Calls for EU to address boat deaths

CALLS are intensifying for the European Union to prevent migrant deaths, with at least 400 people drowning in three Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks in just over a week.

"I don't know how many more people need to die at sea before something gets done," Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in an interview with the BBC on Saturday.

"As things stand we are building a cemetery within our Mediterranean Sea."

One vessel sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on October 3, carrying more than 500 passengers.

There were 155 survivors, while the provisional death count was raised on Saturday to 359, as rescuers found the bodies of 20 more victims.

A second deadly accident took place on Friday afternoon, about 80 nautical miles southwest of Malta and 60 nautical miles southeast of Lampedusa.

Italian and Maltese rescuers found 34 bodies, while there were more than 200 survivors.

Also on Friday, at least 12 people died and 116 were rescued after a migrant boat sank off the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria.

Egyptian state-run newspaper al-Ahram said the vessel was carrying about 150 people, mainly Palestinians and Syrians.

Pope Francis, a champion of migrants' rights, decried indifference towards the tragedies.

"Lord, have mercy! Too often we are blinded by our comfortable lives, and refuse to see those dying at our doorstep," he wrote on Twitter.

The message was accompanied by the #Lampedusa hashtag.

The migration crisis is due to be discussed by EU leaders at an October 24-25 summit in Brussels.

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, the bloc's top migration official, is proposing vastly expanded sea patrols by EU border agency Frontex.

"These new horrible events ... stress even more strongly the urgency of a wide Frontex search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean, from Cyprus to Spain, to better detect and assist boats in distress," she said on Friday.

"We need to stop the merchants of death," Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said.

He suggested conditioning EU aid to North African nations to them stopping migrants from setting off from their shores.

Italy has recorded a sharp increase in migrant boat arrivals since July.

Most vessels, organised by human traffickers, sail off from Libya, Tunisia or Egypt, carrying asylum seekers from Syria and the Horn of Africa.

Others, such as Lampedusa Mayor Giusi Nicolini and Italian Red Cross President Francesco Rocca, urged the EU to open "humanitarian corridors" allowing refugees to reach Europe safely and legally, without putting their lives in the hands of traffickers.

The Times of Malta reported the roughly 150 survivors from Friday's wreck were thought to be Syrians who'd each paid 4000 euros ($A5760) for the trip.

Two babies, an 11-year-old child and a woman were among the dead.

The migrants' boat was said to have capsized as those aboard tried to attract the attention of a passing Maltese aircraft.

The Italy Coast Guard also intervened between Thursday and Friday to help 85 migrants stranded on a dinghy about 80 nautical miles south of Lampedusa, and intercepted a boat with 183 migrants on board as it approached the port of the tiny island.

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Vic police commemorate Walsh St killings

THE pain of the Walsh Street killings is still raw in the minds of all Victorian police officers 25 years on, Chief Commissioner Ken Lay says.

Constable Steven Tynan, 22, and Constable Damian Eyre, 20, were gunned down on October 12, 1988, after being lured to an abandoned car in Walsh Street, South Yarra.

A memorial service to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the deaths was held at the nearby Prahran police station on Saturday.

Mr Lay said officers were still very conscious of the events of Walsh Street.

"The memories are still raw in the minds of all officers today," he said.

"Their deaths serve as a reminder of the dangers our officers face everyday, protecting and serving the Victorian community."

Mr Lay said the deaths sparked one of the longest investigations in the state's police history.

Victor Peirce, Peter McEvoy, Trevor Pettingill and Anthony Farrell were found not guilty of murder in 1991.

A review of the case by the head of the homicide squad earlier this year found insufficient new evidence to warrant a retrial.

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Another extreme fire danger day for NSW

THE Rural Fire Service has issued a total fire ban for areas in NSW ahead of hot and gusty weather conditions.

The bans will be in place on Sunday from the Illawarra to the Far North Coast as well as the North West and Central Ranges.

An extreme fire danger is also forecast for Sydney, including the Blue Mountains and Central Coast, and the Greater Hunter.

The Bureau of Meteorology says Sydney is in for a maximum of 36 degrees on Sunday with northwesterly winds up to 50 km/h in the morning.

RFS NSW Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said Sydney was in for extreme fire danger on Sunday.

"Do not light fires in the open. It's as simple as that," he told the Seven Network.

"You need to be vigilant and for people living in those bushfire prone areas you need to be ready to act on your bushfire survival plans."

Meanwhile, the NSW Ambulance Service is urging rockfishers to be wary of the gusty conditions.

"Given there is a strong wind warning for tomorrow, we would particularly like to put the message out there to those who are considering rock fishing to think twice and check the forecast before heading out," the service said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, paramedics are called to treat rock fishermen who are swept off the rocks by large waves on days with conditions similar to those expected tomorrow."

The dangerous fire conditions follow a sweltering day on Thursday where temperatures reached 37 degrees in southern parts of NSW.

Firefighters said immaculate planning and co-operation from the public helped prevent a potentially catastrophic bushfire emergency.

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NSW father accidentally runs over child

A TODDLER is in hospital after his father accidentally ran over him with his car in the driveway of their home on NSW's north coast.

Police said a 30-year-old man was moving his Holden Commodore when he reversed into his one-year-old son at 4.25pm (AEDT) on Saturday at Coffs Harbour.

The man had just finishing washing his car in the driveway of his unit complex on Park Beach Road.

The child suffered suspected internal injuries and bruising to his chest.

He was airlifted to Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney, where he remains in a stable condition.

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NZ bishop's prisoner prayer cell

THE Anglican Bishop of Wellington is to live a week in a small cabin-like "cell", praying for New Zealand's 8000-plus prisoners and their victims.

Bishop Justin Duckworth's prayer vigil in the cell on the front steps of Wellington Cathedral of St Paul is part of Wellington diocese's week-long focus on penal reform.

He will go into the cell after preaching at this Sunday's 10am service in the cathedral and won't leave it until next Sunday's service.

Each day, however, he will emerge from the fenced-off cell to lead a lunchtime communion service at the entrance.

"This action is not to criticise and is not a protest. Rather, it is to express hope for a safer society with everyone taking ownership of the issue of penal reform," Bishop Duckworth said in a statement.

He said there were alternatives to prison that were often more effective at reducing crime.

"Society and the church need to keep asking themselves if they want a system that simply punishes or one that changes behaviour and means less reoffending and fewer victims.

"Some responsibility for prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration sits with Corrections, but some also sits with society, the church and each one of us as it needs to happen in our own backyard."

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Boat sinks on Mali river, 20 dead

AT least 20 people are dead after a boat carrying hundreds of passengers capsized on the Niger River in central Mali.

Dozens more are missing.

Konna Mayor Sory Diakite told The Associated Press on Saturday 20 bodies had been recovered by midday.

Diakkite said it was believed at least 400 passengers had been on board and about 200 survivors had been accounted for.

It was not immediately possible to contact survivors, although one man in Bamako said he had been notified that two of his relatives had drowned.

The boat was travelling along the river from Mopti to the northern town of Timbuktu when it capsized late on Friday about seven kilometres from Konna.

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Obama expects borrowing limit increase

US President Barack Obama says he doesn't expect Congress to breach the deadline to increase the nation's borrowing limit.

He says he's willing to negotiate changes to his signature health care law and to find ways to reduce spending, but stresses he will not bargain until after Congress reopens the government and passes a new debt ceiling.

Obama says there's a majority of lawmakers in the House who would vote to end the partial government shutdown and raise the credit limit without conditions.

The president spoke during an interview with The Associated Press.

The government is expected to hits its $16.7 trillion debt ceiling in mid-October. Failure to raise it could lead to a first-ever default. Republicans want cuts in federal benefit programs and future deficits in exchange for their votes.

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US House votes to backpay govt workers

THE US House of Representatives has passed a bill to give 800,000 furloughed federal workers retroactive pay once the government reopens.

The House passed the bill in a rare Saturday session. The vote was 407-0.

The Senate was expected to OK it as well, but the timing is unclear.

The White House backs the legislation.

The federal government been partially shut down since Tuesday, the start of the new budget year.

Both President Barack Obama and Congress are in Washington on Saturday, but there's no apparent progress in ending the shutdown.

After the voting, House members are planning to leave town and not return until Monday evening.

The House has passed several bills to reopen selected parts of the federal government. Democrats are rejecting the piecemeal approach, saying the entire government should be reopened.

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Greek Golden Dawn leader, MPs arrested

GREEK police have arrested the leader and other top officials of the anti-immigrant Golden Dawn party on charges of forming a criminal organisation.

The arrests are an escalation of a government crackdown after a fatal stabbing allegedly committed by a supporter.

It is the first time since 1974 that a party head and sitting members of parliament have been arrested.

Police announced the arrests of 16 Golden Dawn members, including party head Nikos Michaloliakos, spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris and two other MPs.

The arrests included a local Golden Dawn leader in an Athens suburb while the rest were ordinary members.

Two police officials said an operation by the counterterrorism unit was still ongoing on Saturday morning, with a total of about 35 arrest warrants for Golden Dawn members issued.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak publicly.

Despite the arrests, the party's MPs retain their parliamentary seats unless they are convicted of a crime.

Golden Dawn holds 18 of parliament's 300 seats, after winning nearly 7 per cent of the vote in general elections last year.

Michaloliakos had earlier threatened to pull the group's deputies out of parliament, a move that would prompt by-elections in 15 regions around the country.

"We will exhaust any means within our legal constitutional rights to defend our political honour," Michaloliakos said on Thursday.

"If the country enters a cycle of instability, it is those who demonise Golden Dawn who will be responsible, not (us)," he said.

The arrests come 11 days after the killing of anti-fascist activist rapper Pavlos Fyssas by an alleged Golden Dawn member.

Though the party has vehemently denied any role in the killing, the case has appeared to dent its appeal among Greeks and the government has worked to crack down on the party.

Golden Dawn expressed outrage at the arrests in a text message to journalists.

"We call upon everyone to support our moral and just struggle against the corrupt system! Everyone come to our offices!," it said.

A later text message called for supporters to head to police headquarters "with calm and order".

A small group of about 30 people initially gathered, standing on the footpath across the street from the building.

Golden Dawn entered the Greek parliament for the first time in May 2012, capitalising on Greece's deep financial crisis, rising crime and anti-immigrant sentiment.

The party's members and supporters have frequently been suspected of carrying out violent attacks, mainly against immigrants.

Despite its reputation for violence, the party had enjoyed growing popularity.

A government spokesman refused to comment on the details of the operation.

"Democracy can protect itself. Justice will do its job," Simos Kedikoglou told reporters.

In addition to Michaloliakos and Kasidiaris, Golden Dawn deputy, Ilias Panayiotaros, gave himself up at police headquarters, telling police they were looking for him at a wrong address.

Another MP, Yannis Lagos, has also been arrested.

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Tunisia's ruling Islamists to step down

TUNISIA'S governing Islamist party has agreed to step down following negotiations with opposition parties that begin next week.

A spokesman for the main labour union said months of talks with the Islamist-led government had finally reached an agreement on Saturday. Bouali Mbarki of the UGTT union said the deal calls for three weeks of negotiations to appoint an interim, non-partisan government.

Tunisia has endured more than two years of turmoil, worsened by the assassination of a leading opposition figure in July.

As recently as a week ago, the union, which represents 500,000 workers, said talks on a way out of the country's political impasse had failed.

The union, the opposition, lawyers and human rights advocates had said the governing Ennahda Party's inability to ensure security led to the killings of one opposition figure in July and another one in February.

The death of Mohammed Brahmi, who was gunned down in front of his family on July 25, plunged Tunisia into its current crisis, as dozens of opposition MPs quit, freezing efforts to write a new constitution. Street protests and political paralysis have crippled the country.

Tunisia's protesters, inspired by the self-immolation of a fruit seller, overthrew their decades-old authoritarian government in January 2011. Those protests spread through the Arab world, including to Egypt, Syria and neighbouring Libya.

The opposition has accused the Ennahda Party of being overly tolerant of a rising radical Islamist trend that has shown violent tendencies in its efforts to instill greater piety.

Before the 2011 fall of Tunisia's longtime dictator, the country had been known as one of the most secular countries in the Arab world.

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