Australia Today
SYDNEY (AAP) - It's hoped that Australian women will soon be positively charging into the field of science in greater numbers.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, sporting two International Women's Day ribbons and a bright pink tie, on Thursday told students at a Sydney all-girls high school that "girls can do anything and everything".
He cited Australian of the Year Professor Michelle Simmons as a "superstar" example of how women are kicking goals in science.
Just as Prof Simmons is a leader in quantum physics another female could soon be heading Australia's first space agency. Without giving too much away, the prime minister on Thursday said there was "every chance" a woman would be chosen to be at the helm.
Earlier, at Burwood Girls High School, Mr Turnbull announced the creation of a new ambassador for women in STEM, science, technology, engineering and maths, positions.
The yet-to-be-named ambassador will be an advocate for women in science and will travel the country to inspire the next generation of scientists.
The PM noted there were fewer girls studying STEM subjects despite there being more opportunities in the field. He hopes the ambassador will encourage girls to choose careers in science and technology.
The announcement was made after Mr Turnbull, Prof Simmons and federal Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer received a lesson in structural engineering from year 10 students at the school.
The students demonstrated how they used technology and coding to build a miniature bridge that could hold up to 18 kilograms.
In what is sometimes seen as a male-dominated field, Prof Simmons, who is working towards building the world's first quantum computer, talked to the students about the barriers she's faced.
"People didn't expect girls to be as good as boys in physics and maths," she said. "That really fired me up ... I love the challenge."
Prof Simmons also urged the girls to make up their own minds about what career they'd pursue.
"One of the things you have to be very careful of in life is to forge your own path and not to look at what other people are doing and replicate what they've done. See what it is that motivates you every day."
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SYDNEY (AAP) - An elderly former athletics coach who sexually abused children decades ago has been told he has one week left of freedom, and he may die in jail.
Ernest John Lee, 81, has pleaded guilty to more than 20 charges of sexual assault against a person under the age of 16 dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.
At his sentence hearing in the NSW District Court on Thursday, Lee's defence lawyer said his client was not expected to live beyond a few years as his health was deteriorating rapidly.
Barrister Margaret Bateman said the octogenarian with dementia may not get adequate care while locked up, stating "Mr Lee may die in jail".
"You can contemplate a period of at least two years in custody," Judge Stephen Norrish later said.
Ms Bateman argued several of Lee's offences were not marked by violence or fear and were of a "lower order of criminal gravity".
But Judge Norrish stressed one offence involved the coach, then aged in his sixties, asking a boy inappropriate questions on the sports field.
He said it was completely different to advances made between consenting gay men at a late night Oxford Street bar.
"This is not a bathhouse, this is a 15-year-old boy, he gets approached out of the blue," Judge Norrish said. "It's predatory offending over an extended period of time. Sexual adventurism, even in the #MeToo movement, isn't necessarily illegal... but this is sexual adventurism of children."
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PERTH (AAP) - WA Nationals Leader Mia Davies has rubbished claims of a premeditated plan to coordinate a sexual harassment allegation to force deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce to step down.
Ms Davies said the notion was "ridiculous, malicious and undermines the serious nature of the complaint" made by Catherine Marriott, which was raised with former leader Terry Redman and her "in good faith and without prejudice".
"I have been appalled by the rumour, innuendo, speculation and assumption that has erupted from this incident becoming publicly known," she said on Thursday.
"I have been horrified by comments that women who find themselves facing this situation are told to 'put up or shut up', a statement that is ignorant of the fact that facing court or reliving the incident through constant retelling in a public forum may not be an option for someone who has already been traumatised."
Ms Davies said Ms Marriott asked for advice on how to lodge her complaint with the party and it was her "express wish" that it be dealt with internally.
The matter was referred to The Nationals federal president Larry Anthony and director Ben Hindmarsh.
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MELBOURNE (AAP) - Victoria's environment protection watchdog has been slammed for failing to properly monitor air pollution across the state in the latest Auditor-General's report.
The Environment Protection Authority has failed to capture the state's true air quality with 40 urban centres with populations of at least 25,000 off the monitoring network.
The EPA monitoring data was collected between 2010 and 2016.
"EPA cannot demonstrate that its current monitoring provides a representative measure of ambient air quality across the state," the report states.
It says the EPA conducted limited air quality monitoring at Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, Warrnambool and Mildura and is not currently monitoring these regions.
While the EPA's reports on ambient air quality were "generally good and within national standards" the audit found this only to be true of Port Phillip and the Latrobe Valley which the watchdog monitors.
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PERTH (AAP) - Three commissioners appointed to run the scandal-plagued City of Perth council while it is under suspension have started work and say their top priority is restoring confidence and good governance.
Work is still underway to establish an inquiry panel, which will have the powers of a Royal Commission and the authority to make recommendations as to whether the council should be sacked or reinstated.
Last week's suspension came after the chief executive and his replacement took stress leave amid council infighting and reports of a toxic culture across the organisation.
Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi has separately faced controversy over her failure to disclose travel and accommodation gifts.
The first special council meeting for the commissioners will be held next Thursday.
One of the issues they are yet to decide on is whether councillors will continue to be paid while they are suspended.
"There are lots of people who would have a view that if they're suspended they shouldn't be paid, but that's not for me to determine," Local Government Minister David Templeman told reporters.
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BRISBANE (AAP) - Laws to limit land clearing in Queensland have been reintroduced to state parliament, without a controversial clause forcing farmers to prove they hadn't been cutting down trees.
The Labor government introduced the land-clearing laws last year, however they lapsed when the election was called.
Natural Resources Minister Anthony Lynham reintroduced the laws to parliament on Thursday, saying they would bring an end to widespread land clearing permitted under the Newman government.
Native vegetation had more than doubled since Labor came to power in 2015, he said, and these laws would enforce a more balanced approach.
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CANBERRA (AAP) - Mining and building industry groups have lodged an appeal against the creation of a super union.
The Australian Mines and Minerals Association and Master Builders Australia lodged their appeal with the full bench of the Fair Work Commission on Thursday and want a guarantee the merger won't go ahead until their case is heard.
But the unions say they've got the backing of members and will defend their right to merge. The commission this week approved the amalgamation of the Construction, Forestry Mining and Energy Union, Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia and the Maritime Union of Australia, to create the new CFMMEU.
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MELBOURNE (AAP) - A Victorian council worker's wife has been convicted of fraud-related offences for accepting consulting work from her corrupt husband.
Jasmine Finnigan pleaded guilty on Thursday to obtaining financial advantage by deception and was fined $3000 after she was charged by Victoria's anti-corruption agency, IBAC.
Her husband Lukas Carey was a former sports and recreation manager at Ballarat Council and corruptly gave out work for kickbacks.
Carey allocated more than $184,000 of council consulting work to his friends and Ms Finnigan over a two-year period, in exchange for money.
IBAC found he failed to fully declare and manage conflicts of interest when engaging suppliers on behalf of the council.
Carey was jailed last month for three years and ordered to repay more than $30,000.
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PERTH (AAP) - The bond between a giraffe and her calf is so precious that Perth Zoo is ensuring first-time mum Kitoto has plenty of time with her daughter before the animal joins the public exhibit.
The calf arrived around 5.30pm Wednesday and is the first to be born at Perth Zoo since 2012. Keepers and vets watched the labour via remote CCTV monitors to cause the least disturbance to Kitoto.
They described the labour as "textbook" and said Kitoto's motherly instincts kicked in immediately.
"Our expert zoo keeping staff assisted the calf to stand about one hour after birth and we were elated when she started suckling, ensuring she got the colostrum and vital nutrients from Kitoto's milk," a spokeswoman said.
The herd of four was monitored overnight and on Thursday morning keepers said the calf was strong and alert.
Mother and daughter had been bonding in the night quarters and the calf will be slowly introduced to the public giraffe exhibit in the next few days.
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MADRID - Spain marked International Women's Day on Thursday with an unprecedented strike in defence of their rights that saw hundreds of trains cancelled and countless protests scheduled throughout the day.
Called by 10 unions to demand gender equality, particularly where salaries are concerned, the strike dominated the headlines with famous female presenters noticeably absent from radio or television shows.
Feminist groups have also called on women not to spend money, particularly on items such as deodorant whose versions created for women often cost more, and to ditch domestic chores for the day.
The strike is attempting to emulate Iceland's 1975 work stoppage, when women took a day off in October to demonstrate their vital contribution to the country's economy and society.
However Spain's two main unions, the CCOO and UGT, have called on their members to stop work for only two hours on Thursday.
Ana Reyes, a 37-year-old PR executive, said she was striking "in the hope that the importance of half of the population will be recognised and that it will bring about a real change."
She said that the action gave "visibility to the malaise and discrimination we women suffer".
The strike comes as countries around the world mobilise for #internationalwomensday2018, a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, and comes hot on the heels of #MeToo and #Timesup campaigns that went global with allegations of sexual misconduct in Hollywood.
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JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns on Friday from the United States to face what may be the most crucial stretch of his long political career, with corruption probes encircling him and talk of elections building.
With no fewer than four investigations looking into his affairs and a possible indictment on the horizon, Netanyahu has been seeking to remind Israelis of what supporters view as his clout and leadership.
He sat alongside US President Donald Trump and spoke of the "historic" White House decision to designate the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a major diplomatic coup for Netanyahu that enraged the Palestinians.
Trump said he may attend the opening of the new embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, which coincides with the 70th anniversary of the creation of Israel.
A day later, receiving a warm welcome from some 18,000 people at a conference for pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, Netanyahu spoke of what he describes as his achievements at home and abroad while pledging to "stop" Israel's greatest enemy, Iran.
But even as he prepared to meet Trump, a former aide who had been among his close allies was signing a state witness agreement with the police to testify against him.
He is the third Netanyahu associate to do so in a matter of months.
The attorney general is now weighing whether to follow a police recommendation to indict Netanyahu for bribery in two of the four cases, with investigations continuing into the others.
As the investigations close in, there has been widespread speculation that Netanyahu, prime minister for a total of 12 years, will opt for early elections to bolster his standing ahead of a decision on indictments.
Some accuse Netanyahu of allowing a political crisis to brew within his coalition to enable elections soon - or to at least give himself options.
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COLOMBO - Sri Lankan police said petrol bombs were hurled at a mosque on Thursday as hundreds of troops patrolled a troubled central district where anti-Muslim violence has left three people dead.
Muslim-owned businesses were set on fire and vandalised in several parts of Sri Lanka, police said, days after an island-wide state of emergency was imposed to curb riots in Kandy.
Armoured vehicles and heavily-armed troops fortified the hill district, where internet services remain suspended and an evening curfew is in place.
The government ordered the internet blackout after police discovered mobs of Sinhalese rioters were using social media to coordinate attacks on Muslim establishments.
More than 200 homes, businesses and vehicles have been torched in three days of violence by mobs from the mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority.
A 24-hour curfew was imposed on Wednesday afternoon after a hand grenade exploded in the hands of an attacker, killing him and wounding 11 others, officials said.
The day-time curfew was eased following a calm night but tensions remain high in the tourist hotspot and schools shuttered.
But in Kuruvita, 125 kilometres (78 miles) south of Kandy, police said petrol bombs were lobbed at a mosque. Little damage was inflicted and three suspects are being pursued.
In Weligama, 240 kilometres south of Kandy, a Muslim-owned business was attacked, police said, while Muslim establishments were pelted with stones in at least two other locations outside Kandy.
Sri Lanka's telecoms regulator asked internet providers to block access to Facebook and other social media platforms to prevent the spread of anti-Muslim hate speech.
Police have already identified anti-Muslim messages being shared on social networks, including a video posted by a hardline Buddhist monk urging violence against Muslims.
Muslims in Kandy complained that security forces and police - equipped with special powers to detain under the emergency provision - were slow to react as the violence unfolded.
"The main junction is going up in flames. At the same time, the authorities are folding their arms and watching," said Muslim businessman M. Jaffer, as quoted in Thursday's DailyFT newspaper.
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MIAMI - The US state of Florida, scene of America's latest school shooting, on Wednesday passed bill that raises the minimum age to buy firearms to 21 while funding a program that allows some teachers and school employees to be armed.
The "Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act," which takes its name from last month's mass shooting in which 17 people including 14 students were killed, passed the legislature's lower house a day after clearing the senate.
It will now be sent to Governor Rick Scott to sign.
The Republican has not indicated whether he would veto the law, but he has previously expressed opposition to US President Donald Trump's call to arm teachers.
America's long moribund gun control debate was revived by survivors of the Parkland shooting, who a day after their school was attacked launched the "Never Again" movement demanding legislative action.
The bill raises the minimum age to purchase all firearms from 18 to 21, a move opposed by the powerful National Rifle Association lobby group, bans modification devices that make a semi-automatic weapon fully automatic, and increases mental health funding.
It also includes a voluntary "guardian program" named after Coach Aaron Feis who was slain in the Parkland attack, which is intended to "aid in the prevention or abatement of active assailant incidents on school premises" by allowing some school employees to be armed.
The program is mainly aimed at staff such as coaches and school personnel, with teachers eligible if they have military or law enforcement experience.
Bringing more guns into school has been a controversial idea, but lawmakers defended the bill.
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SEOUL - Three prominent South Korean writers and artists who have been accused of sex abuse will have their works and almost all mentions of their names removed from school textbooks, the government said Thursday, as the country's nascent #MeToo campaign spreads.
A growing number of women have spoken out about abuses they suffered at the hands of powerful figures in multiple fields, making headlines in a country that remains socially patriarchal despite economic and technological advances.
Those accused of sexual misconduct include Ko Un, a top poet regularly tipped for the Nobel prize for literature, prominent stage director Lee Yoon-taek and playwright Oh Tae-seok.
Seoul poet Choi Young-Mi accused Ko of sexually abusing many women in literary circles, after publishing a thinly veiled poem "Monster" in which she detailed her experiences at his hands.
Lee is under investigation for raping or sexually harassing more than 10 actresses at his theatre group, and Oh is also accused of harassing actresses and students.
The trio's works and almost all 40-odd references to them will be erased from school textbooks, Seoul's education ministry said, describing them as "figures who created social controversy."
Only a few passing mentions of their names will remain, the education ministry said without elaborating further.
Ko also stepped down as of Wednesday as the president of a joint board to create a Korean-language dictionary aimed at bridging the widening linguistic divide between the two Koreas.
Ko has denied the allegations against him in a statement to the Guardian, saying he did "nothing which might bring shame on my wife or myself".
Lee apologised for causing "harm" to actresses, saying he was willing to "take any punishment", but denied accusations of rape. Oh has refused to comment.
Women in South Korea have long been reluctant to come forward about sex abuse due to fears of relentless public shaming and bullying.
But a Seoul prosecutor in January made a rare move to speak out about sex abuse by a superior on live television, triggering a wave of accusations against figures ranging from artists to politicians.
The most high-profile target is Ahn Hee-jung, a former presidential contender and a star politician who announced his resignation as a provincial governor and retirement from politics on Tuesday after an aide accused him of multiple rapes.
Ahn, 52, on Thursday cancelled a planned press conference after another woman came forward to claim that she also had been raped by him repeatedly, as prosecutors opened an inquiry.
Amid the barrage of allegations, scores of women's rights activists staged protests to mark International Women's Day, urging stern punishment for offenders and expressing support for victims.
"Can't trust empty apologies! They need to take legal responsibility!" shouted activists wearing black outfit and waving roses at a rally in Seoul.
Many held banners reading "#MeToo, #WithYou", chanting slogans including "You are not alone! We are with you!"
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PARIS - Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo promised on Thursday to get the city's bike-sharing service back on track by May after a change of operator brought the popular system to a near standstill.
The change in functioning of the pioneering 10-year-old Velib system has turned into a fiasco, with just 330 of more than 1,400 docking stations currently operational, Hidalgo told France Inter radio.
"I completely agree, this is not working," she said. "I'm turning up the pressure, there will be very heavy penalties (for the new operator), already more than one million euros ($1.2 million) a month."
Asked when exasperated users would finally have a fully operational system, she said, "I think it will be for the spring, end of April or early May."
When people do get their hands on a bike, "they work very well," she defended.
Smovengo, a startup based in the southern city of Montpellier, pipped the original operator, outdoor advertising giant JCDecaux, for the contract to run the system when it came up for renewal last year.
It was supposed to have 600 stations working as of January 1, with 20,000 bikes available by end-March, 30 percent of which will be electric.
The city's own engineers and technicians have come to its rescue by assisting in the rollout, which Smovengo has blamed on unforeseen electrical problems and a legal dispute with JCDecaux.
It also had to try using batteries to power some stations which have proved prone to failure.
Hidalgo dismissed the idea of pulling the contract from Smovengo, saying that such deals with service providers "can't be broken just like that."
Bu the city has twice fined it one million euros over the delays, and more than 300,000 subscribers have been promised a refund for at least the month of January.
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JERUSALEM - Israeli lawmakers have passed a controversial bill allowing police to hold the corpses of alleged Palestinian assailants indefinitely, parliament said on Thursday.
The act was passed late Wednesday by 48 votes to 10, a Knesset statement said, hours after another measure permitting the interior minister to strip Palestinians in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem of their permanent residency permits "if they are involved in terrorism."
The government announced in 2016 that it would not release for burial the bodies of Palestinian assailants killed during attacks unless Palestinians in Gaza released the remains of two Israeli soldiers believed to have been killed in a 2014 war in Gaza.
In November 2017, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled that Israel would not repatriate the bodies of five Islamic Jihad militants killed when the army blew up a tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into its territory.
The Israeli Supreme Court ruled in December that the policy was illegal under current law, but it gave the government six months to enact new legislation.
The revised act gives authority to police district commanders "to set conditions for returning the body of a terrorist for family burial," the Knesset statement said.
If the commander decides that a funeral may spark another attack or turn into a political rally in support of violence he can impose limits on the time, location and number of mourners and "a body could be held until the family agrees to the terms," the statement adds.
The bill was sponsored by two MPs from Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and the religious-nationalist Jewish Home.
Arab MP Yousef Jabareen, of the opposition Joint List party, said it was "a delusional and draconian law of a delusional government."
It applies only to Israel and east Jerusalem, where the police have authority, and not to the occupied West Bank, which is under army rule.
The legislation on revoking permanent residency permits, proposed by a Likud MP, passed by 48 votes to 18, the Knesset said.
Israel seized control of Arab east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.
It later annexed the territory, in a move never recognised by the international community, and today it is home to about 300,000 Palestinians.
Although they have the right to apply for Israeli citizenship few take up the offer and of those many are refused, often on unspecified "security grounds."
The vast majority opt for permanent residency status, which gives them free movement throughout Israel, access to health and welfare services and a vote in Jerusalem municipal elections.
They cannot vote in parliamentary elections and they do not hold Israeli passports.
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CANBERRA (AAP) - Malcolm Turnbull has hit out at those who accused him of pursuing a "vanity project" ahead of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact's signing in Chile.
The deal had been on life support after the United States' withdrawal, but was resuscitated in January following lobbying from Japan and Australia.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo will join his counterparts from 10 Pacific countries for the signing ceremony on Friday 5am (AEDT).
The prime minister described the event as a historic achievement and a jobs booster, and recalled how Opposition Leader Bill Shorten had proclaimed the deal was dead after Donald Trump pulled the plug on America's involvement.
"He (Mr Shorten) accused me of being on a vanity project and wasting my time. I kept going with it," Mr Turnbull said. "(It's) a huge demonstration of our relentless commitment to getting every export opportunity made available for Australian businesses."
The deal will eliminate 98 per cent of tariffs in a marketplace worth close to $14 trillion.
Mr Ciobo said Aussie farmers, manufacturers, service providers and small businesses would be the big winners.
"The more Australian products and expertise sold to the world, the more Australian jobs created," he said.
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SYDNEY (AAP) - Australia's first purpose-built retail hub for China's growing army of "daigou" shoppers has opened, with facilities to stream live to millions of consumers waiting to place an order from overseas.
The daigou hub in Sydney's Chinatown has been created by ASX-listed AuMake to serve up products from AuMake's 500 Australian partner brands to daigou, or personal shoppers, buying for clients in China.
AuMake chairman Keong Chan said the hub is a response to the changing habits of shoppers in China and allows buyers to watch as daigou and suppliers discuss products before placing orders.
"Watching, interacting as our suppliers introduce and tell their brand story, through their trusted daigou - is the next evolution for consumers who demand more knowledge of what they're buying," Mr Chan said
The hub has its own video crew producing broadcast-quality content that is streamed via a dedicated channel on Chinese streaming giant Taobao - a step up from the grainy WeChat-based streaming used by the majority of big daigou.
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SYDNEY (AAP) - The Australian share market has gained ground as news of potential exemptions for some countries from proposed US tariffs on imported steel and aluminium eased concerns about a trade war.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 0.7 per cent at 5,942.9 points at 1630 AEDT, as the energy and mining sectors were the only areas of weakness.
The broader All Ordinaries index was up 41.2 points, or 0.69 per cent, at 6,046.6 points.
Phillip Capital senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the gains followed confirmation from the White House that Canada and Mexico, and other countries, may be exempt from a 25 per cent tariff on imported steel and and a 10 per cent tariff on imported aluminium.
The concession means investors are feeling more reassured that a domino effect of retaliatory trade measures will not break out at any moment, he said.
"Today it is looking more like a small scale guerilla insurgency rather than an all out trade war," Mr Heffernan said.
All four major banks rose, with Commonwealth Bank posting the strongest gain, of 1.4 per cent.
Among the best performers on the market were online jobs portal SEEK, up three per cent, poker machine developer Aristocrat Leisure gained 3.2 per cent and A2 Milk surged 4.7 per cent.
Moderating oil and commodity prices left the resource stocks mixed, and BHP Billiton was trading ex-dividend, falling two per cent. Rio Tinto added 0.6 per cent and Fortescue Metals gained 2.1 per cent.
The Australian dollar got a slight lift from figures showing a larger than expected trade surplus in January, and was trading at 78.28 US cents at 1630 AEDT.
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SYDNEY (AAP) - Ben Hunt has put the exclamation mark on Matt Lodge's difficult return to the NRL, immediately delivering on his $6 million St George-Illawarra contract with a 34-12 win over former club Brisbane.
Two of the NRL's biggest pre-season stories collided on Thursday night when Hunt intercepted a Lodge pass in the 50th minute. The No.7 ran half the field to score for the Dragons to take a 16-6 lead.
His intercept summed up the fortunes of both he and Lodge in a dramatic opening to the season at Jubilee Oval.
Hunt set up the Dragons' first try when he grubbered out of dummy-half for the chasing Tyson Frizell, while his long kicking game was equally impressive in the first half.
Just as positive for Dragons fans is the impact he already appears to have on their new-look spine.
Gareth Widdop looked dangerous running the ball in attack, and struck up a nice combination with young fullback Matt Dufty, who was as quick as ever through the midfield and on kick returns.
Hooker Cameron McInees looked improved on last year. He ran freely from dummy-half in the first half to finish with 48 metres from his five up-tempo carries.
Jack de Belin, Jason Nightingale and Euan Aitken each finished with tries for the Dragons in their 50th win at Kogarah as a merged club.
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SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia vice-captain David Warner says he will always stick up for his family after claiming a "vile and disgusting" remark about his wife by South Africa's Quinton de Kock led to their ugly altercation.
Both players were punished Wednesday for the bust-up during the opening Test in Durban, with Warner fined 75 percent of his match fee and De Kock 25 percent.
They are free to play the second Test starting on Friday in Port Elizabeth, although Warner was also given three demerit points, meaning he will be banned if he gets one more within the next year.
Warner admitted he let his emotions take over after confronting the Proteas wicketkeeper/batsman as the players walked up a narrow staircase to the dressing rooms during the tea interval on Sunday.
Footage was captured on CCTV and leaked, showing the Australian being restrained by his team-mates.
Warner said he was used to taking flak from fans and opposition players, but claimed De Kock's remark crossed a line.
"The other day I was probably out of line. I've seen the footage and I regret the way it played out but for me - it is how I am and I responded emotionally and regretted the way I played out," he told Australian media in South Africa.
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PERTH (AAP) - Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe hopes another week on the sidelines for Diego Castro will help the star A-League import come home with a wet sail.
Castro was a late withdrawal from last week's 1-1 draw with Western Sydney due to a niggling calf injury.
The 35-year-old has been battling calf issues for the best part of two months, but scans conducted earlier this week cleared him of any tears.
However, Castro still has fluid around the area which is causing him pain, and could lead to a tear if he tries to push through it. Glory take on Central Coast at nib Stadium on Saturday.
After that, there's a 15-day break until their next game, at home to Melbourne Victory.
Lowe hopes that break will leave Castro fit and firing for the last four games of the A-League season.
"He hasn't trained this week. Just feels a bit sore," Lowe said. "The good news is he hasn't got a tear. He's just got fluid in there. It's just a sensitive area of the calf, so he's feeling a bit of pain."
"So (if he can) get through this weekend, then we get a bit of a break, and roll into the last four."
Glory remain four points adrift of sixth-placed Western Sydney, meaning they will need to snare all three points against Central Coast to keep their finals hopes alive.
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PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AFP) - Warring South Africa and Australia will be summoned for peace talks ahead of the potentially explosive second Test starting on Friday after David Warner and Quinton de Kock were both punished for an ugly bust-up in the opening match.
The International Cricket Council said that match referee Jeff Crowe will remind the teams of their responsiblities after Australian vice-captain Warner was fined 75 percent of his match fee from the Durban game and the Proteas wicketkeeper/batsman docked 25 percent.
"Mr. Crowe has convened a meeting of the captains and managers of both sides tomorrow (Thursday) at St George's Park to outline his expectations relating to player behaviour during the second Test starting on Friday," said an ICC statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, South African coach Ottis Gibson called for umpires in the second Test to "do their job" and defended De Kock against allegations of provoking an altercation with Warner.
Gibson also questioned what was meant in Australian assertions about not "crossing the line" with their behaviour.
Warner was cleared to play in the second Test but was fined 75 percent of his match fee and given three demerit points for an incident captured on closed circuit television as the players climbed the stairs towards the dressing rooms at the start of the tea interval on the fourth day of the first Test in Durban on Sunday.
Warner, who was charged with a level two offence, will be banned if he gets one more demerit point within the next year.
De Kock was charged with a lesser level one offence but contested the charge, adding further spice to the second Test. He was, however, fined 25 percent of his match fee and given one demerit point.
In response to comments by his Australian counterpart Darren Lehmann that both sides would "push the boundaries" with their on-field aggression but that they shouldn't "cross the line", Gibson asked how that line was defined.
"There's this thing and I have seen it recently now about the line," said Gibson. "They are saying they didn't cross the line, but where is the line, who sets the line, where did the line come from?"
Although both teams have confirmed that there was verbal aggression on the field, the on-field umpires did not report anything, evoking scepticism from Gibson.
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MELBOURNE (AAP) - Melbourne have capped their solid AFL pre-season with a 26-point win over St Kilda at Casey Fields.
The Demons followed their easy win over North Melbourne with a tougher 18.11 (119) to 14.9 (93) on Thursday night result.
After briefly losing the lead late in the third quarter, Melbourne kicked six goals to two in the last term and had 13 goalkickers for the match.
The Demons have not made the finals since 2006 but, increasingly, they have the look of a team who can break that drought.
"There's clearly a lot to like - it was a great game, a good hit-out for both clubs, a really contested game," said Demons coach Simon Goodwin. "It was a perfect preparation in terms of heading towards round one."
While the Saints lost their two pre-season games, they rallied impressively in the third term.
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TASMANIA (AAP) - Tasmania remain on track to end their five-year Sheffield Shield final drought after a tense 16-run win over South Australia at Bellerive Oval. The result ended the Redbacks' hopes for the summer.
Travis Head hit a sparkling 145 from 167 balls to have the Tigers on the back foot as they defended 330, only for the SA skipper to fall with victory in sight.
The Redbacks, having made the final the past two seasons, will enter next week's final round in bottom place.
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SYDNEY (AAP) - They bombed out at the Olympics but Australia's national hockey teams are keen to prove to home fans that they're back on track when they contest the Commonwealth Games.
The Hockeyroos and Kookaburras were equally disappointing in shock quarter-final exits in Rio two years ago, prompting major rebuilds in both squads.
The women's team in particular suffered a disastrous fallout, which included the sacking of coach Adam Commens for alleged misconduct.
However, with the Hockeyroos boasting gold medals from the past three Commonwealth Games, new mentor Paul Gaudoin says his regenerated squad won't be lowering expectations.
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PERTH (AAP) - Scans have confirmed Fremantle wingman Brad Hill has suffered a calf tear, placing him in doubt for the start of the AFL season.
Hill suffered the injury at training on Wednesday, with subsequent scans revealing a grade one tear in his right leg. The injury rules him out of Sunday's pre-season clash with West Coast in Joondalup.
Hill faces a battle to be fit for the start of Fremantle's AFL campaign against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on March 24.
His brother Stephen Hill (calf) will also miss Sunday's clash with West Coast but is expected to be available for round one.
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MELBOURNE (AAP) - Three-time Olympic gold medallist Aly Raisman believes Australia's gymnasts have an ace up their sleeve for the Commonwealth Games.
Australia's five-strong women's artistic team will be far from the most experienced in action on the Gold Coast next month.
But they boast a world-class national coach in Mihai Brestyan, Raisman's long-time personal coach who guided the American superstar to gold at the London and Rio Olympics.
Raisman was a keen observer of Australia's gymnasts during her stint as ambassador at the recent World Cup event in Melbourne.
"I was really impressed ... they look really strong and confident, and they seem really consistent," she said.
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SYDNEY (AAP) - His second coming complete, long-term Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has declared himself ready to take the national team to new heights at next year's Asian Cup and the 2022 World Cup.
Arnold's long-expected unveiling was met with a tangible sense of expectation befitting a coach with much to prove on the world stage and a man whose new-found public composure will be tested during Asia's unforgiving qualifying path.
The soon to be ex-Sydney FC coach is a polarising figure and far from an all-round popular choice to take over from Dutchman Bert van Marwijk after the World Cup in Russia this June.
But while he may lack the backing of the masses, the 54-year-old's decorated A-League credentials, tactical pedigree and history with many of the current Socceroos crop earned him high praise from FFA chief executive David Gallop as "top of the pile".
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MELBOURNE (AAP) - Melbourne United believe the quirky scheduling of the NBL finals will work to their advantage in the championship- deciding series.
Due to Australia's involvement in FIBA World Cup qualifying, United had 10 days' break leading into their semi-final showdown with New Zealand, which they won on Monday night 2-0.
And with their grand-final opponents still be decided, with Perth and Adelaide squaring off on Friday night in game two, Melbourne can enjoy another lengthy spell before they host the opening game on March 16 in the five-game title-deciding series. Coach Dean Vickerman said it suited his team.
"This whole year has been new, having the (international) windows, and we've been pretty good coming out the other side of them," Vickerman said. "We have some older players in our group and the rest only helps them so it's been positive for us."
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PERTH (AAP) - Gold Coast AFL coach Stuart Dew says former premiership teammate Damien Hardwick's admission that Richmond would "make room" for his off-contract AFL star Tom Lynch is irrelevant.
The Richmond coach caused a stir when he indicated the premiers were interested in the Suns' co-captain, with the Melbourne powerhouse club later contacting Gold Coast to apologise for the comments.
But Dew, who is yet to make his AFL coaching debut, isn't fussed about the constant speculation, calling it white noise that "comes and goes in one day".
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MELBOURNE (AAP) - Gary Ablett will miss Geelong's final AFL pre-season hit-out as he fights to overcome a hamstring issue in time for round one.
The dual Brownlow Medal winner is a notable omission for Sunday's clash with Essendon, having suffered a hamstring strain during match simulation last month.
Fellow stars Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood have both been named to play in Colac, along with veteran defender Harry Taylor.
The 33-year-old Ablett last week said he remained on track for Geelong's season-opening clash with Melbourne on March 25.
Michael Hurley, Cale Hooker and Tom Bellchambers are among the inclusions for the Bombers.
In other selection news, Cyril Rioli will miss Hawthorn's clash with Carlton in Launceston and is in doubt for round one.
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BRISBANE (AAP) - Jono Lance has tipped Queensland Reds star Samu Kerevi to show off his "elite" ball-playing skills in his shift to inside centre for the Super Rugby meeting with the Bulls.
The Reds will take a big-bodied centre combination into Saturday night's Suncorp Stadium clash, with Chris Feauia-Sautia moving from the wing to Kerevi's usual outside-centre spot as part of a rejigged backline.
But it doesn't necessarily mean all the playmaking responsibilities will fall onto five-eighth Lance, who believes Kerevi - a regular at No.13 for the Wallabies and the Reds - has developed that part of his game.
"Samu's really worked on his ball-playing. His passing's been really elite at training; he's worked on his kicking game," Lance told reporters.
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