Richard III remains pass 1485 death site

HUNDREDS of people have gathered in an English town as a procession carrying the remains of Richard III, the medieval king whose bones were found under a parking lot, headed to a cathedral before a proper burial ceremony more than 500 years after his death in battle.

A HEARSE carrying the monarch's remains, sealed inside an oak coffin, processed past Leicestershire's landmarks - including the battlefield at Bosworth where the monarch was killed in 1485.

Dozens of people, including some dressed in medieval costumes and carrying torches, turned out at the battlefield to watch the cortege.Richard, the last Plantagenet king, was buried hastily without a coffin in a church that was demolished long ago.His bones weren't found until 2012, when archaeologists excavated them from a Leicester parking lot.DNA tests, bone analysis and other scientific scrutiny established that the skeleton belonged to the king.Michael Ibsen, a descendant of the monarch who built the coffin that carried Richard's remains, was among academics and others who placed white roses on the casket during a short ceremony earlier on Sunday.On Thursday, organisers plan to lower the coffin into a tomb at Leicester Cathedral."His reburial at the end of the week will have all the dignity and solemnity that his original burial never had," said Phil Stone, chair of the Richard III Society."Our work will continue, in perhaps convincing the doubters Richard wasn't as black (evil) as he was once thought to be."The monarch was portrayed as a hunchbacked villain in Shakespeare's play Richard III, though some historians claim he was a relatively enlightened monarch whose name was besmirched by his opponents.

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NSW police dog Marco saves man's life

POLICE dog Marco is being hailed a hero after finding a missing man clinging to a tree above a river on NSW's Central Coast.

THE 65-year-old was reported missing from an aged care centre in Mardi late on Saturday night.

Police and centre staff searched a nearby railway station, local streets and the edges of Wyong River, but couldn't locate him.Early on Sunday morning, Marco led Dog Unit Senior Constable Patrick Summers down a steep embankment near Wyong River.Initial searches around the embankment failed to find the man."When Marco continued to point the officer to the same area of the river, the police officer looked through extensive foliage, where the man was located clinging on to a tree branch above water," police said.He was rescued and treated for minor injuries.

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Jihadi Jake had 'death wish': father

AUSTRALIAN suicide bomber Jake Bilardi craved attention and had a death wish, his father says.

SPEAKING publicly for the first time since his son's death, John Bilardi said he shouldered much of the blame for his son's actions.

It's been reported the teenager died last week during a series of deadly co-ordinated Islamic State suicide bombings in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.At least 17 people were killed, and dozens injured in the attack, which Mr Bilardi says was orchestrated by the militants."He was a prize, a trophy - they used him for their own cause," he told the Nine Network's 60 Minutes program."He had a death wish."Describing him as a shy and lonely boy, Mr Bilardi said he ignored his son's obvious mental and psychological issues when he was a child."The buck stops with me," he said."He was my son, I knew something wasn't right."The youngest of six children, Jake was a difficult child who didn't fit in; he craved attention and had many violent outbursts.Following a messy divorce, Mr Bilardi lost touch with all of his six children but reconnected with Jake soon after his mother died.Despite growing up an atheist, Jake converted to Islam and quickly became radicalised, watching Islamic State propaganda on his laptop.Already one to keep to himself, Jake became increasingly withdrawn spending most of his spare time alone in his bedroom.He soon joined the fight in Syria, and became the poster boy for the terror group.The 18-year-old's family now struggles with overwhelming sadness and anger about his death.And despite not having a body to bury, Mr Bilardi says he will create some kind of memorial for his son."For Jake my son - not the jihadist, not the terrorist," he said."The rest of it can go to hell as far as I'm concerned."

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Lane's accused killer seeks black jurors

CHANCEY Luna, who was 16 when Oklahoma police allege he fired a fatal bullet into the back of Australian baseballer Chris Lane, wants a large jury pool for his murder trial so there will be more potential African American jurors.

IN Stephens County just 2.1 per cent of the population of 44,919 are African American, according to his lawyers.

Lane, a 22-year-old from Melbourne, was jogging along a residential street in the county's rural city of Duncan in 2013 when authorities say he was randomly selected and shot by Luna in a drive-by."Increasing the number of potential jurors called to jury duty for the trial proceedings in this matter would increase the likelihood of a better representative class of African Americans, relative to the total percentage in the judicial district population," Luna's lawyers, according to the Duncan Banner newspaper, argued in a motion to the judge.Luna's father is black and his mother is white.Luna and the alleged driver of the car, Michael Jones, 17 at the time of the shooting, have also asked for the trial to be moved out of Stephens County because of fears the high-profile case would be unable to find an impartial jury.Murder trials for Luna, 17, and Jones, 19, are scheduled for next month in Duncan.Both face life sentences without the possibility of parole if convicted of first degree murder.Luna has also asked to be charged as a juvenile, not an adult."The defendant contends that since he is a juvenile, the infliction of life or life without the possibility of parole, if convicted, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment as condemned in the US Constitution," the motion states.Lane,who had a baseball scholarship at Oklahoma's East Central University, was visiting his girlfriend in Duncan when he was shot.A third teenager, James Edwards Jr, who was 15 when Lane was gunned down, has become a prosecution witness and faces an accessory charge.Lane's death became a racially-charged, front page story in the US, with media commentators and civil rights leaders comparing it to the 2012 Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida.US President Barack Obama issued a statement soon after the shooting where he said "there is an extra measure of evil in an act of violence that cuts a young life short" and that his, and the first lady's, thoughts and prayers were with the Lane family.

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Cyclone Nathan affecting Elcho Island

ELCHO Island is undergoing a battering as tropical cyclone Nathan intensifies off the Northern Territory coast.

THE Bureau of Meteorology says Nathan was estimated to be about 50 kilometres north northwest of Galiwinku with wind gust up to 140km/h late on Sunday, and its destructive core of sustained winds of around 120km/h continuing to impact Elcho Island for several hours into Monday.

Nathan was moving northwest at 12km/h and is set to increase in intensity to a category three level now that it is over open water, as it moves along the coast on Monday, before turning southwest toward land later in the night.Elcho Island was severely damaged by Cyclone Law in late February, and a storm tide, with damaging waves and dangerous flooding, was also expected between Elcho Island and Cape Shield.Earlier, the Bureau said Nathan would remain a category three cyclone into the latter part of Monday, then hopefully weaken to a category one or two system before making landfall again around Tuesday."Gales may extend further west to Milingimbi and Maningrida early on Monday and may extend west to Croker Island overnight Monday or Tuesday morning if the system takes a more westerly track," the BoM said in a statement."Gales may extend further west to Cape Don and Point Stuart during Tuesday."A flood watch was current for northern coastal riversThe cyclone intensified to a "high end" category two on Sunday, crossing the coast between Nhulunbuy and Cape Shield in the morning.Residents from Cape Shield to Alyangula are being told it is now safe to leave shelter areas, but to wear strong clothing and footwear, and be aware of fallen power lines and debris.

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Man killed 'behind Copenhagen shootings'

A terrorist attack against a cultural centre in Copenhagen leaves one dead and three wounded. Source: AAP

COPENHAGEN police believe a man shot dead by officers was responsible for two fatal attacks that shocked the normally peaceful Danish capital.

THE killings, coming little more than a month after bloody Islamist attacks in Paris that left 17 dead, were described by Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt as "a cynical act of terror".

The man believed to be behind the shootings was shot dead after he opened fire on police at a rail station on Sunday.It came after a 55-year-old man was killed at a panel discussion about Islam and free speech on Saturday attended by the Swedish cartoonist behind controversial caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers were wounded outside Copenhagen's main synagogue early Sunday."We believe the same man was behind both shootings and we also believe that the perpetrator who was shot by the police action force at Noerrebro station is the person behind the two attacks," Torben Moelgaard Jensen told a press conference.The first lethal attacks on Danish soil in decades were branded "deplorable" by the United States and triggered condemnation around the world.Lars Vilks, whose controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed sparked worldwide protests in 2007, had been among the speakers at the Krudttoenden cultural centre when a man opened fire on Saturday.A man was killed when the gunman sprayed bullets at the centre, while a young Jewish man was gunned down outside the synagogue in central Copenhagen. Five police officers were wounded in the two attacks.The killing of the suspected perpetrator capped a massive police manhunt launched after the gunman fled the scene following both shootings.The shootout took place shortly before dawn in the inner-city neighbourhood of Noerrebro, where police had been keeping an address under observation.Police said video surveillance had led to them to believe that the man killed by law enforcers was behind both attacks, but that a large amount of considerable investigative work would be required to ascertain that he was not acting with others.The shooting came at the end of a night of fear that had gripped the city of about one million, which had been spared major attacks in recent years.The central area of Copenhagen that is home to both the synagogue and Noerreport station, the country's busiest rail hub, was cordoned off by police carrying machine guns.Swedish security services told AFP they were on alert for any attempt by a suspect to cross the bridge linking Denmark with Sweden.Danish police had released a photo of the suspect in the cultural centre attack, wearing a black puffer jacket and a maroon balaclava and carrying a black bag.Police said the gunman who fled the scene of the second shooting had been wearing black trousers, black shoes and a light grey jacket with "multi-coloured" parts.The windows of the cultural centre were pockmarked by bullet holes, and the BBC released chilling audio of the moment a speaker at the event was interrupted by a volley of gunshots.France's ambassador to Denmark Francois Zimeray, who was present at the debate but was unhurt, told AFP the shooting was an attempt to replicate the January 7 attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris."Intuitively I would say there were at least 50 gunshots, and the police here are saying 200," he said."Bullets went through the doors and everyone threw themselves to the floor."Charlie Hebdo has, like Vilks, angered Islamist extremists by publishing cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed and frequently satirises Islam.Police initially said two suspects had fled the cultural centre in a Volkswagen Polo. The car was found abandoned around two hours after the attack.

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UK closes its Cairo embassy

THE British Embassy in Cairo has been closed because of security fears.

THE Foreign Office says public services were suspended on Sunday and people should not come to the embassy building in central Cairo.

It gave no details of the threat and there was no word on when the embassy would reopen.On Saturday, the Australian government said travellers should reconsider their need to travel to Egypt, citing reports "that terrorists may be planning attacks against tourist sites, government ministries and embassies in Cairo".Egypt has seen a surge in bomb attacks blamed on Islamic militants fighting the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

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Women who get HPV vaccine still need tests

WOMEN who have had the human papillomavirus vaccine are being reminded they still need to undergo regular screening to prevent cervical cancer.

NEW research in the Medical Journal of Australia shows that women who have received the vaccine are less likely to have Pap tests than those who have not been vaccinated.

The research found Pap test rates were 13 per cent lower among vaccinated women aged 25 to 29, while for women aged 20 to 24, the rate was 10 per cent lower.Associate Professor Marion Saville, from the Victorian Cytology Service, says the vaccine only protects against two HPV types, which cause about 70 per cent of cervical cancers."So it's crucial that young women participate in cervical screening whether they're vaccinated or not, especially once they reach 25," she said.Cancer Council Victoria's screening manager Kate Broun said the research highlighted the need for continued awareness campaigns."Historically, younger women are less likely to undergo regular Pap test than women in older age groups, so the misconception that vaccinated women don't need cervical screening is a real concern," she said.

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Swan disputes PM's 'we saved Aust' comment

WAYNE Swan has hit out at Tony Abbott's claims to have "saved Australia", releasing a letter from Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson praising his role during the global financial crisis.

FRESH from the launch of his book The Good Fight - which plots out his actions as Labor treasurer during the GFC - Mr Swan took aim at the prime minister's comments to the Nationals federal council meeting on Saturday.

Mr Abbott told his coalition colleagues they had "collectively saved Australia from the worst government in our history".But an angry Mr Swan said "Australia needs saving all right"."From Tony Abbott and his incompetent and out-of-touch government," he told AAP.Disputing coalition claims of an economic emergency, the now Labor backbencher released Dr Parkinson's 2011 letter congratulating him on winning Euromoney's Finance Minister of the Year award.In it, the head of treasury speaks glowingly of the Labor government's efforts in avoiding a recession, which he describes as a "very significant achievement"."In his correspondence, Dr Parkinson notes the role of the federal Labor government in contributing to the resilience of the Australian economy during the global financial crisis," Mr Swan said."His letter also notes that our response was an important contributor to the outperformance of the Australian economy during the downturn."

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German arms decision for Iraq 'difficult'

A SENIOR German minister says Berlin's decision to send arms to Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq had been the toughest of his political career.

"THIS is the most difficult decision that I have had to make in my career," said German Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who is also the vice chancellor in Angela Merkel's ruling coalition.

The German government is due to announce later on Sunday details of the military equipment that Berlin plans to send to help the Kurds in their fight against Islamic State militants.This is despite Germany's long-standing reluctance to join military operations in international flashpoints, due in part to the legacy of the Nazis' military aggression last century and the consequent deep sense of pacifism in the country.The German army, the Bundeswehr, has already flown nearly 180 tonnes of blankets, food and medicines to northern Iraq as part of a worldwide humanitarian effort to help those displaced by the Islamic State's advance in the region.About 4000 protective vests and helmets, 700 radios, 680 night-vision equipment and mine detectors also stand ready to be dispatched to northern Iraq.Merkel is to meet with senior ministers on Sunday to decide which firearms and anti-tank missiles from Bundeswehr stocks will be provided to the Kurds.Lawmakers in the Bundestag are set to vote on the government's decision on Monday following a statement to parliament by Merkel setting out the reasons for Berlin's arms shipment.The government does not require the backing of parliament but has agreed to hold the vote so to demonstrate the widest possibly support for the decision.Merkel's Christian Democrat-led political bloc and its Social Democratic (SPD) coalition partner plan to back the move. Gabriel is SPD chief.While the German government is committed to providing military support to Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State, Merkel has repeatedly ruled out sending ground troops to Iraq.

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