Aussie injured in another Bali bike crash

A MAN who was left fighting for his life after a Bali motorcycle crash is speaking again, as a second Australian crash victim begins his recovery from massive injuries.

DOCTORS were uncertain Nicho White, 43, would survive his medivac flight from Bali to Melbourne, funded by friends and strangers who raised more than $123,000 online.

But one month after the collision with a 4WD - in which he suffered multiple injuries - he is in rehabilitation and talking.Mr White's progress comes as Jack McCord, 46, recovers in a Darwin hospital.The Bali DJ was riding home from work in the early hours of Friday when he crashed, shattering his pelvis and bruising his lungs.His family was faced with the same predicament as Mr White's - how to raise tens of thousands of dollars for a medical flight back to Australia.They've so far raised more than $70,000 on the website youcaring.com.Coincidentally, the families are known to each other.Mr White's brother-in-law is also a Bali DJ.Mr White's stepfather Ian McGill says when he heard the news he had to donate, even though his own family's ordeal is not over."I donated because I know how much it means," he told AAP."It's going pretty good with Nicho now, but it's going to be a very long process if he's going to walk again."Originally from Sydney where he was a DJ with the global house music outfit Hed Kandi, Mr McCord has a baby son with his wife Hilda.Bali police spokesman Hery Witanto says the two incidents highlight the dangers of riding motorcycles at night, and he urged all riders to take care.

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Swiss urge hikers to look for artefacts

SWISS scientists are urging mountain climbers and hikers to keep an eye out for lost items in melting ice patches lost hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

A PROJECT run by a Swiss cultural institute in the canton of Graubuenden aims to gather artefacts trapped long ago in glaciers that are now turning up with more frequency due to a warming planet.

The project encourages people to turn over things like wood or clothing they might run across in eastern Switzerland where the Swiss National Park is located.In recent years mountaineers have found everything from goat skin leggings in the Swiss Alps to a corpse in the melting ice of South Tyrol, each about 5000 years old.

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Sales of US existing homes up 4.9 percent

SALES of previously owned US homes in May posted the best monthly gain in nearly three years, providing hope that housing is beginning to regain momentum lost over the past year.

THE National Association of Realtors said on Monday sales of existing homes increased 4.9 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million homes.

The monthly gain was the fastest since August 2011 but even with the increase sales are still 5 per cent below the pace in May 2013.Sales have been dampened by last year's rise in mortgage rates from historic lows and various other factors including tight supplies and tougher lending standards.The median price of a home sold in May was $US213,400 ($A230,890), up 5.1 per cent from a year ago.

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Refugee drowns in Nauru

A REFUGEE who was resettled in Nauru after being sent to the Australian immigration detention centre there has drowned along with a Nauruan citizen who attempted a rescue.

IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement on Sunday evening he had been informed of the two deaths and extended his sympathies to the families and friends of both.

"We understand from initial reports that the first deceased person was a private resident of Nauru, on a Nauruan refugee visa, and was accidentally drowned," the minister said.He said the person was not a resident at the offshore processing centre.A spokesman for the minister confirmed to AAP that the refugee had been in the centre before being resettled in the Nauruan community.Mr Morrison said it was understood that a Nauruan citizen also died after attempting to rescue the first person.He said another Nauruan citizen was receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the attempted rescue."This is a matter for the government of Nauru as it pertains to an incident involving a resident and citizens of their own country that occurred within their jurisdiction," the minister said.He said Nauruan police were investigating the matter, which would become the subject of a coronial inquiry.

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Take climate more seriously, PM told

MORE than half of all Australians think the Abbott government should take climate change more seriously, a poll commissioned by environment group the Climate Institute has found.

BUT only 20 per cent trust Prime Minister Tony Abbott to do so.

The institute says its new climate survey shows a "rebound in desire" for action on climate change, with 61 per cent of people wanting Australia to be a world leader in solving the problem.It said 57 per cent wanted the Abbott government to take climate change more seriously, with only 22 per cent supporting its Direct Action plan to reduce emissions.The survey also found opposition to the carbon tax had decreased by 22 per cent in the past two years, with 47 per cent saying carbon pricing was better than not taking any action at all.Only 20 per cent said they trusted Mr Abbott when he said he was concerned about climate change, compared with 31 per cent for Labor leader Bill Shorten."Australians continue to be uncertain, if not cynical, about political parties and their policies on climate change," Climate Institute chief John Connor says."Yet a clear majority think the Abbott government should take climate change more seriously."

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Quebec helicopter escapees captured

POLICE say they have captured the three men who escaped from a Quebec City-area prison by helicopter earlier this month.

THEY say the trio were arrested at a Montreal residence at 1.30am on Sunday and more arrests are likely.

Police have not released further details on how they found the fugitives who escaped on June 7 when a helicopter plucked them from a courtyard of the Orsainville Detention Centre in suburban Quebec City.Their escape touched off a massive international manhunt.The three fugitives - Yves Denis, 35, Denis Lefebvre, 53, and Serge Pomerleau, 49 - were awaiting trial on charges including gangsterism and murder.They are due in court in Quebec City on Monday.

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