Driver trapped in NSW bus crash

A BUS driver is trapped inside his bus after it crashed into a home on NSW's Central Coast, leaving one of the occupants with critical head injuries.

Police say the bus crashed into a duplex on Greenfield Road at Empire Bay shortly after 4.15 (AEST) on Tuesday.

Fire and rescue officers are trying to stabilise the building before attempting to free the driver, police say.

A man who was inside the building is being airlifted to hospital in a critical condition and a woman in the house with him is being treated at the scene.

None of the 11 people on the bus suffered major injuries.

The intersection of Greenfield and Rickard Roads has been closed and police are advising motorists to avoid the area and expect delays.

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Energy giant Shell names new CEO

ANGLO-DUTCH energy giant Royal Dutch Shell says it has appointed downstream director Ben van Beurden as chief executive to replace outgoing boss Peter Voser.

"The board of Royal Dutch Shell Plc today announced that Ben van Beurden will succeed Peter Voser as chief executive officer, effective 1 January 2014," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Peter Voser will leave Shell at the end of March 2014, marking the end of 29 years with the company."

Dutch national Van Beurden, 55, has been downstream director since January 2013.

"I am delighted to announce Ben van Beurden as the next chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell," said chairman Jorma Ollila.

"Ben has deep knowledge of the industry and proven executive experience across a range of Shell businesses.

"Ben will continue to drive and further develop the strategic agenda that we have set out, to generate competitive returns for our shareholders."

Shell revealed in May that Voser, 54, would retire in 2014 to spend more time with his family.

The London-listed energy major made the surprise announcement of Voser's departure alongside a drop in first-quarter profits that was blamed on lower crude oil prices.

Van Beurden joined Shell in 1983 and has held various operational and commercial roles in upstream and downstream activities at Shell.

Voser, who has been chief executive since July 2009, will have worked a total of 29 years at the group during two spells.

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S. Korean officials visit Kaesong

A GROUP of South Korean officials and workers have visited a joint industrial complex on the border with North Korea, just days after the two Koreas agreed to fresh talks on reviving the shuttered site.

About two dozen visitors from the South on Tuesday went to the Kaesong industrial complex - a rare symbol of inter-Korea co-operation and a crucial source of hard currency for the North - to restart power supplies, Seoul's unification ministry said.

The trip follows months of friction and threats of war by Pyongyang after its February nuclear test attracted tougher UN sanctions, further squeezing its struggling economy.

The visit is the first by southerners to the complex since early May. It was aimed at preparing for a visit on Wednesday by South Korean officials and dozens of businessmen who run factories at the industrial site.

At the end of gruelling 15-hour talks, Seoul and Pyongyang said in a joint statement on Sunday that they had agreed to let South Korean firms restart their shuttered plants at the complex near the border when conditions are ripe.

The statement was viewed as a crucial step forwards in winding down months of high tension, with the joint industrial zone seen as the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.

Another round of talks to discuss conditions for reopening the site is scheduled for Wednesday.

High on the agenda will be a demand from Seoul that the North guarantees it will never again unilaterally shut down the estate.

The North, however, will likely find it hard to accept such a demand as it would amount to Pyongyang accepting full responsibility for the suspension.

The complex - built in 2004 about 10 kilometres north of the border - had previously remained largely resilient to turbulence in relations.

But the North, citing military tensions and Seoul's hostility, pulled out all its 53,000 workers from the 123 Seoul-owned factories in April, prompting the South to withdraw the managers of around 120 companies in early May.

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Vic laws to target dangerous dog owners

Irresponsible dog owners could be jailed for two years under a proposed crackdown in Victoria. Source: AAP

IRRESPONSIBLE dog owners could be jailed for two years and banned from keeping canines under a proposed crackdown in Victoria.

Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh says the state already has strong restrictions on so-called dangerous breeds but is now turning the focus on owners.

"Those people who have been convicted of their dog attacking others now face bans of up to 10 years in the ownership and control of these dogs," he told reporters on Monday.

"If they break the ban, they can then face more severe penalties, such as up to two years in jail or a fine of up to $34,600."

Mr Walsh said the proposed laws - which will be introduced into parliament this spring - would give magistrates more power when dealing with dog attacks.

"They can convict someone for what their dog has done, but they cannot control what that person will do with dogs in the future," he said.

The minister cited the attack on four-year-old Ayen Chol as a prime motivator behind Victoria's approach to toughening dog attack laws.

The little girl was mauled to death two years ago when a neighbour's pit bull escaped its yard and attacked her and other family members in their St Albans home in August 2011.

"The dog in that case had not attacked before, and was not considered dangerous, but it had escaped from its yard and killed the child and did lots of damage," Mr Walsh said.

Australian Veterinary Association president David Neck said educating, rather than punishing owners, was the best approach when it came to dog attacks.

"There are two sides to this - first, the response to a dog attack when it happens, but more importantly, pro-activity, so preventing attacks before they happen," Dr Neck said.

"We need to focus on teaching owners to look for the early warning signs, and to proactively seek help before the dog's behaviour gets them into a court of law."

Premier Denis Napthine, a trained veterinarian, said specific breeds should be banned too.

"Let's get rid of American pit bulls. They're just bred for attacking and they can do enormous damage," he told Gold 104.3 FM.

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Protesters to continue Whitehaven fight

Workers at a NSW coal mine have vowed to fight a project they say will destroy local heritage sites. Source: AAP

PROTESTERS have vowed to continue their fight against a Whitehaven Coal mine approved last week, saying it will destroy local heritage sites in northwest NSW.

Whitehaven received final approvals to begin construction at the site near Boggabri last Thursday after a three-year process.

Gomeroi traditional owner Stephen Talbot says the $767 million Maules Creek mine will clear more than 4000 acres of "culturally significant forest, artefacts and cultural values" which have not been properly assessed.

"The forest contains cultural heritage sites, food sources, and totems of our people, and most of them will be permanently destroyed by the planned mine," Mr Talbot said.

"There hasn't been a proper consultation process, the management plan is flawed and we don't believe that our people have been treated with proper respect or that our concerns about the destruction of cultural heritage have been addressed."

A Whitehaven spokeswoman, however, said there had been discussions with Aboriginal representative groups since the earliest days of the Maules Creek project.

"A detailed Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment was included ... as part of the planning process and consultation has continued throughout the project," she said.

A spokeswoman for the Wilderness society said over fifty people including traditional owners, elders and members of the non-indigenous community protested outside Whitehaven's office and at an adjacent park on Monday morning.

Mr Talbot said demonstrators would return to Boggabri Park in greater numbers on Tuesday to continue their protest.

He called for all salvage works to be halted until community concerns had been addressed.

Whitehaven is permitted to extract up to 13 million tonnes of coal per annum and rail 12.4 million tonnes from the site each year.

The federal government gave conditional approval for the project in February this year.

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Five killed in India building collapse

A hotel has collapsed in the southern Indian city of Secunderabad, killing five restaurant workers. Source: AAP

A TWO-STOREY hotel has collapsed in the southern Indian city of Secunderabad, killing five restaurant workers and injuring 15 others, police say.

"Five people have died and 15 more have been injured when the City Light Hotel collapsed early this morning," local police official B Surender told AFP on Monday.

Nearly 25 people were working at the hotel on a busy road in Secunderabad in Andhra Pradesh state when one of the kitchen walls gave way, burying staff under the debris, Surender said.

"Five of the workers have been admitted to hospital with serious injuries. We are still working to clear the rubble and find the remaining people," he said. It was unclear how many people were still trapped.

"The building was very old and the walls showed cracks, according to people working nearby," he added.

Several buildings have collapsed in India in recent months, many of them apartment blocks in the financial capital Mumbai, including one in April that killed 74 people.

The collapses have highlighted pervasive poor construction standards in the country, where massive demand for housing and endemic corruption often result in illegal buildings and a lack of safety inspections.

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Bahrain bomb kills policeman

A BOMB attack has killed a Bahraini policeman and wounded two others in a Shi'ite Muslim village outside the capital, a police statement carried by the official BNA news agency says.

"Terrorist groups targeted a police station in Sitra" late on Saturday, public security chief General Tariq Hasan said on Sunday.

"As police attempted to secure the area ... the terrorists blew up an improvised bomb against security forces in an attack that killed policeman Yasser Dhaib and wounded two others."

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Deported cleric Abu Qatada lands in Jordan

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada has been deported from Britain and is on his way to Jordan. Source: AAP

RADICAL Islamist cleric Abu Qatada has arrived in Amman after Britain deported him to face terrorism charges, ending a decade-long legal battle, a Jordanian government official said.

"Abu Qatada landed at Marka airport in east Amman," a Jordanian government official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Sunday.

"He was escorted by British and Jordanian guards, who handed him over to state security court prosecutors."

The military tribunal lies just outside the airport.

Abu Qatada's father, brothers and other family members stood outside the courthouse waiting for his arrival, an AFP photographer reported.

The Palestinian-born preacher, 53, was taken from prison in an armoured police van to a military airfield on the outskirts of London, from which he was flown out of Britain at 0146 GMT.

Abu Qatada was condemned to death in absentia by a Jordanian court in 1999 for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks including on the American school in Amman but the sentence was immediately reduced to life imprisonment with hard labour.

In 2000, again in his absence, he was sentenced to 15 years for plotting to carry out terror attacks on tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations.

His deportation came after Jordan and Britain ratified a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters aimed at removing any remaining concerns about the use of tainted evidence in Abu Qatada's retrial.

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Solar airplane lands in New York

THE experimental Solar Impulse plane, powered by the sun, has completed a transcontinental trip across the United States, touching down in New York despite a rip in the fabric of one wing.

The giant, single-person plane landed at New York's John F Kennedy airport at 11.11pm (0311 GMT) on Saturday, ahead of its originally scheduled time due to a 2.5-metre long tear that appeared on the fabric of the lower side of the left wing.

Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg was met on the tarmac by compatriot and fellow pilot Bertrand Piccard, and the two posed triumphantly for pictures.

The men had taken turns flying the spindly, long-winged plane across the country.

The Solar Impulse, which runs on four electric propellers powered by an array of solar cells mounted on the plane's 63-metre wingspan, lifted off just before dawn Saturday from Washington Dulles International Airport.

"This last leg was especially difficult due to the damage of the fabric on the left wing," Borschberg told reporters upon landing after the 18 hour, 23 minute flight.

The team looked at all possible scenarios, "including bailing out over the Atlantic," he said. "But this type of problem is inherent to every experimental endeavour."

Flying coast-to-coast "has always been a mythical milestone full of challenges for aviation pioneers," added Piccard. "During this journey, we had to find solutions for a lot of unforeseen situations, which obliged us to develop new skills and strategies."

The team also "pushed the boundaries of clean technologies and renewable energies to unprecedented levels," he said.

Piccard said they had mixed feelings about the end of their long trip. "Normally you feel a bit sad and nostalgic, but with the problem with the wing, we feel relieved," he said.

The coast-to-coast US journey began on May 3, near San Francisco, California. The plane then landed in Phoenix (Arizona), Dallas/Fort Worth (Texas), St. Louis (Missouri), Cincinnati (Ohio) and the capital, Washington.

Borschberg was forced to pass the hours Saturday by circling over the Atlantic not far from the "Big Apple," before being allowed to fly over the city in the evening, due to heavy air traffic.

The light solar plane flies at around 70km per hour, and is especially sensitive to air turbulence.

Before the final leg, Piccard and Borschberg spoke of the most memorable moments from the cross-country flight.

For Piccard, a Swiss adventurer who founded Solar Impulse over a decade ago, one of those moments was flying past the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco at the very start of the journey.

Borschberg recalled one of the most dangerous moments of the trip, when wind threatened to unbalance the aircraft.

The crossing has been "more difficult than expected because of the weather: There were a lot of tornadoes, storms, causing several of our flights to be delayed or slowed down," Piccard said.

The Solar Impulse is powered by 12,000 solar cells and flies in the dark by reaching high altitudes during the day and gliding downward over long distances by night. It uses no fossil fuels.

Drawbacks include the tiny cockpit, vulnerability to turbulence and the lack of a toilet, so the pilots must relieve themselves by using an empty plastic water bottle on solo flights that can last up to 24 hours.

The current aircraft model, the HB-SIA, is soon to be phased out as the Swiss team prepares test flights next year of the second-generation aircraft, the HB-SIB.

Piccard said the next plane will be 10 percent bigger, with more power, reliability, an auto-pilot function and a toilet so that pilots can make the four to six-day long trips that will be part of its journey across the world in 2015.

The plane's American trip is just the latest in a series of groundbreaking flights across different parts of the world, including Europe and Africa.

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Quake hits Indonesia's Sumatra

A strong quake has hit Indonesia's Sumatra days after a tremor killed dozens of people. Source: AAP

JAKARTA, July 6 AFP - A strong 6.0-magnitude quake has struck off Indonesia's Sumatra, US seismologists say, just days after a tremor on the vast island killed dozens and left thousands homeless.

No tsunami warning was issued and there were no reports of damage after the quake struck on Saturday at a shallow depth of just 23km off the south-west coast of the vast island, said the US Geological Survey.

US seismologists initially said it was a magnitude 6.4 quake, then revised it down to a 6.0 quake.

The epicentre was close to the remote archipelago of Mentawai. In 2010, a 7.7-magnitude quake triggered a tsunami that left more than 400 people dead on the island chain.

Suharjono, an official from the local meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency, who goes by one name, said Saturday's quake was unlikely to have caused damage and there was no threat of a tsunami.

"Judging from the quake's magnitude and the distance from the epicentre to the land, I don't think the quake will have a significant impact," he said.

"There's little potential to cause damage," he said, explaining that it was felt mildly by people in two provinces on Sumatra.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami alert.

It came after a 6.1-magnitude inland tremor on Tuesday struck Aceh, on Sumatra's northern tip, flattening buildings and sparking landslides in the mountainous interior of the natural disaster-prone province.

So far 35 people have been confirmed dead from Tuesday's quake and some 16,000 left homeless, according to the national disaster agency.

In 2004, a quake-triggered tsunami left more than 170,000 people dead in Aceh, as well as tens of thousands more in countries around the Indian Ocean.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

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