The Latest: Intense search continues in woods for surviving New York prison escapee

MALONE, N.Y. –  The latest on the manhunt following the escape of two convicted murderers from a maximum-security prison (all times local):
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8:45 a.m.
Searchers who tracked and killed one murderer who broke out of a northern New York prison three weeks ago are combing the same heavily wooded area for the surviving escapee.
Officers continued to focus Saturday on rugged terrain 30 miles west of Clinton Correctional Facility as they looked for David Sweat, who escaped from the maximum-security prison June 6 with Richard Matt. Police manned roadblocks in the neighboring towns of Malone and Duane as a helicopter buzzed over the woods.
Matt was shot to death Friday by a border patrol team responding to a civilian complaint about a gunshot fired at a camping trailer. Authorities say Matt was armed and failed to respond to an order to raise his hands.
Police said Friday night that they had no confirmed sightings of Sweat.
                                                           FOX News

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Google’s Cars are Now Smarter, and Slower

Custom-made, and painfully slow, self-driving cars are now roaming the streets of Mountain View.

Google has begun testing its own automated car around Mountain View.

If you find yourself stuck behind a car driving at excruciatingly slow speeds around Silicon Valley in the coming weeks, there may be little point honking your horn.
Google has started testing its latest prototype automated vehicles around Mountain View. The odd-looking little vehicles top out at an impressive, “neighborhood-friendly 25 miles per hour,” according to Google, so they might cause a little frustration for other folks on roads like the one shown above.
At least you’ll be able to complain via a handy webpage Google has put up to solicit feedback from other drivers. A video included on that page also provides some interesting insights on the latest efforts by Google to make its cars smarter, and safer. For example, it shows that the cars can now recognize erratic cyclist hand-signals, and how they can cope with construction work, or vehicles parked in unusual ways. Eventually the cars might need to go a bit faster though, perhaps even above the speed limit. When was the last time you saw anyone going under 70 mph on the freeway, after all?
As automated cars become more common, it will also be interesting to see how they deal with each other in various situations. We saw the first potential example of this with reports today of a “close call” between one of Google’s cars and another self-driving vehicle operated by Delphi. It now seems that the incident was actually a fairly normal traffic interaction rather than a case of robotic road-rage, although it does seem like Google’s algorithms might be a bit more aggressive. That may well come in handy once they start testing their cars on the streets of Boston.
                                                         -MIT Technology Review-

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Greece debt: Crisis meeting over bailout referendum

Greece's creditors are holding a crisis meeting with the Greek finance minister after Athens called a referendum on the terms for a fresh bailout.

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras called the referendum for 5 July, but Greece's current bailout expires on Tuesday.
The country's creditors are expected to decide whether to extend that bailout until after the vote is completed.
As the Greek parliament debates whether to ratify the referendum, queues have formed outside banks in Athens.
Many fear that Greece's central bank might start restricting withdrawals.
It is unclear what would happen if Greece does not get a temporary extension.
Greece has to make a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) payment to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, and there are fears Greece's economy could collapse if no new deal is struck.
n a televised address late on Friday, Mr Tsipras described the bailout plan as "humiliation" and condemned "unbearable" austerity measures demanded by creditors.
Some opposition figures on the other hand accused Mr Tsipras of using the vote to push Greece out of the EU.
BBC economics editor Robert Peston said that if the European Central Bank continued its emergency support, some members of its governing council feared it would be breaking all central banking rules.

Analysis: Chris Morris, BBC News, Brussels

The government portrays the referendum as yes or no to austerity. The opposition says it is, in effect, yes or no to Europe. Some of them say the referendum itself is unconstitutional, and are urging the Greek president to reject it.
But Mr Tsipras will argue that he had no other option. He was elected to get a better deal rather than no deal at all. But no better deal was on offer.
As for Greece's creditors I think they will be one part flabbergasted, one part anxious, and one part wondering what on earth they do next.
But several eurozone finance ministers, arriving in Brussels for their fifth meeting on Greece in little more than a week, said there was no question of accepting Mr Tsipras's request to extend his country's current international bailout by a few days, to prevent the Greek economy collapsing before a referendum can be held.
Some of the ministers will now want to focus on Plan B instead - how to ring-fence Greece and protect the rest of the eurozone from any potential economic shocks ahead.

The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, said that creditor institutions had "always showed flexibility to adjust to new situations in Greece".
Speaking ahead of Saturday's meeting between creditors and Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, she said she would again be recommending a balance between structural reforms and fiscal consolidation.
EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said European finance ministers had to consider "whether there's a possibility or not of an agreement".
"Greece's place is in the eurozone," he said. "When I look at where we are I see differences but they are quite limited and well identified."
But Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who leads the group of European finance ministers, said he was "very negatively surprised" by the Greek government's decision on the referendum.
"This is a sad decision for Greece because it has closed the door on further talks," he said. "We will hear from the Greek [finance] minister today in our meeting and then talk about future consequences."
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the "negotiations apparently have been declared at an end'' by Mr Tsipras.
                                                 BBC

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British And Irish Tourists Die In Beach Terror

A gunman disguised as a holidaymaker has killed at least 37 people, including five Britons, in an attack on a popular tourist resort.

Terrified sunbathers ran for their lives as the attacker, dressed in shorts and hiding his Kalashnikov inside an umbrella, opened fire on the beach in the town of Sousse, Tunisia.
He then entered the Imperial Marhaba hotel through the swimming pool area, shooting people as he went and also threw an explosive, witnesses said.

A suspect was arrested after the Tunisia shootings

Tourists ran from the sea and barricaded themselves in their hotel rooms after gunfire erupted, while medics used sunloungers to carry victims still in their swimming costumes.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed at least five Britons had died and warned the death toll could rise.

Video: 28 Dead In Tunisia Attack

He said a "high proportion" of the casualties were expected to be British "because of the nature of the resort".
Tunisia's health ministry said British, German, Belgian and Tunisian nationals were among the dead. An Irish woman, reportedly a nurse in her 50s with two children, was also killed.
At least 36 people were injured in the assault, which happened just hours after a man was decapitated by attackers brandishing Islamist flags at a French factory.
It is not known if the atrocities were linked.
Earlier this week, Islamic State called on its supporters to increase attacks during Ramadan and "be keen on waging invasion in this eminent month and commit martyrdom".
The gunman in Tunisia was a young student from the city of Kairouan who was reportedly unknown to authorities. He was later shot dead by police.

Video: 'My Son Saw Someone Get Shot'

:: Live Updates - Day Of Deadly Attacks
Speaking about how the country's worst attack in recent history unfolded, security official Rafik Chelli said the gunman "had a parasol (umbrella) in his hand".
"He went down to put it in the sand and then he took out his Kalashnikov and began shooting wildly."
A photo has emerged of a dead man wearing black shorts, face down in the street with an automatic weapon next to him and surrounded by police.
The interior ministry had previously said two attackers were involved, including one who had fled the scene.
Local radio said police captured a second gunman, but officials did not immediately confirm the arrest or his role in the attack.

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    Gallery: Deadly Shootings In Tunisia

One man said his son saw someone get shot as he raced back to the hotel from the sea.
Photographs seen by Sky News show one man in his 60s or 70s lying in a pool of blood in his swimming shorts on the sand and next to what appeared to be the body of a woman.
British tourists have been describing what happened. Gary Pine said: "We thought fire crackers were going off but you could see quite quickly what was going on.

"There was a mass exodus off the beach. My son was in the sea at the time and myself and my wife were shouting at him to get out and as he ran up he said I’ve just saw someone get shot.
Holidaymaker Susan Ricketts said: "It sounded like a machine gun going off. There are people crying and going hysterical. We just came up to our room."
Another tourist said: "People are running around the hotel. No-one has really been told what to do."

Video: 'Ulterior Motive To Tunisia Attack'

John Yeoman has barricaded himself inside his hotel room using a bed and chair.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The people who do this do it in the name of a twisted perverted ideology."
A British embassy crisis team is being sent to Tunisia after a COBRA meeting took place to co-ordinate a response.
A spokesman for Thomson and First Choice said: "We are working closely with our teams in Tunisia and the relevant authorities to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected."
Back in March Sky's Sherine Tadros reported that the bulk of foreign fighters who have joined the ranks of IS come from Tunisia.
Meanwhile, deadly explosions have hit a Shiite mosque in Kuwait's capital after Friday prayers. Several people have been killed and dozens wounded in the attack.

Video: Tourist Barricades Hotel Room Door

Paramedic Abdelrahman al-Yusef says most of the victims were men or boys who were at the mosque when the bombing took place.

                                                               -SKY News-
 

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Kim Jong-un shows off new terminal at Pyongyang airport

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with his wife Ri Sol Ju walking through the new terminal of Pyongyang International Airport. He is smiling. He does that a lot, probably because he is excited about the chocolate fondue. Source: Picture Media

THE lights are on but no one is there.

Welcome to Pyongyang International Airport, the place where no one leaves and barely anyone arrives.
Of course we could be wrong, but North Korea isn’t exactly on top of any must-do travel list.
So one has to wonder why North Korea would spend so much money beautifying a terminal when its citizens aren’t exactly free to travel, and no one wants to visit.
But then again why does North Korea do anything then boast about it.
Oh yeah that’s right, it wants us to believe this secretive dictatorship, which regularly threatens The West, is prospering and not crumbling under the brutal regime.

According to a recent United Nations report, around two million North Koreans receive help from the UN World Food Program, a third of children under five are stunted by malnutrition and around 20 per cent of breastfeeding and pregnant women are malnourished.
But that’s OK because North Korea now has an international airport worthy of praise.
According to an unverified press release issued by the country’s state owned Korean Central News Agency, visitors to the airport will soon be able to buy designer shirts, duty free watches and cosmetics as well as chocolate fondue. Oh goodie, fondue!
Leader Kim Jong-un took a tour of the newly completed terminal with his wife Ri Sol-ju - her second public appearance this year after she watched a soccer match with her rotund husband in April - and younger sister Kim Yo-jong this week and was said to be impressed.

The unveiling of the new terminal comes days after former North Korean national Hyeonseo Lee released her autobiography, The Girl with Seven Names, which details her escape and defection to South Korea and her horrific childhood in which she witnessed her first execution at age seven.
She tells The Times viewing executions is mandatory for schoolchildren in North Korea but in recent years it has worsened.
“Now they shoot people dead, just like that, in the middle of the day,” she says in the interview. “He’s (Kim Jong-un) murdered horribly to show the people: ‘Don’t treat me like a young kid.’ Killing people is propaganda.”
Lee says brainwashing begins from the moment you are born and children grow up believing the prison camps, public executions and that the Korean War started by “American bastards” who attacked North Korea “in the middle of the night, at 3am, while the North Koreans were asleep”.
She also says she thinks Kim Jong-un is worse than his father and longs for the day that he will die.
Until then, North Koreans will be able to admire their country’s new airport terminal from afar. It is supposed to open on July 1.

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Recovery efforts resume Friday for 9 killed in Alaska crash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska emergency crews will attempt Friday to recover the remains of eight cruise ship passengers and a pilot who were killed when their sightseeing plane crashed in a remote and rugged area of southeastern Alaska.

Wind and rain prevented any recovery after the wreckage of the aircraft was found Thursday against a granite rock face, 800 feet above a lake.

There was no immediate indication of why the DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter turboprop went down, killing the nine people during the sightseeing excursion. No names have been released.

Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska office, said it was too soon to know circumstances of the crash, including whether the plane flew into the cliff.

The NTSB was assembling a high-level team to investigate the crash, including three members from Alaska and at least two people from Washington, D.C.

"The initial rescue crew that went in had a very tough time because of the terrain," Johnson said. "It's a very steep, mountainous area, and weather conditions caused them to stand down."

He earlier confirmed the deaths: "''We have nine fatalities."

Coast Guard Petty Officer Lauren Steenson said the agency received a report around 2:15 p.m. that the plane was overdue. Troopers said an emergency locator transmitter activated in the Misty Fjords National Monument, and a helicopter pilot spotted the downed aircraft above Ella Lake, about 800 miles southeast of Anchorage.

Promech Air, an airline based in Ketchikan, operated the shore excursion sold through Holland America Line, the cruise ship company said in a statement. The eight passengers were guests on the Westerdam, which is on a seven-day cruise that departed Seattle on Saturday.

"We are incredibly distressed by this situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with those onboard the plane and their families," the statement said. "Holland America Line is extending its full support to traveling companions of the guests involved."

Promech said that the crash happened about 11:20 a.m., and the plane was one of five Otter aircraft in its fleet.

"There is nothing I can say that can alleviate the pain and overwhelming sense of loss that we and the loved ones of those affected are feeling," Marcus Sessoms, president of Promech Air, said in a statement. "At this moment, all of us share the pain and anguish of this terrible event. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to everyone touched by this tragedy."

The Ketchikan Daily News reported the Westerdam had been scheduled to leave the city at 1 p.m., but it remained in port Thursday evening.

The airline's website advertises tours of the 2-million-acre Misty Fjord National Monument in its float planes.

"Towering granite cliffs, 1,000-foot waterfalls, lush and remote valleys and serene crystalline lakes make up this incredible landscape," it says

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Associated Press writer Kathy McCarthy in Seattle contributed to this report.

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France on alert after terrorists storm factory, behead man

France was on high alert after a worker at a U.S.-based chemical company was beheaded by terrorists bearing ISIS flags early Friday, authorities said.
The attack occurred at approximately 9:50 a.m. local time in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, northwest of the Alpine city of Grenoble, according to Le Dauphine newspaper. The newspaper reported that two men dressed as deliverymen arrived at the plant, and that one walked into the main office, declared he was a member of ISIS and beheaded someone there. The terrorists reportedly left the severed head hanging from a fence, and set off several gas canisters at the plant.

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"The attack was of a terrorist nature since a body was discovered, decapitated and with inscriptions," French President Francois Hollande told a news conference in Brussels, where he was attending an EU summit.
The factory is operated by Air Products & Chemicals, an Allentown, Pa.,-based company that makes industrial gases.
A local official confirmed the nation is on high alert.
"The terrorism threat is at a maximum," Alain Juppe, mayor of Bordeaux, told Fox News.
One man, who authorities said was an extremist known to authorities was under arrest following the attack. There were unconfirmed reports the other was killed.
The attack came months after well-known ISIS social media accounts and propaganda video threatened attacks in the U.S., Belgium and France.
"We advise you that we will come to you with car bombs and explosive charges and we will cut off you heads," stated one such threat that mirrored Friday morning's attack.
Sky News, citing French legal sources, reported that the severed head had Arabic writing scrawled across it and was placed on a fence next to an Islamist flag.
French authorities tell Fox News that approximately 10 people were injured. A local police deputy described the attack as "definitely" a terrorist act. France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve was on his way to the scene.
France's anti-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into the incident. The country went on high alert after a series of attacks in January that left 20 people dead in and around Paris region, including the Islamic terrorists.
France has been grappling with radical Islam for several years, with the Jan. 7 attack at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo putting the nation's homegrown terrorism problem in the spotlight earlier this year. In that attack, two radical Muslim brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, incensed over the publishing of caricatures of Muhammad, stormed the magazine's offices and killed 12, including staffers and a police officer. In subsequent, related attacks over the next few days, another five people were killed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Network Rail upgrade delayed by government

The government says it will delay or cut back a number of modernisation projects planned for Network Rail.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin says rising costs and missed targets make the £38.5bn plan untenable.
He blamed Network Rail, saying it should have foreseen the improvements would cost more and take longer.
Labour said it had warned the government needed to change how the railways were run but had "dithered" over taking action.
Network Rail said the plan, which was launched last year as the "largest modernisation of the railways since Victorian times", was too ambitious.
Network Rail controls 2,500 stations as well as tracks, tunnels and level crossings.
The key routes affected are:

• Trans-Pennine route: York-Manchester, shelved
• Midland main line: York-Sheffield, shelved
• Great Western main line work will go ahead

Mr McLoughlin said electrification work would be "paused" on the Midland main line and on the Trans-Pennine route between Leeds and Manchester.
But he said that "electrification of the Great Western line is a top priority and I want Network Rail to concentrate its efforts on getting that right
He also announced Network Rail's chairman, Richard Parry-Jones, would leave the group after his three-year term and told MPs none of the executive directors would get a bonus for the past year.
Mr Parry-Jones will be replaced by Sir Peter Hendy, the current commissioner of Transport for London.

Satisfaction falling

The announcement comes as the latest rail passenger satisfaction survey is released.
Travellers in London and south-east England are the least happy with their service, according to Transport Focus (formerly Passenger Focus).
The proportion of passengers satisfied has fallen from 82% last year to 80% this year.
Satisfaction on First Hull Trains was highest at 96%, while Southern was the lowest at 72%.
Michael Roberts, director general of the Rail Delivery Group which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: "Too often many passengers are not getting the service they deserve, and for this we are sorry
rick McLoughlin: "Network Rail spending should stay within its funding allowance"
"The survey reflects the challenges we face to run trains punctually on an increasingly busy network."

'Broken promises'

The shadow transport secretary, Michael Dugher, said the government had known the upgrade could not go ahead as scheduled: "We have been warning time and time again there needs to be fundamental changes in how our railways are run. You spent the election campaign repeating promises you knew you would break after the election.
"Ministers may try to shift all the blame to Network Rail, but this happened on the government's watch and the responsibility for this mess lies squarely with the government."
Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: "This... follows years of above-inflation fares increases, crowded carriages and engineering works. Passengers have put up with much inconvenience in the expectation of a better, more reliable, and more comfortable rail service.
"What passengers will want now is a clear plan of action, setting out exactly when Network Rail will start to deliver some of the promised improvements."

The chief executive of Network Rail, Mark Carne, told the BBC the challenges of delivering myriad improvement projects while still running a railway seven days a week were simply overwhelming.
"Over the last year, it has become obvious that the challenges of operating, maintaining and enhancing the railway are significant," he said.
"I think it's time to level with the public and say that some of these extraordinary projects that we absolutely need are going to take longer and are going to cost more than we originally thought.
"We are going to take the summer to re-evaluate the extension of the programme - we need to do that properly with the Department for Transport and, of course, looking at the impact on trains as well."
He said it would not be possible to estimate the impact of the delays on the final cost.

Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, business editor
To be clear, much of the investment will still happen. It will just be slower and more expensive.
And significant Whitehall sources have also told me that spending £38bn over five years is still the plan.
Which means that, according to those officials, the Conservative Party is not about to break its manifesto pledge to spend that amount.
What does appear to be the case - according to senior people in the rail industry - is that the Department for Transport was warned last spring that the five-year plan was at risk.
But the government has waited until after the election before announcing the change.
All bets off for £38.5bn rail plan

Mr Carne said it was important to be honest with the travelling public: "Rather than beating ourselves up over some rather arbitrary target, I think we should level with people and reset expectations around what we can deliver.
"Our railway is a great success story, passenger numbers have doubled in the last 20 years - but it's a huge challenge to transform the performance of our railway while still providing a great service to the four-and-a-half million people that use our railway every day.
                                                       
                                                                       -BBC News-

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UPDATE 2-Republicans to fight Obamacare through election campaign despite ruling

By Susan Cornwell

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WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) - Republicans will keep attacking Obamacare in the U.S. Congress and on the presidential election campaign trail to energize right-wing voters and raise money, but analysts said there was little chance of the healthcare law being rolled back before 2017 now that the Supreme Court has again validated it.
On Thursday, the high court upheld a central part of the Affordable Care Act, as it is formally known. It was the second time the court confirmed the legality of President Barack Obama's biggest domestic achievement.
That greatly reduces the chances of any substantive legislative or legal challenge to the law by Republicans until a new president takes office in January 2017 after Democrat Obama leaves office.
By then, the law will have been on the books for seven years and millions of Americans will have a stake in it, making it even more difficult to dismantle.


"It is entrenched. There certainly will be no legislation (signed into law) that will change anything for the next year and a half," said Joseph Antos, an expert in health policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
"This administration is done with health policy. Everybody's done," Antos said.
Obamacare survived a major legal test when the Supreme Court upheld tax subsidies at the heart of the law that help millions of Americans afford premiums they pay for health insurance.
Enacted in 2010, the law was meant to provide health insurance coverage for millions of Americans who neither had insurance through an employer nor could afford an individual plan. Republicans opposed the law from the start, calling it unnecessary government interference and "socialized medicine."
More than 10 million people now have insurance purchased through state and federal marketplaces set up under the law. About 8.7 million of them get subsidies, the government says.
REPUBLICAN DISAPPOINTMENT, DEMOCRATIC VICTORY
Following Thursday's 6-3 court ruling, Republicans quickly vowed to make the 2016 election campaign a referendum on Obamacare, expressing disappointment with the court's decision.
Democrats cheered it, however. On the presidential campaign trail, Democratic Party front runner Hillary Clinton expressed delight via Twitter. "Yes! SCOTUS affirms what we know is true in our hearts & under the law: Health insurance should be affordable & available to all," she said.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner said, "We will continue our efforts to repeal the law and replace it."
But it was unclear what Republicans could do to make good on that pledge. Republican lawmakers had worked on action plans for a high court ruling against the subsidies, but there seemed to be no clear Republican strategy for the ruling that was handed down, a resounding victory for Obama.
The Republican party is divided, said Robert Blendon, a health policy and politics analyst at Harvard University.
One wing "wants to go back to 2009" before Obamacare existed. Others have proposed alternatives. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, for instance, is urging the approval of tax credits to help people buy insurance.
Some Republicans "feel they dodged a bullet" with the court's decision, which means they won't have to anger their base by preserving the subsidies, even temporarily, said John Ullyot, a Republican strategist and former longtime Senate aide.
Most of the dozen or so Republican candidates running for their party's nomination vowed to repeal Obamacare if elected.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's campaign issued a fundraising appeal for "emergency" contributions to ensure the law is rolled back. "I will work with Congress to repeal and replace this flawed law," Bush said in a statement.
Senator Marco Rubio, another Republican contender, said: "I remain committed to repealing this bad law."
Brookings Institution analyst Stuart Butler said the law may be modified, but it is now hard to imagine it being totally repealed, even after a new president takes office in 2017.
"The longer it is on the books the harder it will be to dislodge," he said. "Not harder - impossible." (Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Grant McCool)
                                                                    -REUTERS-

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Parliament rises for midwinter break; Coalition MPs try to put freeze on early election speculation

As the chill of a Canberra winter descends on the nation's capital, Coalition MPs are trying to put a freeze on speculation the Prime Minister will call an early election.

On Thursday, the ABC saw dozens of MPs taking up an offer from the Prime Minister's Office to update their "working photographs" - posing for pictures with Tony Abbott used for promotional material.
They included frontbencher Paul Fletcher, Government Whip Andrew Nikolic and the man who instigated the spill for the Liberal leadership in February, Luke Simpkins.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has had to deal with days of questioning his conduct in toppling previous Labor leaders Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, and the anticipation for his appearance before the trade unions royal commission.
While that is enough to put a spring in the step of the Coalition party room, backbenchers are keen to tow the party line as dictated by Ministers, that Tony Abbott will not jump early and call an election.
"I'm going back to my electorate who are really happy, it's a good time to be a federal Member of Parliament in a country electorate," said Nationals MP Andrew Broad.
"I don't worry too much about an election, what I do worry about is trying to do the job."
Mr Broad said the photo shoot with the Prime Minister was merely routine, and a good opportunity for MPs to remind their electorates that their local members have a direct line to the decision makers.
"The people in the street, through one degree of separation to their local member, can have access to the leader of the country," he said.

Most members of the community are sick to death of all the self-indulgent squabbling and navel gazing.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie

It is a sentiment echoed by Liberal MP Dennis Jensen.
"You guys have got this crazy theory going about 'Oh, it's all for an election'. It's nonsense," he said.
"They're photographs to be taken at any time."
Liberal National MP George Christensen said he happily posed for a photo with Mr Abbott.
"I haven't got my corflute posters done yet, and I don't expect to in the next six weeks," he said.
"The Prime Minister has told the party room an election will be held next year."
Amid all the speculation of whether an election could be called during the six-week break, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said he had had a "gutful" of the arguments.
"I'd like everyone to just take a big deep breath and get back to running the country," he said.
"I'm sure the Government will go to an election when they think they can win.
"Most members of the community are sick to death of all the self-indulgent squabbling and navel gazing."

Labor MP Terri Butler calls for Prime Minister to 'fess up'

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten conceded he regretted comments he made to Melbourne broadcaster Neil Mitchell at the height of Labor's 2013 leadership crisis, which the ABC's The Killing Season this week exposed as lies.
The documentary revealed details of a secret meeting between Mr Shorten and former prime minister Kevin Rudd on June 19, 2013 - the week before Mr Rudd unseated then-prime minister Julia Gillard.
As Labor MPs left Canberra, Queensland's Terri Butler, who took over Kevin Rudd's seat when he resigned from Parliament, wanted to shift the focus back on the Prime Minister's record.
"I'm from Queensland, right, in Queensland our politicians have got a pretty good history of fessing up when they make a mistake," he said.
"Bill Shorten did the same thing. You know who else should fess up? The Prime Minister should fess up.
"The Prime Minister should come clean, stop pretending that he hasn't made cuts to education when his own budget papers say that he has.
"He should come clean with the electorate, I don't think he will because he's a man who's already shown himself to be someone who will say anything at all to get elected, and then get in, with a smile on his face do the exact opposite. I'll take Bill Shorten any day."

Bill Shorten will give evidence to the trade unions royal commission on July 8, when he will be questioned over deals he supervised as leader of the Australian Workers Union (AWU).

                                                                     -ABC News-

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Series of missing Ohio women stirs fears of serial killer

In the past year, six women have gone missing from the Chillicothe, Ohio area. Four have them have turned up dead. Though police won't confirm, many residents fear a serial killer may be on the loose.
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Nestled in the hills of Ohio's Scioto Valley, this rural town is unaccustomed to the widespread fear that has grown steadily as women have disappeared in the past year.
Six unresolved cases are causing residents to speculate that a serial killer is in their midst. Two of the women remain missing and four have turned up dead.
Two of the dead — Timberly Claytor, 38; and Tiffany Sayre, 26 — were found within three weeks of each other, and both cases have been classified as homicides.
While local law enforcement officials, who recently tapped the FBI for help before Claytor's body was found, haven't discounted the possibility of a serial killer, it isn't the only avenue they are pursuing, Ross County Prosecutor Matt Schmidt explained at a June 2 press conference about the discovery of Claytor's body.
"At this point, there's no smoking gun that says, 'Hey, we've got a serial killer on the loose,' " Schmidt said. "We have missing people and we have a homicide.
"There are certainly people talking in the community and people that are upset and understandably concerned about that," he said. "We have to keep an open mind to the possibilities, but the evidence is going to dictate where we go with the investigation."
Year of fear
The troubling trend of missing women in this town of 22,000 about an hour south of Columbus began a little more than a year ago.
Officials have said the women are connected through a common history of drug use, possible prostitution and connections to the same social circle. A kayaker found the naked body of Tameka Lynch, 30, on May 24, 2014, in Paint Creek, about a 30-minute drive from Chillicothe.

6 missing, dead

Six women have been reported missing in the Chillicothe, Ohio, area in the past year. The bodies of four have been found:
• May 24, 2014. Tameka Lynch, 30.
• Jan. 2. Shasta Himelrick, 20.
• May 29. Timberly Claytor, 38.
• June 20. Tiffany Sayre, 26.

Still missing:
• Wanda Lemons, 37, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 135 pounds with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. She has a tattoo of dolphins making a heart on her lower back. Missing since Dec. 28.
• Charlotte Trego, 38, 5 foot 4 inches tall and 160 pounds with dark hair and blue eyes. She has a tattoos of “JAMES” on her chest and a Playboy bunny on her upper arm. Missing since May 3, 2014.

Source: Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers
Four days before investigators found her body, Lynch's husband reported her missing. He told police he had not seen her since May 16.
Although a coroner determined Lynch likely died from a multiple drug overdose, her manner of death was the result of "undetermined circumstances."
After finding Lynch, law enforcement searched along Paint Creek and into the Scioto River for any signs of another missing woman — 29-year-old Charlotte Trego. Her mother reported her missing two days after Lynch was reported missing.
Trego hadn't been seen in two weeks, which Yvonne Boggs said was atypical for her daughter.
Trego had left her home on the east side of Chillicothe on foot after a roommate evicted her, according to the initial police report. No sign of her was found during the search of the creek and river, and law enforcement have indicated they've been unable to learn much more.
Next came Wanda Lemons, 38, last seen by her mother Oct. 2 and reported missing Dec. 28. A friend of Lemons told Chillicothe police she had last seen her Nov. 3 and she had talked about going with a truck driver to Texas where Lemons has family.Lemons' mother told police that she would go for lengthy periods without speaking to her daughter but it was unusual for her not to call or visit during the holidays.
At about the same time Lemons' mother went to police, a pregnant 20-year-old, Shasta Himelrick, went missing. Her family last saw her Christmas night and quickly reported her missing.
She was captured on film at a Chillicothe gas station the morning after Christmas. Her car was found abandoned, the doors open and battery drained, about 20 minutes south of town near the Scioto River.
Her body was found in the river Jan. 2. Although the coroner ruled Himelrick's death a suicide by drowning, her family and friends have their doubts, saying Himelrick was happy about being pregnant.
"I think if she (Himelrick) did do what they say, I think someone may have forced her to do it," her grandmother, Janice Timmons, told the Chillicothe Gazette in March.
Himelrick's disappearance heightened awareness among residents here about those missing, but speculation that a serial killer might be in their midst picked up steam when Tiffany Sayre went missing May 11.
Sayre had been at the Chillicothe Inn with two men that night and told a friend she was going to stop by again before going home. As the community came together in the city's park for a vigil for Sayre and the other women May 29, a woman found a body in some weeds a few hundred yards from U.S. 23 — a highway known as a primary route for drug trafficking — about 6 miles south of Chillicothe.
The body was Timberly Claytor, a woman not yet reported missing. She had been shot three times in the head, and law enforcement quickly closed in on Jason A. McCrary, 36, of Chillicothe, who was convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor more than a decade ago.
He has not been charged with Claytor's murder but remains in the Ross County Jail on a charge that he failed to register his address as a sex offender. Investigators are waiting for results of DNA collected in a vehicle seized during a search warrant of McCrary's home before filing charges.
On Saturday, just three weeks after Claytor was found shot, a couple of hikers found Sayre's body in a culvert not far from the location of Lynch's body more than a year ago. While results of an autopsy are pending, officials have confirmed her body had been wrapped in a white cloth and duct tape was found nearby.They are investigating her death as a homicide.
Ramping up the investigation
Before Claytor's body was found, Chillicothe Police Chief Keith Washburn asked the FBI for help, and a task force including the Ross County Sheriff's Office was created.
The task force is working in an undisclosed location with members of local, state and federal agencies and has created a dedicated tip line and e-mail. Sayre's aunt, Shelly Hehr, this week encouraged people with information to report it.

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"Somebody did this. Somebody is responsible, and somebody knows who is responsible," Hehr said. "I know if you are scared, you might not want to come forward. But you should be scared if you don't come forward, because if somebody doesn't come forward and help stop this, you don't know who could be next."
When they receive tips for any of the missing women, Washburn said detectives assigned to the cases drop whatever they are doing to follow up. The problem is that many of the tips turn out to be false.
"We've checked land, air and water for any signs of (the women)," Washburn said. "But the problem is you're trying to find a needle in a haystack unless you have the information. The information we have is running dry on some of these cases."
Investigators have traveled throughout southern Ohio and Kentucky trying to get information on Sayre, in addition to interviewing subjects and administering polygraph tests. On May 23, officers also did something they rarely do when they arrested three alleged prostitutes in hopes of getting information about the missing women.
Washburn said prostitution in the Chillicothe area appears to be driven by a need for quick money to purchase drugs.
"One of the things that people have said is we treat these people differently because of their lifestyle," Washburn said. "That is totally untrue. These ladies are someone's daughter, someone's mother, sister, aunt. These are human beings. We are going to give it 110% to try to find them."

USA TODAY

Serial killing suspect draws attention to abandoned homes

As investigators continue pounding the pavement, residents in Chillicothe also have been coming together in marches and vigils.
A Facebook page was created to spread the missing women's information across social media. A GoFundMe has been created to help Sayre's family pay for her burial.
And two weeks ago, sisters-in-law Samantha and Mary Green began a weekly community protest that they're calling No Dope, Just Hope.
"I'll be out here every Saturday, even if I'm 70," Samantha Green said. "We need to protest. There's no future for our children if it keeps going this way."

Timberly Claytor (Photo: Courtesy of family)

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