Three suffer facial burns in SA boat fire

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy was one of three people who suffered burns when a boat caught fire on the Murray River in South Australia.

The fire broke out at 12.15pm (CST) on the boat which was near the Morgan boat ramp north of Adelaide.

Police said four people were on board and managed to get to shore before the boat sank.

All were injured with three requiring hospital treatment for burns.

The boy suffered burns to his face and was taken to Waikerie Hospital.

A man and a woman, both in their 20s, were airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with burns to their faces, an ambulance spokeswoman said.

All remain in a serious but stable condition.

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Abbott 'world's worst tipster': Tony's dad

PM Tony Abbott's dad says 'Tony is the world's worst tipster' when it comes to horse racing. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott may know about politics but he's not so good when it comes to horse racing - just ask his dad.

"Tony would be the worst tipster in the world on racing," Dick Abbott said of his son during a short break from their lunch outing at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

Mr Abbott and his wife Margie had accompanied Mr Abbott's parents to day two of the rich new Championships carnival at Randwick.

The prime minister was in an upbeat mood, saying his day had started well with a 55km bike ride.

"And now I can I guess eat and drink to my heart's content this afternoon," he said.

Mr Abbott was not answering questions about a week of highs and lows that saw him welcome the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, to Australia on the same day his NSW Liberal colleague Barry O'Farrell resigned as state premier in sensational circumstances.

"I guess this is a week of sad endings and happy beginnings," Mr Abbott said.

The one tip staunch monarchist Mr Abbott was prepared to volunteer was for Carlton House, a horse owned by Queen Elizabeth and trained by Gai Waterhouse.

"I guess it couldn't have a better owner and you couldn't have a better trainer," the prime minister said.

He wasn't doing his own betting, however.

"I've sought advice and I've given $50 to my racing investment adviser and I've asked him to try to make sure he comes back with more than $50," Mr Abbott said, not revealing who that adviser might be.

Mr Abbott was filling in for the visiting royals, who were unable to attend Randwick for the presentation to the winner of the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday afternoon.

The outing was also a belated 90th birthday treat for Mr Abbott senior.

The prime ministerial party dined in the Directors' Room in Randwick's new grandstand as guests of Racing NSW with broadcaster Alan Jones and former News Limited boss John Hartigan at their table.

On the menu were starters of king prawns, rock oysters and Alaskan king crab while the main course was a choice of veal fillet and rock lobster medallions or poached pink snapper fillet with gingered kumera.

Dick and Mr Abbott's mother Fay are keen racegoers and have been members at Randwick for 35 years.

"I first came to the Randwick track in the 1960s when I was a kid," Mr Abbott said.

"Visits have been few and far between since then."

The PM said it was "nice to be able to give something back to your parents".

Fay Abbott said she favoured It's a Dundeel.

"I think it might be a quinella race - the Queen's horse Carlton House and It's a Dundeel," she said.

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IBM posts lower 1Q earnings, revenue

Computer giant IBM says its first-quarter earnings have fallen due to reorganisation costs. Source: AAP

IBM says its first-quarter earnings have fallen because of a large charge related to reorganising its work force. Revenue has fallen amid an ongoing decline in its hardware business.

IBM Corp on Wednesday said it earned $US2.38 billion ($A2.55 billion), or $US2.29 per share, in the January-March period. That's down 21 per cent from $US3.03 billion, or $US2.70 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $US2.54 per share, matching analysts' expectations.

Revenue fell four per cent to $US22.5 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $US22.9 billion.

For the full year, IBM expects adjusted earnings of at least $US18 per share. That's higher than estimates of $US17.88.

IBM said a year ago that it would spend $US1 billion to reshuffle the types of jobs it needs. That includes layoffs, although IBM hasn't said how many.

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Bodies recovered from NSW mine

THE bodies of both men who died in a Hunter Valley coal mine collapse have been recovered.

Phillip Grant, 35, from Maitland and 49-year-old Cessnock resident Jamie Mitchell died when a wall collapsed in the Austar Coal Mine in Paxton on Tuesday night.

They had been working 500 metres below the surface and 10 kilometres along the mine.

Workmates attempted to save them on Tuesday night but were forced to leave the mine because of safety fears, with both men pronounced dead just after midnight on Wednesday.

Police confirmed they had recovered Mr Mitchell's body about 8am on Thursday with Mr Grant's body recovered just before 5pm.

Police have established a crime scene and the mine will remain closed indefinitely.

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Peak-hour chaos after fatal Vic smash

AFTERNOON peak-hour traffic on Melbourne's busy Western Ring Road has been thrown into chaos after a fatal collision.

A man died on Tuesday after his car crashed into the rear of a truck parked in the emergency lane on the Western Ring Road, in Fawkner in Melbourne's north.

The truck driver was not injured, police said.

Following the accident, the Western Ring Road was closed between Sydney Road and the Tullamarine Freeway, causing major disruption to traffic in the area.

A police spokesman said it was not expected to be reopened until 6.30pm (AEST).

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BHP appoints new director

BHP Billiton has appointed British businessmen Malcolm Brinded to its board.

Mr Brinded held various leadership roles during a 37-year career with oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell.

The appointment takes the number of BHP non-executive directors to 13, which chairman Jac Nasser said reflected overlapping tenures required to successfully manage board succession.

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Evans backs Carr on Palestine stance

THE man considered one of Australia's finest foreign ministers has given Bob Carr a big tick for his controversial stance on Palestine but marked him down for being "too kind" to Sri Lanka.

Gareth Evans, foreign minister in the Labor Hawke and Keating governments, helped Mr Carr launch his much talked about Diary of a Foreign Minister in Sydney on Monday.

He lauded Mr Carr for leading a cabinet push against then-prime minister Julia Gillard's plans to vote against a Palestinian bid for upgraded United Nations status.

In a rare break from the United States and Israel, Australia in 2012 decided to abstain from the vote.

"As Bob records in the book me saying at the time, a 'no' vote would have been the worst Australian foreign policy decision for a generation," Professor Evans said.

"Not only wrong in principle, but leaving us totally isolated from every friend we had in the world, apart from the US and Israel itself, and mortally wounding our credibility."

Prof Evans disagreed that the move to abstain was more about western Sydney votes.

"Forcing the issue in the cabinet ... even if Julia Gillard was rather deeply embarrassed in the process, was not about crude electoral politics," he said.

"It was about ensuring that Australia was not seen internationally as being on the wrong side of history."

But Prof Evans was critical of Mr Carr's softly-softly approach on Sri Lanka, which has been accused of human rights violations.

As foreign minister, Mr Carr resisted calls for Australia to boycott a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, saying he favoured dialogue with the nation rather than isolating it.

Prof Evans said Mr Carr had been "much too kind" on Sri Lanka.

"It's a regime which has never made an atrocity accountability commitment which it hasn't breached," he said.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Carr said he knew he'd have the foreign minister job for only 18 months before Labor's electoral defeat and wanted to give Australians a glimpse into how foreign policy was formed.

"I wanted to capture for my own sake and for the historic record what it was like," he said.

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China consortium buys Peru mine for $US6bn

Glencore Xstrata has agreed to sell its copper mine project in Peru for $US5.85 billion in cash. Source: AAP

CHINA Minmetals says a consortium led by one of its subsidiaries, MMG, has agreed to buy Glencore Xstrata's stake in the Las Bambas copper mine project in Peru for $US5.85 billion ($A6.24 billion).

China Minmetals, a state-owned mining giant, called it the largest overseas acquisition by China's metal mining industry.

"The Las Bambas project is in line with the long-term strategy of Minmetals and MMG," Minmetals president Zhou Zhongshu said in a statement on Monday. "(The acquisition) will further optimise the mining asset composition of Minmetals".

Demand for metals and other raw materials to fuel growth in China, the world's second-largest economy, has become a key influence on global commodities markets.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, pending approval by governments and shareholders, Minmetals said.

The statement also said that lenders including the China Development Bank, ICBC and Bank of China will provide funding support for the takeover.

Peru is the world's second-biggest copper producer, and Las Bambas is located in the Apurimac region in the country's southeast. China is the world's biggest copper importer.

Glencore Xstrata also announced the deal in a statement on Sunday.

The consortium is "owned 62.5 per cent by MMG Limited, 22.5 per cent by GUOXIN International Investment Corporation Limited and 15.0 per cent by CITIC Metal Co", the Anglo-Swiss mining giant said.

"Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment to maximising value for our shareholders," Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of Glencore, said.

Earlier this month, Chinese state-owned grain giant COFCO announced, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals, that it would take a majority stake in the agricultural commodities subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Noble Group.

COFCO had announced a deal in late February to buy 51 per cent of Netherlands-based Nidera, a trader of grains and soybeans among other agricultural commodities and active in Brazil and Argentina.

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Cyclone Ita menaces Qld

Cyclone Ita will menace the Queensland coast for at least another day bringing torrential rain. Source: AAP

CYCLONE Ita will menace the Queensland coast for at least another day.

It is expected to remain a category one cyclone until late on Monday as it weaves on and off the coast south to central Queensland.

Since pummelling into land north of Cooktown as a category four storm on Friday night, Ita has travelled about 1000 kilometres.

Power and communication blackouts and water shortages have been left in its wake.

Premier Campbell Newman predicts it will take about eight to 12 weeks to "really crack the back of the recovery task".

"It's good that there is no loss of life but I can't stress enough (that) people have got to sit tight," he said during a tour of Hope Vale and Cooktown on Sunday.

The water supply in Cooktown is critically low and will run out by Sunday evening if locals ignore strict restrictions.

Police are patrolling the isolated town and anyone caught using a hose will be fined.

"We're hoping once we get the power to the treatment plant we'll be able to resupply water by tonight if everything goes well," Cook Shire Council CEO Stephen Wilson told AAP.

The local bottle shop and pubs finally opened on Sunday afternoon and sales are rivalling Christmas trading.

Proserpine is the next regional town in Ita's path.

At midnight, it is due to hit Mackay.

Gusts up to 110km/h, abnormally high tides and large waves are expected, the Bureau of Meteorology warns.

But possibly the biggest worry is torrential rain and flash flooding, with isolated falls up to 400mm possible.

Thankfully, once the cyclone passes each community, the rain is tending to clear quickly.

"There's not much on the north of the cyclone," senior forecaster Pradeep Singh told AAP.

"The rain should ease as the system moves away off the coast late on Tuesday, and we'll be left with coastal showers."

Earlier on Sunday, Ita struck Ingham, south of Townsville, flattening its vast sugar cane fields.

The town is cut in two by a swollen creek and the Bruce Highway remain closed to its south.

Mayor Rodger Bow warned locals there is raw sewerage in the water and people risk disease if they venture out.

"We had severe rain, about 300mm, and I don't know what kilometre an hour winds, but we have trees blown down," Cr Bow said.

"We've got sunshine now."

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said there had been two swift water rescues in her city, and some 7000 homes are without power.

While the winds felled some trees, there was no significant damage to property.

"It's what the locals here call a baby blow," she said, adding that Townsville was built to sustain cyclonic conditions.

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Vic govt to build Melbourne Airport rail

PASSENGERS for the Melbourne Airport service from Southern Cross Station could be waiting several years for their train to arrive, but they have been told it is on its way.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine says his government will build the long-awaited airport rail link, with a promise of a 25-minute service from the city.

The premier says the electric trains will be high-capacity, affordable and run every 10 minutes during peak times.

Dr Napthine was scarce with precise details when announcing the pledge at the Victorian Liberal Party conference, saying the time and cost of the project will be revealed in the state budget next month.

He said the project was long overdue.

"This project has been on the books for over 40 years," Dr Napthine told the conference on Sunday.

"It is time this rail link was built."

Melbourne airport attracts 30 million passengers a year, and this was expected to double in 20 years, he said.

"This is an enormous step forward for Melbourne Airport, for Melbourne and Victoria," Dr Napthine later told reporters.

"It's absolutely essential that Melbourne and Victoria has a rail link to the airport."

The link will use the existing Albion-Jacana goods rail corridor between the city's west and north.

Dr Napthine says the project will be publicly run but private involvement would be sought.

Deputy Opposition Leader James Merlino said the state had higher public transport priorities.

"This won't fix train congestion, this won't fix delays, this won't fix level crossings," he told reporters.

Mr Merlino said he was doubtful the government would fulfil the pledge.

"Denis Napthine and the Liberal Party promised rail links to Avalon, to Doncaster, to Rowville. None of them have been delivered," he said.

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