Another month of fixes for Obamacare

THE end of November. That's when the Obama administration now says the new, trouble-plagued website for uninsured Americans to get health care coverage will be working well.

After a week of intensive diagnostics, the administration acknowledged on Friday the site has dozens of complex problems and tapped a private company to oversee fixes.

Jeffrey Zients, a management consultant brought in by the White House to assess the situation, told reporters his review found dozens of issues across the entire system.

It will take a lot of work, but Zients declared that HealthCare.gov is fixable. He stopped short of saying problems will completely vanish.

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Fire bans declared for three SA districts

TOTAL fire bans have been declared for three South Australian districts, with conditions expected to be extreme in the state's northwest.

Bans have been declared for the Northwest Pastoral, West Coast and Eastern Eyre Peninsula districts for Sunday, with very hazardous fire whether conditions predicted, the CFS says.

Conditions are expected to be worst in the Northwest Pastoral district, which includes Coober Pedy, where an extreme rating has been forecast.

A windy top of 37C is forecast for Coober Pedy on Sunday.

A severe rating has been declared for the West Coast district, which includes the town of Ceduna and the Eastern Eyre Peninsula which includes Whyalla.

The total fire ban does not include Adelaide which is expecting a top of only 25C with a chance of rain.

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Five injured in anti-semitic Sydney brawl

FIVE people are in hospital after a brawl sparked by anti-semitic insults erupted in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

A group of four men, aged 66, 48, 39 and 27, and a 62-year-old woman was walking along Blair Street in Bondi at 12.30am (AEDT) on Saturday when eight young males, some of whom were teenagers, shouted "derogatory comments" towards them, NSW Police said in a statement.

The eight then allegedly physically assaulted the group and a melee played out along Glenayr Avenue until police arrived.

All five in the older group were injured, suffering concussion, a fractured cheekbone, possible broken nose, lacerations and bruising.

They were taken to St Vincent's Hospital.

Police said the alleged offenders tried to flee but officers arrested three males not far from the fight.

Two 17-year-olds were charged with affray and breach of bail.

They were refused bail to appear at children's court on Sunday.

A 23-year-old man was charged with affray.

He was granted bail to appear at Waverley Local Court on December 3.

Federal frontbencher and local MP Malcolm Turnbull criticised the apparent racist attack.

"Violence of this kind and in particular racist violence, anti-semitic violence, is completely unacceptable in our society," he told the Nine Network.

"We should have zero tolerance."

Meanwhile NSW Anti-Discrimination Board president Stepan Kerkyasharian said the board would investigate.

"There's been severe racial vilification here, that's a term under the legislation, and I think we should look at taking action," he told Channel Seven.

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Bronco turned outlaw bikie denied bail

A FORMER Brisbane Bronco turned outlaw motorcycle gang member has been denied bail over drug trafficking charges under harsh new laws designed to stop bikies walking free.

Michael Spence, 25, was one of eight men arrested on Wednesday in a police sting targeting the alleged ice trafficking outfit.

Spence was the sergeant-at-arms of the Hells Angels' Brisbane chapter and alleged debt collector for accused ringleaders and gang members Bruno and Nuno Da Silva.

The trio resigned from the gang nine days before contentious new laws targeting bikies were passed on October 17.

Under one part of the law, criminal gang members who apply for bail must now show cause as to why they should be released.

Spence's lawyer Jeff Hunter argued in the Brisbane Magistrates Court the new laws were passed too late to apply to his client, and that the case against him was weak.

But Chief Magistrate Tim Carmody ruled that the new bail laws did apply to Spence and ordered he be remanded in custody.

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Sydney school kids welcome Princess Mary

Crown Princess Mary and her husband Prince Frederik dropped in for a visit to a Sydney school. Source: AAP

IF she's a princess, where's her crown?

That was the question on the minds of some children at a Sydney school who nonetheless gave Crown Princess Mary an enthusiastic welcome when she dropped by for a visit.

The Australian-born royal and her husband Crown Prince Frederik are in Australia to help mark the Opera House's 40th birthday.

They were greeted by about 35 pre-school children at Five Dock Public School as they entered the school grounds on Friday afternoon.

The youngsters were wearing cardboard crowns, which they made earlier in the day, and were waving Danish and Australian flags.

Teacher's aid Maria Iacono said a few of the children were wondering why Mary was wearing a simple black dress and not the typical royal attire.

"They were a little bit disappointed she wasn't wearing her dress and her crown," she said.

"They're all asking 'where is she?' because she's got no crown."

The royal couple toured the school library and posed for pictures with NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and three recipients of the premier's reading challenge.

They then sat down with a number of students and chatted about reading and school.

Pakistani-born Maria Asif, who's in year six, described meeting Prince Frederik as a "once in a lifetime experience".

"He asked us questions about the books we were reading and helped us with our reading," she said. "He's really kind."

The two read Let's Count Goats! by Australian authors Mem Fox and Jan Thomas.

Mr O'Farrell joked with the couple that he was still getting used to dealing with celebrities and royals, after being asked to step aside from photo opportunities by the travelling Danish photographers.

He said he's been impressed with how down to earth the two have been.

"For all the pomp and circumstance that's around them and all the attention they get, they seem to me two very relaxed and well settled individuals," the premier told AAP.

After an hour-long stay, Mary and Frederik received a spirited farewell by about 100 school kids and their parents as they headed for their seven-car entourage.

A gala concert and official reception will be held in honour of the Danish royals at the Opera House on Sunday night.

The royal couple, who first met in a Sydney pub during the 2000 Olympic Games, last visited Australia in 2011.

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'Bushfire-burnout' warning as crisis eases

LEADERS have praised the legions of firefighters and residents who stared down NSW's 10-day bushfire crisis that is only now easing.

But amid the camaraderie and consolation there were concerns about bushfire burnout setting in - a full month out from summer.

"It's just terrifying that we're sitting here in spring and we've had all these hot fires," Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill told AAP on Friday.

"There's still a lot of unburned bush and we've got the height of summer to come."

His community has been hardest hit by the bushfire crisis that began last week.

More than 200 local families have lost their homes and all three of the blazes burning at a watch and act level on Friday were in the mountains west of Sydney.

At Springwood in the mountains, what had been the most destructive fire in the state was being controlled after burning more than 3,300 hectares and.

Fires at Mount York and the State Mine Fire in Lithgow, started by an army explosives exercise, were also being brought under control.

Firefighters were patrolling and mopping up at Gateshead in the Lake Macquarie area where a fire had threatened homes at Dudley and Redhead, the RFS said.

More than 800 firefighters remained on the state's firegrounds on Friday and just over 50 fires continued to burn, but many interstate and metropolitan firefighters have begun the long drive home.

Governor-General Quentin Bryce toured the charred lower Blue Mountains suburbs of Winmalee and Springwood.

"Thank you for what you've done," she said, speaking not only to locals but to the 2000-odd firefighters from across the country who joined in the effort to save lives and homes in NSW.

Tributes flowed on Friday for pilot David Black, who died when his aircraft crashed while fighting a fire at Wirritin in Budawang National Park, west of Ulladulla.

His was the second life lost in the fires. A 63-year-old man died defending his Central Coast home last Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said there was a sense of hiatus at the Rural Fire Service (RFS) headquarters, but dangerous fire weather could hit within days and dozens of fires continued to burn across the state.

"The fact is it's going to take weeks, not days, to get containment on all these fires," he told AAP.

"People do get fatigued - particularly when it's warning after warning going out to the same communities."

No one should be under any illusion that the dire scenarios predicted for Wednesday - like the fear that major fires could merge to form a super fire spanning the Blue Mountains - were over-hyped, he said.

Firefighters had worked "way beyond" the hours they would ordinarily be allowed to put in, forgoing sleep to run risky back-burning operations around the mountains in a bid to avoid catastrophe.

"I genuinely did fear that we were going to lose people in that fire," Mr Rogers said.

"The community tends to view the fact that we didn't have mayhem and destruction by saying, 'Oh, well it didn't happen'.

"Well it didn't happen because a lot of people worked hard to stop it happening."

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Ericsson Q3 net profit jumps on strong mar

SWEDISH wireless equipment company Ericsson AB says its net profit increased by 34 per cent in the third quarter as a better business mix boosted its margins.

Ericsson said net profit for the period was 2.92 billion Swedish kronor ($US458 million), compared with 2.18 billion kronor a year earlier.

Sales in the quarter dropped by 3 per cent to 52.98 billion kronor from 54.55 billion in the third quarter 2012, weighed down by negative currency exchange effects and lower sales in North East Asia and India.

Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg said the macroeconomic climate had stabilised in many markets and the "long-term fundamentals in the industry remain attractive."

However, he added "uncertainty still remains in certain parts of the world."

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Shares outlook bright - Nomura strategist

THE outlook for shares may be better than many people think, according to an investment strategist with one of the world's biggest banks.

Kevin Gaynor, global head of asset allocation strategy at Japanese banking behemoth Nomura, thinks the global share market - along with the major economies - is heading for what he calls "The Great Normalisation".

"I think the landscape's changing quite materially, and I don't think it's fully embedded into expectations."

He said the shift was evident in the US and the UK, which were the source of the global financial crisis.

"I think there's growing evidence that the factors that gave us this weak trend growth rate for the past four years are starting to ebb.

"The investment psychology that we've had, the expectations formation process, and indeed the asset allocations we've ended up with are appropriate for the last four years and, being human, we've extrapolated and probably taken them too far.

"I think we're starting to move towards a quite different scenario," he said at the briefing in Sydney on Thursday.

He said funds managers had been focusing on tactical asset allocation, trying to pick when the share market moved below the trend and when it moved above trend.

But they were losing sight of the trend itself, which in normal business cycle conditions is responsible for 90 per cent of returns relative to safe assets.

Many big investors have become preoccupied with so-called "risk-on, risk-off" tactics in response to shifts in market sentiment as every time a recovery seemed to be on the way it would be dashed.

But this is changing.

The global crisis not only caused a "nasty cyclical contraction", he said, it also depressed the trend in growth.

For three and a half years, "every economist and equity analyst" repeatedly predicted a recovery to pre-crisis growth rates, only to be disappointed as the slow trend persisted.

But the underlying trend is starting to pick up.

The trend, the underlying pace of growth in the United States and the UK is returning to levels that look a bit like pre-crisis, Mr Gaynor said.

Forecasters were now as guilty of excessive pessimism as they were of being overly optimistic earlier.

"No one in their right mind wants to come out with a very bullish US growth forecast for next year, having done it for the last four years and been wrong."

He also said equity analysts had not adjusted their forecasts for corporate earnings upward in response to "positive data surprises" that in the past have led to a brighter earnings outlook.

A normalisation of monetary policy in the developed world would mean an upward drift in interest rates, which would usually result in lower share valuations from analysis using discounted earnings models.

But the improved economic outlook and the incorporation of a more positive earnings outlook into valuations would "swamp" the effect of higher interest rates and push prices higher, he said.

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Defence apologises for massive fire

The acting Defence chief has apologised over the NSW bushfire caused by an army explosives exercise. Source: AAP

THE defence department has apologised for starting the biggest blaze in the NSW bushfire crisis but some Blue Mountains residents don't think "sorry" goes far enough.

Acting Chief of Defence, Air Marshall Mark Binskin on Thursday offered an apology over the massive State Mine Fire that has destroyed three homes and burned through nearly 50,000 hectares of land west of Sydney.

The bushfire continues to rage at emergency level between Lithgow and the Blue Mountains more than a week after it was sparked by explosives training on army land at Marangaroo on October 16.

Blue Mountains resident Erin Cater said no one should criticise the army, but she said it would be fair for people who lost their homes to receive more than an apology.

"I don't reckon that's enough honestly ... they should offer the people some compensation," she said.

Paul Andrews, another local, said the incident had created "incredible anxiety" but he said it was good the army was being transparent.

Air Marshall Binskin said a small fire that started during a routine training exercise was responsible for the blaze.

"I do apologise, because it has been identified that this fire was the start of this mine fire," he told reporters at Rural Fire Service headquarters in Sydney on Thursday.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said the apology was a positive gesture.

"I think this is a really open sign and I think it's a sign that defence is going to work close with the RFS ... so that we can find out what happened and take steps to stop it happening again," he said.

While Air Marshall Binskin said Defence was "not shying from our responsibilities", he stopped short of offering compensation.

Deputy Fire Commissioner Rob Rogers said it wasn't known exactly what went wrong.

"When fires start, where there's human intervention, there's carelessness and then there's just simply accidents happening," he said at Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains.

"I think it would be prejudging to suggest there was any sort of negligence."

Air Marshall Binskin said the decision to go ahead with the training exercise was made on a day of light winds and 23 degree-temperatures.

"The fire (danger) was on the lower end of the scale and there was not a fire ban," he said.

Defence personnel acted quickly after an explosion started a small fire but were hampered by the live ordnance around them.

RFS crews arrived within half an hour, Air Marshall Binskin said.

"It was considered too dangerous to go onto the particular site where the fire had started to burn, so they waited till it cleared that area and then started to fight it," he told reporters.

"This was not deliberately starting a fire, this was an accident as part of a training activity on a day there wasn't a fire ban."

Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said he didn't know how many hours the fire burned before the RFS was able to work on it.

"The fire occurred on a live firing range ... you can't send firefighters or fire trucks into a live firing range," he said.

"Nor can you put aircraft above or into close proximity to assist in water bombing."

Air Marshall Binskin said the force's in-house investigation into could prompt changes to training procedures around Australia.

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Plane missing after leaving NSW for Vic

A SEARCH is under way for a missing light plane that left coastal NSW bound for Victoria.

The single engine Cessna took off from Moruya on the far south coast of NSW at 8.15am (AEDT) on Wednesday.

The plane, carrying only the pilot, was due to land at Mangalore Airport, about two hours north of Melbourne, at 11am but never arrived.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokesman Sam Cardwell said five aircraft, including three helicopters and two planes, are involved in a search.

"They'll be searching until last light and there's the possibility our plane will continue to search at night," he said.

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Irish await DNA results on child

IRISH authorities are awaiting DNA results on a child they removed from a Roma family in Dublin, as the couple she lived with insisted she was theirs amid comparisons with an abduction case in Greece.

The child was removed from the family's home southwest of the capital on Monday and taken into the care of the Health Service Executive, police and a charity said.

Police took action after concerns that the seven-year-old girl, who has blonde hair and blue eyes, did not look like her parents and they could not prove her identity, according to media reports.

But Gabby Muntean, a support worker who has been in regular contact with the family, told the Irish Times newspaper the family was insisting the child was theirs.

"They are very upset. They have told me the child is 100 per cent theirs and have offered blood tests and DNA tests to prove this," she said.

"Now, they just want their daughter back. It is hard to see any reason why this happened, other than the reports from Greece."

The case emerged after a Roma couple in Greece were charged on Monday with abducting a blonde girl found in their care.

According to media reports, the couple in Ireland produced a birth certificate and a passport for their daughter but the documents failed to satisfy police.

The girl's sister told the Irish Independent newspaper that she was a member of the family who had lived with them since her birth in 2006.

"I don't know why she was taken," the 21-year-old said, adding that her sister "was crying and very scared, she was choking".

She said the family had come from Romania in 2001 but had lived in Tallaght, southwest Dublin, since 2009.

"My little brother also has blonde hair and blue eyes," the young woman added.

DNA tests are expected to reveal whether the girl is related to her parents, with results expected as swiftly as Wednesday afternoon.

Due to strong child protection laws in Ireland, authorities are unable to publicly reveal details on individual cases and neither the child nor her family can be named.

Pavee Point, a charity which campaigns for Irish Traveller and Roma rights, confirmed to AFP that a Roma family was involved but warned against jumping to any conclusions.

Roma communities around the world are in the spotlight after the discovery of the girl in Greece, known as Maria and dubbed the "blonde angel" by local media.

DNA tests revealed the child, believed to be five or six years old, was not related to the couple who claimed to be her parents, a 39-year-old Roma man and his 40-year-old wife.

The couple are being held in pre-trial detention but deny the charge of abduction, saying she was voluntarily handed over by her Bulgarian Roma mother who could not care for her.

The case has prompted thousands of calls from parents of missing children from around the world.

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Qld premier challenges regional mayors

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman says regional mayors are concerned they don't have the cash to pay for infrastructure to accommodate an influx of residents.

But he's told councils they're sitting on a "gold mine" and with a shift in thinking they will be able to generate enough money.

Speaking at a local government conference in Cairns, Mr Newman told delegates that under the state's 30-year plan about half the population would be living outside the southeast by 2043.

Currently about 65 per cent of the Queensland population lives in the southeast.

Mr Newman said some mayors had raised concerns about how they would afford to pay for extra infrastructure needed to accommodate the influx.

"Many councils are saying to me that we don't have the money just as we the state don't have the money," he told delegates.

"And yet frankly you're sitting on a gold mine.

"The decisions you make or don't make are the differences between success and failure."

Mr Newman suggested councils look at ways to boost revenue by capitalising on local resources such as council land.

He also said turning to the private sector to build utilities such as water and sewage treatment plants would ease the burden.

"They will fund it ... and operate it and simply charge you a fee for service and help you drive your dollars further," Mr Newman said.

However, the state government would help out.

"As the state government's finances improve we will be putting more money into the regions in terms of infrastructure," Mr Newman told reporters.

Some cities, such as Maryvale, already had the infrastructure to accommodate more people, he said.

Mr Newman said one of the huge challenges was encouraging people to the regional areas but cheaper housing, jobs and possibly incentives would be drive the population shift.

He said the southeast would face "big challenges" mainly around infrastructure if there wasn't a population shift to regional areas.

Local Government Association of Queensland CEO Greg Hallam says the association is looking forward to working with the state government on any initiatives that emerged out of the Queensland Plan consultation process.

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Cops 'target' daughter of ex-Bandidos head

THE tattooist daughter of a former north Queensland Bandidos president says she's been unfairly targeted by police.

Georgia Geary, whose father Maxwell Geary is the former leader of the Cairns chapter of the bikie gang, says she's been harassed because police think her father is involved in her tattoo parlour.

Officers kept watch outside Mission Ink, at Mission Beach, south of Cairns, 24 hours a day over three days last week, she says.

They also allegedly searched Miss Geary's car and continue to question customers.

"This is definitely harassment, it's a violation of human rights," 18-year-old Miss Geary told AAP.

"It's hurting my business and the other businesses nearby."

Miss Geary says her father, a Bandidos member for 15 years, has no involvement in her business but does work out of an office at the back of the studio.

"Police need to understand that's all the involvement he has," she said.

No club members visit the parlour and she isn't part of the club herself, she says.

Police have targeted tattoo parlours and clubhouses since the anti-bikie gang legislation was brought in last week.

But despite other businesses being monitored, Miss Geary says she's been unfairly targeted because her father is Maxwell Geary.

Mr Geary served as the Cairns president for about a decade before becoming the Mission Beach president a year ago.

He is due to face court next month on fraud, drug and property charges.

Mr Geary retired from the Bandidos last week out of concern he would be charged under the new laws, which carry hefty prisons sentences.

Both chapters have also shut down for the same reason, Miss Geary says.

Miss Geary has known many Bandidos members over her life and describes them as "big teddy bears".

Comment has been sought from Queensland Police.

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Dutch turns to tribunal to free Arctic 30

The Netherlands has asked an international tribunal to free Greenpeace activists jailed in Russia. Source: AAP

THE Netherlands has asked an international tribunal to order Russia to release a Greenpeace protest ship and the activists who were on board.

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said on Monday the government made the request to the Hamburg, Germany-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

A group of 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists have been held since their ship, the Arctic Sunrise was seized by the Russian coastguard after a protest near a Gazprom-owned oil rig on September 18.

The activists are being held in the northern Russian city of Murmansk. They have been charged with piracy, an offence that carries a 15-year sentence in Russia.

Timmermans said the request was a procedural step in an arbitration case the Dutch launched two weeks ago seeking to free the activists and their ship, which sails under the Dutch flag.

He told reporters in Luxembourg "it will come as no surprise to the Russian Federation" that the Dutch have now asked for the tribunal to order the release pending a final decision in the case.

In a statement, Greenpeace International welcomed the Dutch initiative and called on other governments whose nationals are among the detained activists "to step up their work to ensure the immediate release of the detainees".

The tribunal the Dutch are turning to adjudicates in disputes arising from interpretation and application of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The wife of the Arctic Sunrise's captain said on Monday that she had spoken with her husband for the first time since the ship was seized last month .

Maggy Willcox, of Norwalk, Connecticut, told The Hour of Norwalk newspaper that she spoke briefly with her husband, Peter Willcox, on Monday morning.

"He sounds strong and positive and he said the people around him were treating him well," she said.

Maggy Willcox said during the three- to four-minute call, her husband reported doing push-ups and yoga in his prison cell.

"He's a vegetarian. He said he's been straining meat out of everything, so he's lost weight, which he's pleased about," she said.

She said he sounded so upbeat, it "put a little starch in our own backbone".

Timmermans said it would likely take about a month for the international tribunal to reach a decision on the request.

"That's what we're pinning our hopes on at this point," Maggy Willcox said.

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Cops 'target' daughter of ex-Bandidos head

The tattooist daughter of a former Bandidos president says she's been unfairly targeted by police. Source: AAP

THE tattooist daughter of a former north Queensland Bandidos president says she's been unfairly targeted by police.

Georgia Geary, whose father Maxwell Geary is the former leader of the Cairns chapter of the bikie gang, says she's been harassed because police think her father is involved in her tattoo parlour.

Officers kept watch outside Mission Ink, at Mission Beach, south of Cairns, 24 hours a day over three days last week, she says.

They also allegedly searched Miss Geary's car and continue to question customers.

"This is definitely harassment, it's a violation of human rights," 18-year-old Miss Geary told AAP.

"It's hurting my business and the other businesses nearby."

Miss Geary says her father, a Bandidos member for 15 years, has no involvement in her business but does work out of an office at the back of the studio.

"Police need to understand that's all the involvement he has," she said.

No club members visit the parlour and she isn't part of the club herself, she says.

Police have targeted tattoo parlours and clubhouses since the anti-bikie gang legislation was brought in last week.

But despite other businesses being monitored, Miss Geary says she's been unfairly targeted because her father is Maxwell Geary.

Mr Geary served as the Cairns president for about a decade before becoming the Mission Beach president a year ago.

He is due to face court next month on fraud, drug and property charges.

Mr Geary retired from the Bandidos last week out of concern he would be charged under the new laws, which carry hefty prisons sentences.

Both chapters have also shut down for the same reason, Miss Geary says.

Miss Geary has known many Bandidos members over her life and describes them as "big teddy bears".

Comment has been sought from Queensland Police.

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Gravity remains No 1 at Aussie box office

FOR the third week in a row, Gravity remains high above its competition at the Australian box office.

The Sandra Bullock thriller defied physics by rocketing to the top of the local box office and now weeks later, not even Australian Hugh Jackman can knock it from its perch.

According to the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia, Gravity added another $2.407 million to its takings, bringing its total to $12.270 million.

Meanwhile Jackman's new film Prisoners debuted in third place, while About Time, the latest film from Love Actually writer/director Richard Curtis came in at No.2 with $1.688 million.

Action flick 2 Guns, starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, fell two spots to fourth along with Adam Sandler's Grown Ups 2, now in fifth.

Rush, starring Aussie Chris Hemsworth, also dropped in the charts from fifth to sixth, as did Naomi Watts' Diana, which slipped to eighth.

However, Australian Cate Blanchett's Blue Jasmine did the opposite, and climbed back into the Top 10 after falling to No.12 last week.

Children's movies weren't so lucky. The Smurfs 2, Planes, and Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters all dropped off the Top 10, leaving one kid's film left on the ladder - Ryan Reynold's animated movie Turbo, which fell five spots but still hung on in ninth place.

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Search for missing mum now a murder probe

THE disappearance of Perth mother Helen Rocha is now being investigated as a murder by West Australian police.

Officers began searching the bushland area surrounding the Kwinana train station in Bertram on Sunday as they looked for Ms Rocha, who was last seen on September 26.

The mother-of-two is reported to have been sighted in Parmelia, Orelia and Kwinana later the same day and WA's Major Crime Squad has now revealed Ms Rocha was last seen with an unnamed man.

The iPad, iPod and coin purse she is believed to have been carrying have not been found.

Ms Rocha is about 157 centimetres tall, of slim build, with an olive complexion, black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black top, black tights and black running shoes.

Police searched a house in Parmelia earlier this month and are appealing for anyone who thinks they may have seen Ms Rocha - or spotted suspicious activity in bushland in Parmelia, Orelia or Kwinana - to contact them.

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Philips cost cutting lifts profit

ROYAL Philips NV, the world's biggest light maker, says third quarter profits rose on cost-cutting, as sales declined but margins improved.

The company has shed 4900 jobs over the past year, more than 4 per cent of its 114,300 workforce.

Net profit was 281 million euros ($A398.24 million), compared to 105 million euros in the same period a year ago.

Sales fell 3.4 per cent to 5.62 billion euros, hurt by the strong euro.

In Philips' lighting division, strong sales of LEDs and fewer charges led to a 140 million euro profit, from a 14 million loss in the same period a year ago.

But CEO Frans van Houten warned of "continuing headwinds in the global economy", which he said would affect sales in future quarters without being specific.

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Man arrested after woman's death in NSW

A MAN has been arrested after a woman with stab wounds died in a home northwest of Sydney.

The 40-year-old woman was found with multiple stab wounds at a home in Hobartville near Richmond around 3.20pm (AEDT) on Sunday, police said.

She died at the scene.

A 41-year-old man was arrested at the house and is assisting with inquiries at Windsor Police Station.

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Vic fire fighters in NSW to be replaced

VICTORIA'S contingent of fire fighters battling the NSW blaze will be replaced by a fresh crew.

Victoria's fire services commissioner Craig Lapsley says a 120-strong replacement crew will leave Victoria for NSW on Monday.

The crew will replace the fire fighting team Victoria sent last week and will begin work from Tuesday to Thursday helping the NSW effort.

The contingent includes 100 Country Fire Authority (CFA) fire fighters and 20 incident management experts from the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), CFA, Department of Environment and Primary Industries and Parks Victoria.

Mr Lapsley says NSW authorities will inform Victoria on Monday whether further assistance is needed.

"This week in NSW there's a critical couple of days," he said.

"Tuesday and Wednesday is the real critical fire weather. There could be a chance NSW could ask for more."

The contingent of Victorian crews has been drawn from northern and central Victoria.

South Australia sent a crew of 51 and Tasmania a team of 20 staff.

A Tasmania Fire Service spokesman said crews would be deployed for six days until Thursday, but could not comment on whether further crews would be replaced.

A SA Metropolitan Fire Service spokesman said a request had been received from NSW for more troops and it would send another six replacing 12 coming home on Tuesday.

He said he was unable to comment on the team of 40 from the SA Country Fire Service, who could not be contacted.

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NSW premier declares state of emergency

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has declared a state of emergency as bushfire conditions worsen. Source: AAP

A STATE of emergency has been declared across NSW, as firefighters prepare themselves for deteriorating weather being forecast throughout the state.

Rural Fire Service (RFS) Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons wrote to Premier Barry O'Farrell on Sunday requesting he declare a state of emergency.

Mr O'Farrell, who has since signed the order, said there were concerns weather conditions would deteriorate significantly over the next few days.

"There is potential for a significant and widespread danger to life and property across the State," Mr O'Farrell said in a statement.

"This is not an action taken lightly by either the Commissioner, the Minister or myself, but it's important the Rural Fire Service and other emergency services have the powers and the resources they need to combat this threat.

"We are planning for the worst but hoping for the best," he said.

The declaration triggers a range of measures, including allowing emergency services to direct the public to evacuate or to order power and gas supplies be shut off.

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