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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Cheney feared heart device hacking

FORMER US Vice President Dick Cheney says he once feared terrorists could use the electrical device that had been implanted near his heart to kill him and had his doctor disable its wireless function.

Cheney has a history of heart trouble, suffering the first of five heart attacks at age 37. He underwent a heart transplant last year at age 71.

In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," Cheney says doctors replaced an implanted defibrillator near his heart in 2007. The device can detect irregular heartbeats and control them with electrical jolts.

Cheney says that he and his doctor, cardiologist Jonathan Reiner, turned off the device's wireless function in case a terrorist tried to send his heart a fatal shock.

Years later, Cheney watched an episode of the Showtime series "Homeland" in which such a scenario was part of the plot.

"I found it credible," Cheney tells "60 Minutes" in a segment to be aired Sunday. "I know from the experience we had, and the necessity for adjusting my own device, that it was an accurate portrayal of what was possible."

Cheney and Reiner are promoting a book they co-authored, "Heart: An American Medical Odyssey."

In the "60 Minutes" interview, Reiner says he worried that Cheney couldn't stand the pressure that came on Sept. 11, 2001.

The day terrorists attacked the US, medical tests seen that morning showed Cheney had elevated levels of potassium in his blood, a condition called hyperkalemia, which could lead to abnormal heart rhythms and cardiac arrest.

Reiner says he watched news coverage of the day's events on television and thought, "Oh, great, the vice president is going to die tonight from hyperkalemia."

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