government has had a rush to the polls mentality," he told reporters, flanked by scores of red balloons at a community campaign event for Chinese Australian lawyer Jason Yat-sen Li, Labor's candidate for the Sydney seat of Bennelong.

He said the government would consider calling the election at an appropriate time.

"It will be before or after the Souths win their twenty first premiership," he joked.

Mr Albanese is a South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to stop "playing games" and name the date.

"The government of our country is not about showbiz," he told reporters at the Stockman's Hall of Fame at Longreach in western Queensland.

"Electing a national government is not a version of celebrity Big Brother."

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Mayor arrested over Bangladesh disaster

BANGLADESHI police have arrested the mayor of the town where a garment factory block collapsed, killing 1129 people, for his role in approving the shoddy structure, an officer says.

Mohammad Refayet Ullah, the mayor of Savar, was arrested in the capital late on Wednesday exactly three months after the Rana Plaza building collapsed in one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

Local police chief Mostofa Kamal said Ullah, who was suspended as mayor in the wake of the tragedy, had been wanted for questioning over the nine-storey structure, housing garment factories, that flouted building codes.

"CID (Criminal Investigation Department) officers who are probing the case arrested him from Dhaka," Kamal said on Thursday.

Ullah, an opposition official who for the last 14 years has been the mayor of the satellite town outside the capital, home to scores of garment factories, is the highest official to be arrested over the disaster.

Officials have said his office allowed three extra floors to be added to the building, which only originally had permission for six. His office then failed to take action when cracks appeared in the overburdened structure, one day before the tragedy.

A government team investigating the disaster, which has inspected the site, has said contractors had used shoddy construction materials to build the floors.

Heavy generators had been placed on the upper floors, so that factories could keep churning out clothes for Western retailers during power cuts, in violation of the country's construction laws.

More than a dozen people, including the owner of the building and the owners of four factories housed there, have been arrested over the disaster, which highlighted appalling safety conditions in Bangladesh's 4500 garment factories.

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Brisbane hospital makes big recovery

A QUEENSLAND hospital has bounced back from the shame of having the slowest emergency department in Australia.

Princess Alexandra Hospital's emergency department was singled out in 2012 for its tardiness, meeting time targets for only 33 per cent of patients.

On Thursday it was named as the most improved based on 2013 figures, with 62 per cent of patients making it out of the department within the targeted four hours.

"We have gone from from being far and away the worst to at least being in the middle of the pack," said Dr Andrew Staib, the deputy director of emergency department.

It was a multi-faceted effort, he said. "But there is still a lot of work to do."

Queensland was the best performed state in Australia for the March 2013 quarter, with 11 of its 24 major hospitals meeting its 77 per cent target, according to National Health Performance Authority figures published on the MyHospitals website.

All states and territories have agreed to a 90 per cent target by 2015.

Dr Staib said the most important single change was a state ban on ambulance redirection by emergency departments.

In the past if an emergency department believed it was overcrowded it could put itself on bypass. This meant other hospitals became swamped with queues of ambulances waiting to offload patients.

"Now arrivals are spread more evenly throughout the day."

The entire hospital had been involved in the recovery, he said.

"One improvement led to another. There has been lots of support from the hospital and district."

The patient flow through the hospital, from admission to discharge, needed to be improved so new patients from the emergency department had beds to go to.

"The target can only be met if the whole of the system is working efficiently.

"It can't just be met by doing the same things that we have always done but just a bit faster."

He said there was good published evidence that patients subjected to long stays in the emergency department did not not do as well as patients who moved quickly through the process.

"But there are patients who are critically unwell and need a longer stay in the emergency department."

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Elderly NSW woman shoulder charged

Police are searching for the man who shoulder charged an elderly woman at a NSW shopping centre. Source: AAP

A MAN floored an elderly woman with a shoulder charge while she was out shopping on the NSW Central Coast, police say.

The 72-year-old was attacked as she walked through the sliding glass doors of the Westfield shopping complex at Tuggerah Lakes last month.

She was entering as he was leaving.

Releasing a photo of the man on Thursday, Detective Inspector Chris Wellfare said he was captured on CCTV at the time of the incident, around 7.45am (AEST) on June 15.

"He's shoulder charged her and knocked her over," Inp Wellfare told AAP on Thursday.

"(It's) quite despicable, really."

The woman was taken to hospital with an injured wrist.

Local investigations have failed to identify the man, prompting police to release the image.

He is described as being of Asian appearance and medium build. He was wearing a black cap, black jumper and loose grey pants.

Detectives will consider releasing footage of the actual attack if no one comes forward.

AAP v

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Unknown fault may be causing NZ quakes

THE fault responsible for the recent spate of earthquakes rattling central New Zealand and causing damage in the nation's capital was not previously known, scientists believe.

GNS Science seismologists suspect the earthquakes have struck on a previously unknown offshore extension of the London Hills Fault, which is described as a strike-slip fault.

A strike-slip fault exists when both sides slide past each other without a lot of uplift or down-thrust, GNS Science says.

A National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) vessel was diverted to the Cook Strait on Tuesday to survey the area, with scientists doing more research to determine for certain which fault caused Sunday's 6.5 magnitude earthquake.

"The seafloor above the epicentre is relatively shallow for Cook Strait, at about 100m depth, but the seafloor materials make it difficult to detect traces of any previous earthquakes," GNS Science said.

Meanwhile, it was business as usual for most workers in the nation's capital on Tuesday, with thousands of staff returning to their Wellington CBD offices.

Most of the city's 35 damaged buildings have been made safe and road, rail, bus and road traffic were approaching normal weekday flows.

The damage "hot spot", Featherston Street, was open to pedestrians and one-lane traffic as inspections were completed on 12 red-taped buildings which may have loose masonry and glass.

Schools throughout Wellington and Marlborough are expected to open as scheduled on Monday, following the two-week holiday break, with most school buildings sustaining only superficial damage.

But on Tuesday, Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye warned New Zealanders in affected regions to remain vigilant and "be prepared," saying the unexpected can still happen.

Dozens of aftershocks again hit central New Zealand on Tuesday, the strongest of which measured 5.0 on the Richter scale at about 1.30am.

GeoNet has revised the probability of a 6 magnitude or higher earthquake from 19 per cent on Monday to 13 per cent on Tuesday.

Residents in the area can still expect about 14 magnitude 4 to 4.9 aftershocks in the coming week.

However, scientists don't believe the earthquakes are big enough to affect other faults in the area.

"The risk of future earthquakes in other places remains unchanged," GNS Science said.

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Tokyo stocks close 0.82% higher

JAPANESE shares ended 0.82 per cent higher on Tuesday, with sentiment lifted by Tokyo's upgrade of the economy in which it used the world "recovery" for the first time in almost a year.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 120.47 points to 14,778.51, reversing a 0.70 per cent decline at the start of the day. The Topix index of all first-section shares closed 0.51 per cent, or 6.19 points, higher at 1,222.72.

Japan's Cabinet Office said in its July report: "The economy is picking up steadily and shows some movements on the way to recovery."

It is the first time it has used the word "recovery" in 10 months, while it also hinted that years of deflation were coming to an end.

The upbeat outlook comes after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party won upper house elections on Sunday, giving him more legislative muscle to press on with a big-spending program aimed at boosting growth.

However, while the comments helped buying a stronger yen caused some drag.

The dollar fetched 99.55 yen in afternoon trade, compared with 99.59 yen late in New York and well off the 100 yen in Tokyo on Monday.

"The yen has shown signs of pesky resilience, which will act to cap further stock market advances," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.

There were few trading cues in Tuesday's session as investors await Japan's earnings season, with major firms including Panasonic, Honda and Nintendo set to report their quarterly results next week.

In stock trading, Fukushima operator TEPCO tumbled 6.68 per cent to 656 yen as workers at the crippled plan reported steam inside a battered reactor building for the second time in less than a week.

Camera giant Nikon fell 0.65 per cent to 2,283 yen, Sony jumped 3.42 per cent to 2,295 yen and Uniqlo clothing chain operator Fast Retailing rose 0.54 per cent to 36,650 yen.

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal was 3.34 per cent higher at 309 yen on a report in the leading Nikkei business daily that the firm and Toyota had agreed on a 10 per cent price hike for sheet steel used to make autos.

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Rescuers search for China quake survivors

Rescuers braved landslides and blocked roads to help victims of twin earthquakes in northwest China. Source: AAP

RESCUERS are battling through dusty rubble to try to reach victims of two shallow earthquakes in China that killed at least 92 people, as traumatised survivors struggled with the devastation left behind.

State broadcaster CCTV showed images on Tuesday of soldiers digging through earth and sand to reach simple houses buried under landslides in the northwestern province of Gansu.

Seriously injured patients wrapped in blankets were put into helicopters heading to the provincial capital Lanzhou, which has the nearest major hospital.

The twin earthquakes that struck on Monday morning had magnitudes of 5.9 and 5.6 according to the US Geological Survey, but were only 10 kilometres deep, so that much of the energy released was transmitted to the surface, where it wreaked havoc.

The city government of Dingxi, which includes the worst-affected counties, said on its verified social media account that 92 people had been killed, with hundreds more injured.

Roads were peppered with large boulders fallen from the surrounding mountains, and relief workers used shovels to clear a large landslide.

Initial investigations showed at least 5,785 houses had collapsed and another 73,000 were severely damaged, China's official Xinhua news agency said.

Around 6,000 rescuers, among them armed police, firefighters, militiamen and local government staff had been sent to the region, it added.

Hundreds of aftershocks were recorded in the disaster zone, an area of dusty, jagged mountains.

CCTV showed makeshift tent relief centres being set up, with water, instant noodles and blankets being handed out.

Throughout the night, scores of rescue vehicles headed south from Lanzhou to the quake area.

Many rescue workers had travelled from across the country and refused to rest during the night as they raced to find survivors.

Any storms could hamper the rescue efforts, bringing with them the threat of further landslides.

Beijing's own China Earthquake Networks Centre put the magnitude of the larger quake at 6.6.

The USGS rated Monday's main tremor at seven on its "shakemap", with shaking perceived to be "very strong".

Much of western China is prone to earthquakes. Around 230,000 people were killed in a magnitude 8.5 tremor in Gansu in 1920.

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake in neighbouring Sichuan province killed about 200 people earlier this year, five years after almost 90,000 people were killed by a huge tremor in the same province.

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$A higher as Japanese win drives risk mood

THE Australian dollar has firmed as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's political victory stirred demand for higher-yielding currencies.

At 1700 AEST on Monday, the local unit was buying 92.22 US cents, up from Friday's 91.71 cents.

The currency has began the week in a stronger position, after Abe's centre-right coalition won weekend upper house elections, securing a parliamentary majority to liberalise trade and embark on much-needed economic deregulation.

Westpac senior currency strategist Sean Callow said the political success of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and his junior ally, New Komeito, gave a lukewarm boost to Asian share markets, including the Nikkei, helping the Australian dollar on a light day of trade.

"He's in the position now that he can pursue the sorts of reforms that the world wants, to help Japan, and it is still Australia's second-largest trading partner," he said.

"The ongoing optimism in Japan is definitely a positive for Australian business."

Risk appetite, which helps higher-yielding currencies like the Australian dollar, also gained another boost from a Group of 20 communique pledging to put growth before fiscal austerity.

"That probably helped in the background," Mr Callow said.

A weekly report by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, showing a fresh record holding of short Australian dollar positions, also made traders reassess their recent selling of the currency.

"The Aussie speculators are probably wondering if, maybe, this isn't the best time to be loading up on your short Aussie positions," Mr Callow said.

"They thought they had that break of 90 (US cents) and they were off to the races to the high 80s but instead we're two cents clear of that."

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NZ search for the fault at fault

DESPITE knowing the geographical area responsible for a spate of earthquakes hitting central New Zealand, scientists don't know exactly which fault is at fault.

That's why they're sending extra instruments to the Marlborough region to measure the continual string of aftershocks.

Nine GeoNet recording instruments will be deployed in the earthquake prone area to enhance the quality and quantity of data being recorded.

GNS Science seismologist Stephen Bannister said it was not clear if the current series of quakes is the product of a known fault or an unidentified fault.

"The more accurate data will help in understanding the ruptures that are occurring and how they are linked to nearby faults off the coast of eastern Marlborough," he said.

Scientists should have a clear idea of the size and geometry of the fault by the end of this week, which will allow them to assess stresses on other fault lines within a 15km radius of the ruptured fault line.

GNS Science says a 2008 earthquake report that maps the Cook Strait shows "a busy network of faults on the seabed".

The research institute says there remains a small possibility that quakes in the region could spark a tsunami and warns residents in coastal areas to seek higher ground if they feel shaking for more than 30 seconds.

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Robbers steal two cars from Sydney home

TWO robbers will face court for allegedly stealing two cars after threatening a father and son with a pistol on the driveway of their home in Sydney's west.

The pair, aged 26 and 28, knocked on the front door of the home on Cairds Avenue, Bankstown, about 6pm (AEST) Saturday.

A man answered the door but he didn't recognise the men and refused to allow them in.

Moments later the pair walked down the driveway of the home and confronted a 24-year-old man and his 53-year-old father with a pistol, police allege.

They demanded the keys to a Mercedes 4WD and a Volkswagen Golf, and used the cars to flee the scene while the family called police.

Officers blocked off the road and arrested both men.

The 26-year-old man has been charged with robbery armed with an offensive weapon and driving while disqualified.

The older man has been charged with robbery armed with offensive weapon.

They were refused bail to reappear in Burwood Local Court on July 24.

A

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Bashed Sydney man's family seeks witnesses

THE family of a man brutally bashed by a stranger in the Sydney CBD have pleaded for two men caught on camera to turn themselves in.

Matthew Blackmore, 33, was crossing George Street to catch a cab home around midnight last Sunday when an unknown man smashed him in the side of the face, in what police have described as an "vicious, unprovoked" attack.

He was knocked unconscious and fell face first onto the pavement, breaking his nose and striking his head.

The Maroubra banker remained in hospital on Sunday, and his sister Karen Blackmore said he faced a long recovery.

"It's one day at a time," she told reporters.

"He's struggling, to be honest ... he doesn't recall anything, he doesn't know why."

Detectives have now released CCTV footage of two men who are wanted for questioning over the incident.

One man is described as being of Caucasian appearance, with an athletic build and short brown hair.

He was wearing a black jacket, white button-up shirt, dark pants and white shoes.

The second man depicted in the footage also looks Caucasian, has a short stocky build and a shaved head.

He was dressed in a dark jacket, white shirt, black pants and black shoes.

City Central Local Area Command's Stephen Warren said CCTV video showed the two men pulling up in a dark 4WD to the CBD street where Mr Blackmore was bashed.

"The males that we wish to speak to are seen to get out of that vehicle, cross George Street, and moments later the assault on Matthew occurs," he told reporters in Sydney.

He said Mr Blackmore didn't know either man, but urged anyone who did recognise them to come forward.

"Tell us what you know, so that we can bring some comfort to this family and try to arrest the offenders," he said.

Acting Inspector Warren also revealed police have obtained CCTV footage of the assault itself.

Mark Blackmore told reporters it was time for his brother's attacker to come forward.

"It's been a week, you've had time to think about your actions," he said.

He's described his brother as "one of the lucky ones" because he escaped severe brain damage in the incident, but Matthew Blackmore still suffers memory loss, severe headaches and difficulty balancing.

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Nurses to strike at 160 NSW hospitals

Nurses and midwives will strike at more than 160 public hospitals and community health services. Source: AAP

NURSES and midwives at every major hospital in NSW will be walking off the job on Wednesday.

Staff at more than 160 public hospitals and community health services across the state have notified the union about their plans to strike.

They are protesting over what they say is the state government's failure to provide safe nurse staffing levels.

NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association General Secretary Brett Holmes said more branches were expected to join the cause by Wednesday.

"For a few hundred million dollars a year the state government can dramatically improve patient care in our public hospitals," he said in a statement on Sunday.

The union wants one nurse to four patients in all general medical, surgical and acute inpatient mental health wards.

It's also calling for one nurse per three children in general children's wards and one nurse to three patients in emergency departments.

The extra staffing would "save lives and money", Mr Holmes said, adding that the nurse-to-patient ratios needed to be consistent at every hospital in NSW, including those in the country.

A special general meeting will be held at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre from 11.30am (AEST) on Wednesday, with a live webcast to 17 regional centres, including Albury, Broken Hill, Kempsey, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga.

During the strike life-preserving services will be maintained in all hospitals and community health services, the union said.

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Rudd's PNG boat deal a fake fix: Abbott

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says asylum seekers could still be resettled in Aus. Source: AAP

THE coalition has launched a broad attack on Labor's asylum seeker deal with Papua New Guinea, accusing Kevin Rudd of misleading Australians to win votes ahead of an election.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the central thrust of the deal - that all asylum seekers arriving by boat will be sent to PNG and will not be resettled in Australia - simply is not true.

"It's clear that neither of Mr Rudd's assertions are actually borne out by the document," he told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.

"Mr Rudd has been misleading to the point of dishonesty."

Mr Abbott, accompanied by his immigration spokesman Scott Morrison, detailed a long list of alleged flaws with the deal, signed on Friday by Mr Rudd and his PNG counterpart Peter O'Neill.

Under the arrangement, people arriving by boat without a visa were to be sent to Australia's Manus Island facility in PNG for assessment and, if found to be refugees, would be settled there.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus earlier said it was unlikely PNG's leader would have told the coalition anything different.

"I'm certain that's not what Prime Minister O'Neill said," Mr Dreyfus told Network Ten.

But Mr Abbott said the document wasn't even legally binding, but a scant two pages "held together with blue tac and sticky tape" to last until the election.

"This is simply another fake fix from someone who is the great pretender of Australian politics," he said.

Mr Morrison said it was clear from examining the details that PNG was not bound to the agreement, and that Labor had no plan for children arriving by boat.

PNG would not take an unlimited number of asylum seekers, despite Labor claims to the contrary, and it could be years before Manus Island could handle a surge in arrivals, he added.

He said people who are found not to be refugees would become Australia's problem, and those with communicable diseases, terrorism charges or a criminal background would remain in Australia.

"The devil is always in the detail with Mr Rudd, and Mr Rudd always proves to be the devil in that detail," Mr Morrison said.

Mr Rudd's hardline policy will likely feature at a meeting of Labor MPs meeting in Sydney on Monday, with Cabinet member Mark Butler acknowledging a level of discomfort within the party ranks.

"There would be people within the Labor movement and the Labor party and the broader community who would feel uncomfortable with this," he told Sky News.

It comes as Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare announced that the Australian Federal Police would pay rewards of up to $200,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of people smugglers.

But Foreign Minister Bob Carr said asylum seekers were arriving at the rate of 40,000 to 50,000 a year, and a tough response to stop that rising even further was unavoidable.

"If it continues at this level - the prime minister was very persuaded by this - it could rise further as people smugglers really close in to make a financial killing," he told Sky News.

The coalition has said it would "salvage" what it could from the deal if elected to government, but wouldn't be replaced its foremost policy of turning back asylum boats where it's safe to do so.

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