Obama chides Putin on Ukraine rebels as experts work at MH17 site (AFP)

AFP Obama chides Putin on Ukraine rebels as experts work at MH17 site

Kirovske (Ukraine) (AFP) - US President Barack Obama told Russia's leader Friday of his "deep concerns" about Moscow's increased support for separatists in Ukraine as international experts finally gathered more remains at the downed MH17 flight's crash site.

In a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Obama also expressed "his preference for a diplomatic solution to the crisis," the White House said.

Separately, the Kremlin said the two leaders had agreed that the current standoff in Ukraine -- where pro-Russian rebels are battling government forces -- was "not in the interest of either country."

The tragedy of the Malaysia Airlines plane which was downed two weeks ago killing all 298 people on board has again focused world attention on the conflict in Ukraine.

Seventy police investigators -- by far the largest number to reach the location so far -- finally managed to comb the scattered wreckage in the fields in eastern Ukraine on Friday.

More than 220 coffins have been sent back to the Netherlands, which lost 193 citizens in the July 17 crash. The United States says the pro-Russian rebels likely shot down the plane with a missile supplied from Russia, but Moscow and the insurgents contend the aircraft could have been brought down by a Ukrainian fighter jet.

"We are happy that we can make sure that these remains can now be sent," said Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, the Dutch police official sent to Ukraine to head up the mission there.

"We hope that this can bring comfort to the bereaved. It is a relief that our people are now at work," he said, adding later that the "very difficult" searches would take "at least several weeks".

The observer mission for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) called Friday "the biggest day" yet at the crash site as experts were able to recover several remains and passengers' belongings.

Despite the international team managing to begin work at the site the fighting that had impeded their probe continued to rage across eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military said an overnight ambush by insurgents in Shakhtarsk, a town 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the main impact site, left 14 people dead, including at least 10 soldiers.

Thirteen more soldiers were injured and another 11 were missing as fighting wore on, the military said.

An AFP team some 12 kilometres from the MH17 site heard the sound of tank fire and saw smoke rising from the direction of Shakhtarsk.

- Call to halt fighting -

Both rebels and Kiev have vowed to keep open an access corridor to the crash site, while Ukraine's army has pledged not to fight in the immediate vicinity.

Elsewhere around the region though, government forces relaunched their offensive to oust the separatists, after a "day of quiet" brought a brief pause to over three months of fighting that has cost the lives of more than 1,100 people on the ground.

The Kremlin said Putin and Obama had agreed on the urgent need for an "immediate and stable halt to fighting in southeast Ukraine and the start of a political process".

The Ukrainian military claims it is getting close to cutting off the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk from the Russian border and the second insurgent bastion of Lugansk, saying it took the village of Novyi Svit, some 25 kilometres southeast of the industrial hub.

Fighting also flared in Donetsk, which serves as the base for the international police and journalists trying to reach the MH17 site some 60 kilometres away, with local authorities saying one civilian died after a minibus taxi was hit by mortar shrapnel.

In Lugansk, officials said five civilians were killed and nine injured in clashes over the past 24 hours.

- Early elections pledge -

Meanwhile Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged that the strife-torn nation would have a new parliament in place in the next few months, confirming that he intends to call long-awaited legislative polls.

"In autumn there will be a new parliament that will start on reforms," Poroshenko said in a televised interview.

The fresh fighting on the ground entrenched a crisis that has pushed East-West tensions to their highest point since the Cold War. The EU and US have hit Russia with the most punitive measures since the collapse of the Communist bloc over its backing for the rebels.

Putin made his first comments on the latest tougher sanctions imposed this week by the United States and European Union against Russia in the phone call with Obama.

Putin characterised them as "counterproductive, causing serious damage to bilateral cooperation and international stability overall," the Kremlin said.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24609049/obama-chides-putin-on-ukraine-rebels-as-experts-work-at-mh17-site/

NSW man caught speeding 100km/h over limit (AAP)

A Sydney man has been caught driving at more than 100 kilometres an hour over the speed limit on the NSW north coast.

Highway Patrol officers said they caught the man travelling at a speed of 211km/h in a sign-posted 100km/h zone on the Pacific Highway at Woolgoolga, north of Coffs Harbour on Friday afternoon.

The 29-year-old was issued with a field court attendance notice for the speeding and driving in a dangerous manner.

His licence has also been suspended for six months and he's been ordered to hand in the plates to his vehicle for a three-month period.

The Doonside man will appear at Coffs Harbour Local Court on August 25.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24614059/nsw-man-caught-speeding-100km-h-over-limit/

Australian couple *leave disabled baby with Thai surrogate* (AFP)

AFP Australian couple 'leave disabled baby with Thai surrogate'

Bangkok (AFP) - Well-wishers on Friday had raised nearly $100,000 for a baby reportedly left with his surrogate Thai mother after his Australian parents discovered he had Down's Syndrome and returned home with his healthy twin sister.

Pattaramon Chanbua from Chonburi province, southeast of Bangkok, agreed via an agent to be a surrogate for the couple for a fee of Aus$16,000 ($14,900), giving birth to twins -- a boy and a girl -- in December, according to press reports.

But when the Australians discovered the boy, named Gammy by his surrogate family, had Down's Syndrome they abandoned him in Thailand and returned to Australia with only the healthy girl, Australia's ABC said.

"The money that was offered was a lot for me. In my mind, with that money, one, we can educate my children, two, we can repay our debt," said Pattaramon, already a mother to two children, in an interview with the broadcaster in Chonburi.

But instead the 21-year-old was left to care for the boy who also suffers from a life-threatening heart condition requiring expensive treatment she cannot afford, according to ABC.

"I don't know what to do. I chose to have him... I love him, he was in my tummy for nine months," she said in the interview.

Pattaramon has never met Gammy's Australian parents, according to Thai newspaper Thairath, which broke the story of Gammy last week, and their identities remain unknown.

"They (the surrogacy agency) told me to carry a baby for a family that does not have children... They said it would be a baby in a tube," she said.

A spokesman for Australia's foreign affairs department told AFP Canberra was "concerned" by the reports and was in consultation with Thai authorities over surrogacy issues.

"The alleged circumstances of the case raise broader legal and other issues relating to surrogacy in Thailand," he said.

Many foreign couples travel to Thailand, a popular medical tourism hub, to use its in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) services despite the unclear legal situation surrounding surrogacy.

Tares Krassanairawiwong, a Thai public health ministry official, said it was illegal to pay for surrogacy in Thailand.

"Surrogacy can be done in Thailand but it has to comply with the laws... A surrogate has to be related to the intended parents and no money can be involved."

The reports about Gammy's abandonment have triggered hundreds to donate to a fundraising page created for him last week.

By late Friday the "Hope for Gammy" page had raised more than $98,000.

It also carried scores of comments, many of which expressed outrage at the boy's abandonment by his parents.

"May this selfish and heartless couple be exposed and shamed for this horrible neglect!" said one.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24613569/australian-couple-leave-disabled-baby-with-thai-surrogate/

Supreme Court judges snub public ceremony for Queensland*s new Chief Justice Tim Carmody (ABC)

A welcoming ceremony has been held for Queensland's new Chief Justice Tim Carmody, but no other Supreme Court judges attended.

Justice Carmody was sworn in at a private ceremony last month after his appointment was plagued by sustained criticism from the judiciary and legal fraternity.

Friday's public ceremony in the Banco Court in Brisbane marked the arrival of both Justice Carmody and new Supreme Court Justice Peter Flanagan.

It had been unclear how many senior legal figures would attend but the Justice Department said there was no obligation to attend.

But Justice Carmody and Justice Flanagan cut lonely figures on the bench as the other 25 Supreme Court judges did not attend, in what many consider was a major snub to the new Chief Justice.

In his address at the ceremony, Justice Carmody said his appointment was a great privilege and humbling responsibility.

He also said he would strive to build a strong working relationship with the legal fraternity.

Justice Carmody told the court whatever concerns or expressions in the past, he would be a fierce and formidable warrior to any threat to the court's independence.

He became emotional as he paid tribute to his family and said sorry to his wife that his appointment had caused her distress.

The president of the Bar Association, Shane Doyle, told those at the ceremony it was time to move on.

"Anyone appointed to that high office is of course to be accorded the respect and support of the community at large," he said.

"In the discharge of that office as Chief Justice, you will have the support and respect of the Bar Association and its members."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24607757/supreme-court-judges-snub-public-ceremony-for-queenslands-new-chief-justice-tim-carmody/

Darwin Cup draw: Most favourites get a rough draw, leaving field wide open (ABC)

ABC Robert DiPierdomenico, one of the owners of Smarty Mac, that drew favourably for the Darwin Cup.

Lightinthenite had the best draw of the favourites for Monday's Darwin Cup, leaving the field wide open.

The 7-year-old gelding will start from barrier 4, while trainer Neil Dyer's two chances Cantonese and Royal Request had the worst of the draw.

Cantonese placed in the Chief Minister's Cup and came third in the Darwin Handicap last week, but will struggle to get a good position starting from barrier 13.

The winner of the NT Derby over the cup distance of 2,000 metres, Royal Request, had even rougher luck, drawing the widest barrier.

Former AFL player and Hawthorn legend Robert DiPierdomenico has a part-share in Smarty Mac, which drew well in barrier 8.

"It'd be great to go home with the Cup, how good would that be? Come here to Darwin, few beers, catch up with a few people, enjoy the sun and go home with the Darwin Cup," he said.

More than 20,000 people are expected at the Fannie Bay Racetrack for the running of the Darwin Cup on Monday, which falls on the Picnic Day public holiday.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24612821/darwin-cup-draw-most-favourites-get-a-rough-draw-leaving-field-wide-open/

Sexpo paints a raunchy picture (AAP)

AAP Sexpo, the world's largest adult roadshow has hit Sydney, with hot pants as far as the eye can see.

The sun is shining and a man in a pink top hat is painting portraits with his privates.

It could only be Sexpo.

The world's largest adult roadshow has hit Sydney, with hot pants as far as the eye can see.

Dancing pirates are stripping to Queen's I've Got to Break Free, and punters are lapping it up.

But despite the eye-opening nature of the event, what really hits you about Sexpo is how normal and lovely everyone is.

Kathie Brooke from Brisbane smiles as Pricaso's portrait of her comes together on the canvas.

"What's not to like?" she says.

"Somebody came up to me with one of those vibrating gloves on and just rubbed my back. It was fabulous."

Pricaso works fast, producing a vivid likeness of Ms Brooke before signing his name in purple.

"It's not easy, but I've had a lot of practice," Pricaso, who used to be a builder, explains.

"I've been doing it for 10 years."

But he gets by fine, selling portraits on his website for hundreds of dollars.

Kathie says her Pricaso piece will go in the lounge room.

"I want my Pricaso front and centre," she says.

Sexpo organisers say 20,000 people are employed in the Australian adult industry.

"As the years go by, the industry is becoming less and less taboo as people become more exposed to it and aware," says Sydney stripper Miss Trinity Porter as she and her Sexy Soldiers pack pencil cases and stubby holders into showbags for Friday's show.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old adult dancer Kiki Sucre is waiting for the sun to go down.

She says the Laporium, a non-stop lap and pole dancing corner of Sexpo, picks up after 6pm.

The towering strawberry blonde can make up to $100 a dance.

Sexpo has lured internationally renowned talent this year, including US porn superstars James Deen and Stoya.

Sexpo finishes in Sydney on Sunday.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24612125/sexpo-paints-a-raunchy-picture/

Vic Liberal candidate quits over tweets (AAP)

AAP Victorian Liberal Party accepts the resignation of one of its candidates over crude Twitter posts.

A Victorian Liberal candidate who resigned over a series of crude tweets has apologised, but claims some of the social media posts were taken out of context.

Aaron Lane, the endorsed Liberal candidate for the upper house seat of Western Region in the upcoming November 29 state election, resigned on Friday after the tweets came to light.

Mr Lane apologised for the "inappropriate and offensive tweets" posted more than two years ago on a private account.

"I really regret the fact these tweets were there, I regret the offence. I'm deeply embarrassed by it. I'm ashamed of it," Mr Lane told ABC radio.

"I think we've all said things that on reflection we wish we hadn't.

"The problem that's befallen me today is that some of these tweets have been stripped of all context."

He said he resigned because he didn't want the scandal "hanging around the neck of the government".

Mr Lane withdrew his candidacy for the election before a meeting of the Liberal Party's administrative committee to discuss his future on Friday afternoon.

Liberal Party state director Damien Mantach said while Mr Lane had apologised unreservedly for the comments, the party believed it was important to send a strong message that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

"The Liberal Party acknowledges that the comments made by Mr Lane on social media are hurtful to many people and are entirely unacceptable," Mr Mantach said in a statement.

Premier Denis Napthine also slammed the tweets just hours before Mr Lane's resignation.

"There is no place in my team or in the coalition team for this sort of behaviour and these sort of comments," he told reporters.

Some of the posts published in the media use the term "faggots" and one states "The problem is (IMO) many homos make their sexuality a defining aspect of their being".

In one post he refers to former Labor leader Simon Crean as "a giant C".

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the views were offensive and wrong.

"There is no place for this sort of bigotry and hatred in the Victorian parliament or anywhere in our state," he said.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24609628/vic-liberal-candidate-quits-over-tweets/