Bali Nine pair move devastating: Bishop

FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop says she's dismayed that Indonesia is pressing ahead with the execution of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

BALI'S prosecutor Momock Bambang Samiarso confirmed on Tuesday evening that the pair will be transferred on Wednesday to the prison island of Nusakambangan where they will be executed.

Ms Bishop said this was devastating news."I am dismayed by reports that Andrew and Myuran are to be transferred by Indonesian authorities in preparation for their execution," she said in a statement.Ms Bishop said she would continue to contact ministers in Indonesia to press for a stay of the executions."Given their rehabilitation, it is callous for these executions to proceed," she said.

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Healthway head steps down after perks rort

THE biggest scalp has been claimed in the wake of the Healthway perks rort, with chairwoman Rosanna Capolingua stepping down.

A REPORT released last week found the board and senior management of Western Australia's health promotion agency had milked corporate hospitality and given some $220,000 worth of tickets to sporting and concert events to family and friends.

The scandal has already resulted in the axing of former executive director David Malone, whose contract was severed on February 13 after the state government obtained legal advice.Premier Colin Barnett wants more heads to roll, urging other board members to quit, saying Healthway needs a clean slate.Mr Barnett said Dr Capolingua's resignation was largely to do with governance failures."The responsibility of the board is not only to do policy but also to be very scrupulous in overseeing the organisation and staff, and in particular the contracts for sponsorships," he told reporters on Tuesday."It seems to me that did not happen."Mr Barnett said he still held Dr Capolingua in high regard.The former Australian Medical Association president was asked to stand as a Liberal Party candidate at the 2013 state election.Dr Capolingua suggested she had done nothing wrong, saying she only went to a handful of events with her family, but would "lead the way" to clear the slate for Healthway.Asked how she felt about a lack of support from Mr Barnett, Dr Capolingua said it was "difficult to understand how that situation arose"."I certainly felt very sad that he wasn't able to look the camera in the eye and express a vote of confidence in me," she said."My credibility has been questioned and publicly denigrated. I know who I am and those who know me know that I do not abuse the system."Mr Barnett said he didn't regret saying on Friday that as chairwoman, Dr Capolingua must have known what was going on."We're not talking about a moderate misuse, we're talking about excessive misuse ... grossly excessive," he said."The board would have to have observed that."This had become out of control."The worst offenders were senior management, but it had also overlapped into the board, he said.Mr Barnett said Mr Malone would not be welcome in the public service again.The premier said Healthway programs, which had proved effective, would continue under interim management.Later in parliament, the opposition put forward a motion to condemn Health Minister Kim Hames for his lack of oversight within the health portfolio.The motion was defeated and Dr Hames quipped: "I wish I had a dollar for every time they called for me to be sacked."

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UK prison vote ban 'breaches rights'

THE European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the rights of more than a thousand prisoners in Britain were breached when they were prevented from voting in elections.

THE case was brought by inmates who were behind bars during various elections between 2009 and 2011.

The court ruled on Tuesday that Britain's policy of banning convicted prisoners from voting violated the right to a free election - a decision consistent with its previous calls for a legal change in Britain.However, the court rejected the applicants' claims for compensation and legal costs.The ruling does not compel Britain to change its law to give voting rights to prisoners.On Tuesday, the Ministry of Justice said it believed the topic "should ultimately be decided in the UK".

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US home price gains weakened in December

US home values rose at a modest pace in December, a sign there are too few potential buyers to bid up prices.

REAL estate data provider CoreLogic says home prices rose 5 per cent in December from 12 months earlier. That is down from the 5.5 per cent price gain recorded in November. It's much lower than the double-digit gains that occurred last year.

Yet those much larger increases in early 2014 priced many potential buyers out of the market. Sales actually slipped last year, after several years of gains. Smaller price increases, along with lower mortgage rates, may spur a rebound in sales.The biggest yearly gains were in Colorado, Texas, New York, Nevada and Michigan. Just three states saw prices fall compared with 12 months earlier: Maryland, Vermont and Connecticut.

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Worker dies at mine in WA's Pilbara

A WORKER has died at a mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

THE Department of Mines and Petroleum said it had been notified on Tuesday afternoon of the fatality at Consolidated Minerals' Woodie Woodie manganese mine.

Inspectors were being sent to the site, a spokeswoman said.

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Two NY police officers shot in the Bronx

TWO New York City police officers responding to a robbery in the Bronx have been shot and wounded.

THE officers were taken to a Bronx hospital with non-life threatening injuries. One officer was wounded in the arm, and the other was struck in the back, police said.

Deputy Chief Kim Royster, commanding officer of the public affairs unit, said the officers were not targeted by the gunman - unlike two officers shot to death about two weeks ago in their patrol car in Brooklyn.Royster said a weapon was recovered but it wasn't clear whether it belonged to the suspects.The shooting happened just after 10.30pm local time Monday (Tuesday AEDT).Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were gunned down in their patrol car on December 20 by a man who vowed online to kill "pigs." The man opened fire, then ran into a subway where he shot himself to death.Ramos was buried on December 27 and Liu was buried on Sunday.

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Korean Air exec resigns over nut dispute

A TOP executive of Korean Air Lines has resigned amid mounting public criticism after she delayed a plane over how she was served macadamia nuts.

COMPANY officials said on Tuesday Chairman Cho Yang-ho had accepted the resignation of Cho Hyun-ah, his eldest daughter and an executive vice president.

The junior Cho was under public fire following media revelations a recent Korean Air Lines flight from New York to South Korea returned to the gate because she ordered a senior crew member off the plane.Cho was angered she was served bagged macadamia nuts instead of nuts on a plate.The airline had apologised for inconveniencing passengers. But it also said it was "natural" for Cho to fault crew's ignorance of procedures.

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Canada soldier hit in 'terror attack' dies

ONE of two Canadian soldiers hit by a car in an apparent terrorist attack has died of his injuries.

QUEBEC provincial police said he died early on Tuesday.

The soldier's name was not released at the request of the family.The other soldier's injuries were described as less serious.The suspect was shot by police, and later died, after he struck the two members of the Canadian military with his car in a city near Montreal.An official familiar with the case identified the suspect as Martin Rouleau, 25, of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and said he was influenced by radical Islamists.Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman David Falls said on Monday the suspect "was known to federal authorities" and "authorities were concerned that he had become radicalised".One neighbour told reporters that Rouleau stopped wearing jeans and started wearing a tunic and that he had changed over the past year and was alone a lot.Another neighbour said Rouleau converted to Islam a little over a year ago.A Quebec business database shows Rouleau started a water-pressure cleaning company in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu in 2012 with two other people.Police declined to provide details, citing the investigation.Quebec police shot the man after two Canadian Forces members were struck by the motorist on Monday in a mall parking lot near Montreal.The suspect died a few hours after being shot.Quebec provincial police Lieutenant Michel Brunet said earlier that police ended up shooting the man after a car chase in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about 42 kilometres southeast of Montreal.After the man hit the two soldiers, he fled the scene in his vehicle, triggering a police chase that ended with the man losing control and his car rolling over several times.Brunet said the man exited the car and was shot.Brunet said they found a knife on the ground but he could not say if the suspect had it in his hand when police fired their weapons.Television images showed a large knife in the grass near the flipped-over car.Brunet said he didn't know if the soldiers were wearing uniforms at the time they were struck.Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was briefed about the incident by the head of Canada's police force, the head of the military and his national security adviser.Harper said earlier on Monday in parliament that he was aware of the reports and called them "extremely troubling"."First and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families; we're closely monitoring the situation and obviously we will make available all of the resources of the federal government," Harper said.The Islamic State group has urged supporters to carry out attacks against countries, including Canada, that are participating in the US-led coalition fighting the militants who have taken over large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria.It was not known whether the suspect in the Quebec attack had any ties to Islamic militant groups.

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UK sham weddings 'on industrial scale'

A UK vicar conducted hundreds of sham weddings so foreign nationals could stay in the country, a London court has been told.

REVEREND Nathan Ntege, 55, is accused of marrying almost 500 bogus couples at a church in Thornton Heath, south-east London.

The jury at Inner London Crown Court was told on Tuesday that Ntege was the "lynchpin" of a group that facilitated a "matrimonial conveyor belt" at St Jude's with St Aidan Church."The weddings that form the subject of this case were neither conducted correctly or legally and their sole purpose was to facilitate an industrial scale abuse of the system of immigration control within the UK," prosecutor Edward Lucas told the court.He said that many of the marriage involved EEA (European Economic Area) nationals - mainly Bulgarian - marrying non-EEA nationals so the latter could attempt to seek to remain in the UK.Immigration officers became suspicious because of the "inordinate number of weddings that were taking place at the parish church", which rose from six a year to six a day.Lucas said the weddings were "somewhat farcical".He spoke of several brides sharing the same wedding dress and queuing up at the back of the church waiting to get married.Speaking about one bride, he told the jury: "It is possible to see the back of her bra in the photos where it is apparent that she couldn't do the dress up at the back because it was too small for her."There were six other defendants in the dock as the prosecution case was opened for the 12-week trial.All the defendants deny all of the charges.

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Brisbane man charged after plane diverted

I have got a f---ing headache

THE cop was sure all at the scene of the Charleville truck blast were dead until he saw a figure wrapped in a blanket blink and heard: "I have got a f---ing headache.''

Senator wants penalty rates scrapped

QUEENSLAND'S newest Liberal Senator, who called for the ABC to be dismantled and payroll tax abolished during his maiden speech, now wants penalty rates gone.

Support for trading times changes

SMALL businesses are ­demanding a single southeast Queensland trading zone to end the confusing array of rules that force neighbouring shops to open and close at different times.

Palmer's keeping it in the family

CLIVE Palmer has tried to conceal the apparent preselection of Senator Glenn Lazarus' wife despite websites appearing to confirm she will be a state candidate in Buderim.

Traffic jam maps just an app away

AVOIDING traffic jams will soon be easier, with real-time traffic congestion maps and alerts on the verge of being available for Brisbane residents' smartphones.

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