Gambaro tells forum she's for gay marriage

Liberal MP Teresa Gambaro says she'll vote for gay marriage if allowed a conscience vote. Source: AAP

THE Liberal MP representing Queensland's most marginal federal seat has declared she would vote for gay marriage if the coalition allowed a conscience vote.

Teresa Gambaro has previously stated she would push Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to allow a conscience vote on the matter after the election.

The shadow parliamentary secretary has, however, previously declined to say whether or not she personally supported gay marriage.

But on Thursday night, the MP who holds Brisbane by a narrow 1.1 per cent margin, told a candidates' forum in her electorate she would vote in favour of marriage equality if given the choice.

"Should I be privileged to represent the people of Brisbane and be re-elected to the seat, my conscience vote would be in favour of same-sex marriage," she said to loud applause.

Ms Gambaro said people should be free to love who they want, regardless of their gender.

"I've made this decision because of my personal journey speaking to people, touched by the issue, as I've been door knocking right around the electorate," she said.

"Who people choose to love is not a decision for government.

"People should be free to love who they want, free of discrimination, bias and prejudice."

Ms Gambaro told the forum that marriage equality had been used as a political wedge, and said her vote against a gay marriage motion last year fulfilled a 2010 election promise.

"I believe it accurately reflected the majority view of the electorate of Brisbane at the time," she said.

"I'm on the record as saying that I'm not going to be bullied into taking one position or another and believe in representing people properly and not using this for political purposes."

Her position in favour of marriage equality comes as Australian Marriage Equality distributes leaflets in her inner-city seat pointing out how she hadn't declared a position.

Ms Gambaro has joined fellow federal Liberal MPs Malcolm Turnbull, Wyatt Roy and Kelly O'Dwyer in backing same sex marriage.

She said she had previously supported conscience votes for euthanasia and the abortion drug RU486.

Labor's candidate for Brisbane, Fiona McNamara, who supports gay marriage, questioned whether Ms Gambaro would cross the floor if the coalition didn't change its position to allow a conscience vote.

"I welcome Ms Gambaro's statement that she would vote for a conscience vote," she told AAP after the forum.

"Will she cross the floor if the LNP doesn't allow a conscience vote?"

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Aust sucks up Ocean's waters: study

THE world's sea levels fell in 2011 and it's all Australia's fault.

New US research shows Australia's dry soil and mountainous coastline soaked up heavy rainfall in 2010 and 2011 and stopped it from flowing back into the ocean.

That effectively halted a longterm trend of rising sea levels which have been caused by higher temperatures and melting ice sheets.

"No other continent has this combination of atmospheric set-up and topography," scientist John Fasullo, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

"Only in Australia could the atmosphere carry such heavy tropical rains to such a large area, only to have those rains fail to make their way to the ocean."

The world's oceans have been rising in recent decades by around three millimetres every year.

This is partly because heat has caused water to expand, and partly because run-off from retreating glaciers and ice sheets has made its way into the oceans.

But for an 18-month period beginning in 2010, the oceans mysteriously dropped by about seven millimetres, more than offsetting the annual rise, the study says.

The US scientists say this was mainly caused by Australia's uniquely dry soil and land surface.

While some of the water evaporated in the desert sun, much of it sank into the dry, granular soil of the Western Plateau or filled the Lake Eyre basin in the east.

Since 2011, sea levels have been rising at a faster pace of about ten millimetres per year.

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33 killed in bus accident in Malaysia

A passenger bus has plunged into a deep ravine in Malaysia, killing at least 33 people. Source: AAP

A PASSENGER bus has plunged into a deep ravine while travelling downhill near a Malaysian highland resort, killing 33 people, an official said.

Sixteen people survived the accident, which occurred on a winding slope in central Genting Highlands, a popular destination that houses Malaysia's sole casino on Wednesday, said fire department official Azizan Ismail.

The bus, which fell about 60 metres into the ravine, was carrying mostly Malaysians and several tourists believed to be from the Middle East, Azizan said.

He said one body had been recovered from the bus, with 32 more bodies remaining inside the vehicle.

The cause of the accident was not known. The bus driver was among those believed killed, Azizan said.

More than 200 firefighters, police and medical officers used ropes and cranes to reach the bus, which had been heading to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's main city.

The cause of the accident was not known. The bus driver was among those killed, Azizan said.

Genting Highlands attracts thousands of domestic visitors and foreign tourists from Singapore, China and other countries every week. Serious accidents are rare on the relatively well-maintained roads leading to the area's main resorts.

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Facebook unveils global net access plan

Facebook has announced a partnership aimed at connecting four billion people still not online. Source: AAP

FACEBOOK and other technology giants have launched an initiative designed to give the whole world access to the internet.

The project is entitled Internet.org and its goal is to extend internet access to five billion people by cutting the cost of smart phone-based internet services in developing countries.

"Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday.

"There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the knowledge economy," he said, adding that the project aimed to make it easier and cheaper to connecting to the web.

The other partners in the project are Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Opera, while Twitter and LinkedIn are also due to sign up.

Today some 2.7 billion people, just over a third of the world's population, had access to the internet, and the number of new users was growing only slowly each year, a statement said.

"The goal of Internet.org is to make internet access available to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected, and to bring the same opportunities to everyone that the connected third of the world has today," the statement said.

The seven founding partners are going to develop joint projects, share knowledge and mobilise governments and industry to bring the world online.

Specifically, they want to simplify mobile apps to make them more efficient and improve telephone components and networks so they perform better while consuming less energy.

They also want to develop lower-cost, higher-quality smartphones and partnerships to more broadly deploy internet access in underserved communities.

Zuckerberg insisted in an interview with CNN that the project was not simply aimed at generating more customers.

"If we were just focused on making money, the first billion people we've connected have way more money than the rest of the next six billion combined. It's not fair but it's the way that it is," he said.

The partnership emulates one launched by Facebook in 2011 called Open Compute Project, which also aims to improve the materials used in call centres and make them less energy-hungry.

That project was originally met with scepticism but has gradually won over the major players in the computer industry.

The new thrust comes at a key time for tech groups. Mature markets are saturated and have little potential for significant growth, while poor regions like Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia are pools of potential new customers.

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Asylum boat tragedy leaves up to five dead

UP to five asylum seekers are believed to have drowned after a boat carrying more than 100 people sank north of Christmas Island.

Australian authorities called off search and rescue operations on Tuesday night after rescuing 106 people, Customs and Border Protection says.

"The suspension follows confirmation from on-scene crews and interviews with survivors that all survivors have been recovered," Customs said in a statement.

Information from survivors suggested that up to five people remained unaccounted for, but they may have gone down with the boat.

After an extensive search for survivors and bodies, none were sighted.

"It is therefore believed any people unaccounted for have gone down with part of the vessel," Customs said.

The 106 survivors are being transferred to Christmas Island for health and security checks.

They will all eventually be sent to Papua New Guinea or Nauru and could be resettled in those nations if found to be genuine refugees.

Meanwhile, federal Labor's hardline resettlement plan is facing its first legal challenge.

Sydney lawyer Adrian Joel, who represents a would-be refugee on PNG's Manus Island, lodged a challenge in the Federal Court on Monday. It's believed the case will eventually be heard by the High Court.

Mr Joel is expected to argue that PNG is not a suitable destination for asylum seekers.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dismissed suggestions the policy may go the same way as the Gillard government's Malaysia people swap deal, which was struck out by the High Court in 2011.

"We have exactly the right policy message on this and exactly the right administration to back it up," Mr Rudd told reporters in Brisbane.

The latest boat tragedy comes as Immigration Minister Tony Burke and Foreign Minister Bob Carr attended a regional anti-people smuggling conference in Indonesia on Tuesday.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott warned against Senator Carr and Mr Burke signing up to any agreement that may come from the talks due to the fact that the government was in "caretaker mode" ahead of the election next month.

A legal challenge being mounted by PNG's opposition against the asylum seeker plan also picked up steam on Tuesday, with lawyers applying to add Manus detainee and asylum seeker Rawed Reza to the list of challengers to the controversial scheme.

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Russia scrambles to contain record floods

Floods in the Russian far east have broken records as authorities evacuated more than 19,000 people. Source: AAP

RUSSIANS in the Far East are battling rising floodwaters as authorities evacuate more than 23,000 people from affected areas and scramble to prevent the outbreak of infection.

Heavy rains pounding Khabarovsk, a Far Eastern city located near the Chinese border, since July have swelled the local Amur River to nearly 7 metres - a level unseen since monitoring of the area began in 1895.

The floodwaters damaged property, infrastructure and crops, displaced tens of thousands and raised fresh questions about the Russian government's readiness to handle natural disasters.

There have been no reports of fatalities, but more than 23,000 people have been evacuated so far, the office of the Kremlin's Far Eastern envoy Viktor Ishayev said on Tuesday.

National television footage showed locals making their way through a flooded area by boat and a cow wading through muddy waters, submerged nearly up to its neck.

The floods have affected the Yakutia, Primorsky Krai and Amur regions as well as the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, but the Khabarovsk region was hit hardest.

Over the night, the region's Amur river, which serves as a natural border with China where it is known as Heilong Jiang, has risen by 16 centimetres to 673 centimetres.

It is expected to rise by another 40 centimetres over the next two days.

"According to estimates, the water levels near Khabarovsk can reach 730-780 centimetres on August 24-28," the Khabarovsk city administration said.

Yury Varakin, head of the situation centre at Russia's weather service (Rosgidromet), said the water levels around Khabarovsk reached a level unseen since regular monitoring began in 1895.

"The highest water level stood at 642 centimetres in 1897," he said.

"In many areas the river spread out over tens of kilometres. The unfavourable situation will remain until the end of the month."

The military have been deployed to help hurriedly erect flood defence bunds along the river, with authorities saying they have prepared 10,000 sand bags to use in case the waters breached the defences.

Ishayev asked the General Prosecutor's office to look into how the authorities have been handling the emergency.

"Residents in a number of areas say: 'If you started a bit earlier then you'd have saved residential settlements.' And they are right," Ishayev said in televised remarks.

He indicated some areas did not have proper infrastructure to help protect them against the floods.

"The water will be receding rather slowly," Ishayev added.

Authorities said many in the affected areas had been left without access to money after Russia's biggest bank Sberbank shut its branches and ATMs.

Of the more than 29,000 people who needed to be vaccinated, only 2,000 received necessary shots even though the local authorities had enough vaccines against hepatitis A, diphtheria and typhoid fever, Ishayev's office said.

The defence ministry sent an airlift carrying 20 tonnes of vaccines and medicine to the Far East, adding it had vaccinated 2,000 servicemen involved in relief efforts.

Another 2700 will be vaccinated shortly, said the defence ministry, adding that it was also ready to immunise the local population.

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Rudd turns to health, spending cuts

Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott are accusing each other of negative politics half way into the campaign. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has warned the coalition would scrap GP super clinics and Medicare Local centres, as he fended off claims of running a negative scare campaign.

Heading into the third week of the campaign, Labor is stepping up efforts to persuade voters a coalition government would be a risk to jobs and services because it would have to cut public spending to fund its election promises.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, however, said Labor was plumbing new depths in its attacks on the coalition by making "a whole series of absolutely outlandish and false claims".

Mr Rudd took his campaign to northern NSW on Monday to launch a $50 million plan for stroke patient support.

Speaking at a Medicare Local centre, the prime minister said the coalition would shut down the facilities run by local clinicians and community leaders and sack 3000 frontline health workers.

"Mr Abbott hasn't really thought through the real impact of his cuts on real peoples' lives," Mr Rudd said.

Labor has backed up the attack with campaign advertisements showing workers standing in spotlights which are then switched off.

"This is not about negativity, it's about accountability," Mr Rudd said of the ads.

The coalition has yet to announce its health policy, but Mr Abbott said last Friday he wanted community control of public hospitals, and medical research funding would be quarantined.

Mr Abbott did not intend to cut health spending, but would be spending "money more wisely".

The opposition leader was in western Sydney on Monday to formally announce his small business and law and order policies.

"The current government in losing control of our borders, has not just failed to stop the boats but has failed to stop the guns as well," Mr Abbott said.

The crime policy includes a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for importing illegal firearms, $100 million for Customs and local gang squads and $50 million for CCTV cameras in communities.

During a visit to supporters in Liverpool, he incorrectly referred to Labor as the "former government", before quickly correcting himself.

Treasurer Chris Bowen stood by Mr Rudd's argument that the coalition cuts would drive the economy into recession.

"We've seen it in other countries when you cut and when you embark on an austerity program, then you see an impact on economic activity," Mr Bowen said.

The latest Newspoll puts the coalition ahead of Labor 54-46 on a two-party basis and Mr Abbott just two points behind Mr Rudd as preferred prime minister.

But, in a sign of hope for the government, an Essential poll has Labor and the coalition at 50-50, after a two-point drop in the primary vote for minor parties and independents.

Labor star candidate Peter Beattie, who is standing in the Queensland seat of Forde, took an optimistic view of the polls, saying Labor can stabilise and rebuild as the campaign to September 7 continues.

"Incumbent governments always go backwards in the first 10 or 11 days," the former premier said.

The opposition's health spokesman Peter Dutton dismissed as "totally false" Mr Rudd's suggestion that all Medicare Local programs would be scrapped and that 3000 frontline health staff would be sacked under an Abbott government.

The coalition continued to provide "in-principle" support for Medicare Locals and wanted to ensure that funding for patient services wasn't being diverted to administrative services, he said in a statement.

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Hosni Mubarak may be freed in Egypt

An Egyptian court has ordered Hosni Mubarak to be freed pending his trial on corruption charges. Source: AAP

EGYPTIAN judiciary officials say former President Hosni Mubarak could be freed from custody this week.

They say a court on Monday ordered his release in a corruption case that alleged he and his two sons embezzled funds for presidential palaces.

Mubarak has been ordered released in two other court cases against him - the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that toppled him and another in case, on illegal earnings.

Mubarak is on retrial for the protesters' killing but cannot be held in custody anymore because of a two-year limit pending a final verdict.

He is also facing trial for alleged acceptance of presents from state newspapers but has already repaid their value.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to media.

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