Five face murder charges in gang-rape case

INDIAN police expect to formally charge five of six suspects with murder in the death of a 23-year-old woman who was raped on a moving bus in New Delhi. The sixth suspect in the case that has outraged the country is under 18 and a juvenile.

Police have ordered a bone test for the sixth accused to confirm his age, according to a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to reporters. Under Indian law, a juvenile cannot be prosecuted for murder.

New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said on Tuesday a charge-sheet in the case would be filed in court on Thursday. The suspects face the death penalty if convicted.

The physiotherapy student died last week in a Singapore hospital where she had been sent for emergency treatment after the crime in India's capital on December 16.

The case has triggered protests across India and raised questions about lax attitudes by police toward sexual crimes.

Protesters and politicians from across the spectrum called for a special session of Parliament to pass new laws to increase punishments for rapists - including possible chemical castration - and to set up fast-track courts to deal with rape cases within 90 days.

Thousands of Indians have lit candles, held prayer meetings and marched through various cities and towns to express their grief and demand stronger protection for women and the death penalty for rape, which is now punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment.

On Monday, the Indian army and navy cancelled their New Year's celebrations, as did Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress Party. Several hotels and clubs across the capital also did not hold their usual parties.

Women face daily harassment across India, including catcalls on the streets and groping and touching on public transport.

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Injured man winched from NSW cave

A MAN who fell inside the Wombeyan Caves in the NSW Southern Highlands has been winched aboard a rescue helicopter and taken to hospital with suspected spinal injuries.

Ambulance Service of NSW crews were called to the caves just after 2pm (AEDT) on Tuesday after the man fell onto a riverbed in the cave and was unable to move, an ambulance spokeswoman said.

She said he may have had existing medical conditions.

The man, aged in his 20s, was winched aboard a medical rescue helicopter and taken to hospital.

The caves, about 50 kilometres north of Goulburn, are popular with tourists.

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Car bombing kills two south of Baghdad

TWO people have been killed in a car bombing outside provincial government offices south of Baghdad, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Iraqi officials nationwide.

The blast at 8.30am on Monday local time in the city of Hilla, 95km south of the capital, also wounded 17 people and badly damaged shops and cars, according to police.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and there are no details available on the victims.

But Sunni militants such as al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq regularly target officials and security forces in a bid to destabilise the government and push Iraq back towards the brutal communal bloodshed of 2005 to 2008.

Monday's violence came a day after three attacks on government officials north of the capital.

The deputy governor of Kirkuk province and the head of a city council in the province escaped separate assassination attempts, but the unrest still left one senior municipal official dead and eight people wounded.

Violence in Iraq is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks still occur almost every day.

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Person killed in head-on crash

A PERSON has died in a head-on collision between two cars on Tasmania's east coast.

Police said one person was killed, while another two were trapped in a vehicle as a result of the crash, which occurred on Gardens Road, The Gardens, near the tourist town of St Helens on Monday.

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Indian gang-rape victim cremated

India has been engulfed by an outpouring of grief as the body of a gang-rape victim arrived home. Source: AAP

THE victim of a gang-rape which triggered an outpouring of grief and anger across India has been cremated at a private ceremony in New Delhi as it emerged she was planning to get married in February.

The unidentified 23-year-old, the focus of nationwide protests since she was brutally attacked on a bus in New Delhi two weeks ago, died on Saturday of her injuries in a Singapore hospital where she had been airlifted for treatment.

She was cremated on Sunday away from the public glare only hours after her body was repatriated.

The funeral pyre was lit after traumatised relatives and friends said their final prayers at a ceremony in southwestern Delhi, according to mourners who revealed she had been due to wed her boyfriend, who was injured in the same attack.

"They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi" for February, said Meena Rai, a close friend and neighbour.

"I really loved this girl," she said. "She was the brightest of all."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main ruling Congress Party, were at Delhi airport to console the victim's parents as they arrived home on a chartered plane with their daughter's body at 4.00am (0930 AEDT) on Sunday.

The victim's death has prompted government promises of better protection for women and deep soul-searching in a nation where gang-rapes are a daily occurrence and sexual harassment is routinely dismissed as "Eve-teasing".

Waves of protests have erupted across India since the attack on the night of December 16 when the woman was not only repeatedly raped but also sexually assaulted with an iron bar, leaving her with terrible intestinal injuries.

Thousands took part in late-night candlelit vigils on Saturday after Singh led appeals for calm to prevent a repeat of the sometimes violent protests.

As police said the six accused of murdering the unnamed woman could face the death penalty, there was a widespread determination that the killing would serve as a tipping point for how the nation deals with violence against women.

"We are aware that this is not the first case, nor will it be the last case of gang-rape in India, but it is clear that we will not tolerate sex crimes any more," said Bela Rana, a lawyer who joined a rally in central Delhi.

The city has been dubbed the "rape capital" of India. A report in Sunday's Hindustan Times said more than 20 women had been raped there since December 16.

According to police and prosecutors, the murder victim's ordeal began when six men lured her and her male companion onto a bus that they thought would take them home.

Instead a group of joyriders, who had been drinking heavily, launched a savage attack lasting some 40 minutes that only ended when the victims were thrown off the bus.

The attack has prompted intense debate among Indians who had grown almost inured to an epidemic of violence against women.

Gang-rapes are so common that they rarely get a mention in the newspapers. Victims are often deterred even from reporting them for fear of shaming their families or receiving a brush-off from police.

The Times of India said in an editorial on Sunday that two key questions must be addressed in the aftermath of the incident: "What exactly will the government do now to make the country a safer and better place for all women? And what will all of us do to tackle deeply entrenched prejudice and misogyny in our society?"

The government has already promised to bring in tougher sentences for the most extreme sex crimes and speed up a notoriously slow justice system.

A statement issued by United Nations spokesman Martin Nesirky said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "offers his sincerest condolences" to the victim's family and "utterly condemns this brutal crime".

"Violence against women must never be accepted, never excused, never tolerated," the statement said. "Every girl and woman has the right to be respected, valued and protected."

Ban urged the Indian government to take steps to deter such crimes and bring perpetrators to justice, and to "strengthen critical services for rape victims", the statement said.

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19 Shi'ites killed in Pakistan bus blast

A CAR bomb attack on buses carrying Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims to Iran has killed 19 people and wounded 25 in Pakistan's insurgency-hit southwest, officials say.

The remotely-triggered bomb hit a convoy of three buses in Mastung district on Sunday and set one of them ablaze, said Tufail Baluch, a senior government official in the district.

"At least 19 people have been killed and 25 injured. All of them were Shi'ite pilgrims," he told AFP, adding most of those killed were burnt to death.

"The bomb was planted in a car. The condition of some of the injured is critical," Baluch said.

Some 180 Shi'ite pilgrims were on their way to Iran in the buses when the bomb ripped through one of them, said Akbar Hussain Durrani, a senior government official in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

One bus carrying some 45 pilgrims was badly damaged, he said.

Mastung is some 30 kilometres south of Quetta.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The province has become an increasing flashpoint for sectarian violence between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shi'ites, who account for around a fifth of the country's 180 million people.

Baluchistan is also rife with Islamist militancy and with a regional insurgency which began in 2004. The insurgents demand political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's oil and gas resources.

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National road toll rises to 29

THE death of a pedestrian killed after being hit by two separate cars in Tasmania has taken the holiday road toll to 29.

The 21-year-old man was standing on the Tasman Highway when he was struck by a ute at Cambridge, east of Hobart, at about 2.40am (AEDT) on Saturday.

The ute did not stop and shortly afterwards a sedan travelling west on the highway ran over the man, who was injured and lying on the road. The man died at the scene.

In Victoria, a man died following a crash involving two cars at Hoddle Street in East Melbourne.

One car ran into the back of the other vehicle just before 5.20am (AEDT), propelling it into a tree on the footpath.

A male passenger in one of the cars died at the scene.

Meanwhile, a NSW motorcyclist died following a collision with a ute in the state's north.

The man in his 60s was riding his motorbike on the Summerland Way, near Whiporie, when it hit a Mazda ute at about 10.45am (AEDT).

The motorcyclist died at the scene while the driver of the ute was not hurt, police said.

On Friday night, a 38-year-old woman died after a head-on collision near Bundaberg in central Queensland.

Four other people were taken to hospital as a result of the crash.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012, until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Fukushima an 'unprecedented challenge'

THE clean-up at Fukushima after its tsunami-sparked nuclear meltdowns is unlike anything humanity has ever tried, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says.

"The massive work toward decommissioning is an unprecedented challenge in human history," the newly elected Abe said on Saturday during a tour of the plant.

"Success in the decommissioning will lead to the reconstruction of Fukushima and Japan."

Abe was at the crippled Fukushima Dai'ichi facility just days after being sworn in following the triumph of his pro-business Liberal Democratic Party in national elections.

The prime minister's trip to the still-ruined site, on which he was accompanied by an AFP journalist, is part of a push by his administration to tackle an issue that has been a major talking point in Japan over much of the past two years.

Observers widely expect Japan to restart its nuclear program on the LDP's watch, despite public concerns that the party was partially responsible for the extent of the catastrophe because of a culture of complicity during its more than five-decade rule.

His government announced on Thursday that it would review a pledge by the previous administration to scrap nuclear power within three decades and would give the green light to any power plants deemed safe by regulators.

Japan's entire stable of 50 reactors was shuttered for safety inspections in the aftermath of the March 2011 disaster at Fukushima, where a tsunami swamped cooling systems, sparking meltdowns.

The reactors at the plant raged out of control for months after the initial catastrophe, spewing radiation over a wide area and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

Abe's visit comes around a year after experts said they had brought the wrecked units under control. However, melted fuel remains inside their cores and their full decommissioning and cleaning-up is expected to take decades.

Dressed in a protective suit and wearing a face mask, Abe was taken by bus to see two of the damaged reactors.

Thanking workers for their efforts at this time of year, when many people are celebrating New Year at home with their families, he said: "Decommissioning work is hard work, but it is progressing. We owe it all to you.

"We, the government, will give full support."

The disaster at Fukushima was the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. Work to clean up at the site in Ukraine is still going on, more than a quarter of a century after a reactor exploded.

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30 people rescued after WA shark sighting

SURF lifesavers have rescued 30 people stranded on a rock off the Perth coast after reports of a six-metre great white shark lurking in the area.

Surf Life Saving WA said Twilight Beach in Esperance was closed between 11.15am and 12.30pm (WST) on Friday after a helicopter tour group spotted the shark.

It said 30 people were on a rock a short distance from the shore, but rather than ask them to swim back, a boat was sent to pick them up.

"Lifesavers transported 30 people via boat from Twilight Rock to the mainland without incident," Surf Life Saving WA said.

It follows the sighting of several other sharks in the south west region on Friday including three one-metre sharks that were feeding near Margaret River.

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India gang-rape victim has brain injury

Doctors in Singapore are battling to save the life of the student gang-raped on a bus in India. Source: AAP

AN Indian gang-rape victim is "struggling against the odds" to survive after suffering a heart attack and brain injuries, as medics criticised a decision to fly her to Singapore.

In a bulletin issued the day after her arrival in Singapore, doctors at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital said the 23-year-old was battling an infection in her lungs and remained critically ill after the December 16 assault in Delhi.

"The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital where she was airlifted to from India, said in a statement on Friday.

"Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury," he added.

"A multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival, and is doing everything possible to stabilise her condition over the next few days."

On Thursday night, the hospital revealed that the woman, who is a student in Delhi, had undergone "three abdominal surgeries and experienced a cardiac arrest in India" as it gave the first detailed rundown of her condition.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been treated in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital since she was thrown off a bus in the capital after six men took turns to rape her at the back of the vehicle on December 16.

She also suffered severe intestinal injuries as a result of being assaulted with an iron bar, according to police and prosecutors.

The decision to fly her in a special air ambulance was taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet on Wednesday, the government having already promised to pay all her medical bills.

But while ministers have insisted that the decision was taken purely on medical grounds, newspapers have suggested that authorities who have struggled to control nationwide protests over the attack were keen to have her transferred out of the country.

An unnamed doctor who was part of a team of experts consulted about the transfer told The Hindu newspaper that they had only been asked whether it was safe to move her rather than if it was the best course of action.

"The question was not whether there were any deficiencies in treatment that would be met by moving her.... She was being given the best possible care."

Samiran Nundy, chairman of the organ transplant and gastro-surgery department of Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told the paper that the transfer made little sense.

"I just can't understand why a critically ill patient with infection in blood and body, high grade fever and on the ventilator is being transferred," he said.

"It will take weeks in this case to even look into the possibility of an intestinal transplant so why hurry and take the patient out from a facility which works so well. It seems more of a political move."

Singh has ordered an official inquiry into the gang-rape and promised new laws to protect women as well as stiffer penalties for the worst sex crimes.

The government announced on Thursday that it would post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to publicly shame them. The campaign will begin in Delhi, which has been dubbed India's "rape capital".

"Our prayers are with the brave young girl. The best possible medical care is being provided to her," the premier told reporters on Friday.

"You have my assurance that our government is committed to bring the guilty to justice as soon as possible."

His comments were echoed by Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main ruling Congress party and India's most powerful politician.

"Our only wish today is that the victim recovers and culprits are punished and no time is lost in bringing perpetrators of such barbarous and heinous crimes to book," she said alongside Singh.

The woman's family has flown to Singapore to keep a vigil at the hospital.

Although they have not spoken to reporters, Singapore's Straits Times newspaper quoted an official who had spoken to her father and two brothers.

"These are simple, rustic people, who have never dreamt of boarding an aircraft, much less travel to a foreign country in an air ambulance," said the source.

"The father said he is reassured that the best is being done for his daughter and the rest lies in the hands of God."

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Coast holiday traffic clears after 35km jam

CONGESTION on the Bruce Highway heading towards the Sunshine Coast has been cleared.

5.22pm: Cars travelling from Murrumba Downs to Beerburrum had been travelling at just 30km an hour with traffic banked up for 35kms.

Kym Cartwright from The Australian Traffic Network said traffic was cleared on the highway about 3pm.

"The Bruce Highway is travelling normally now," she said.

There are no issues on any of the other major highways or motorways.

Pine Rd at Richlands has been reopened after it was closed following an earlier crash.

2.30pm: According to Jayce Barker from ATN, the line of traffic headed towards the Sunshine Coast has been extended by around 35km.

All traffic is still moving at a top of 30km an hour.

Traffic has also become heavier on the M1, with delays being experienced from Robina back to West Burleigh.

It is still particularly heavy at Oxenford and Coomera near the theme parks.

Meanwhile, Pine Rd in Richlands has been closed following a two car crash at the intersection of Archerfield Rd.

The crash occurred around 1.30pm and four people were taken to hospital.

Their injuries are unknown at this stage.

1.03pm: Jayce Barker from ATN said cars are continuing to travel at a top of 30km an hour between Narangba and Caboolture but heavy congestion on the M1 and Gateway Motorway merge has been cleared.

Despite this, traffic is still causing problems closer to the Gold Coast, with reports of heavy congestion between Reedy Creek and West Burleigh.

There have also been reports of delays near Dreamworld at Coomera and Warner Bros. Movie World at Oxenford, as well as slow moving traffic through Robina and the Tugun Bypass.

An earlier crash at Browns Plains has cleared and a woman involved in a motorcycle crash at Mt Kilcoy has been airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital suffering from serious head injuries.

11.52am: Earlier, the Pacific Motorway was also experiencing long delays, with traffic snaking back to the Gateway Motorway merge at Eight Mile Plains.

Traffic headed towards the Sunshine Coast on the Bruce Highway was moving at 20-30km/h between Narangba and Burpengary.

Jay Lane from the Australian Traffic Network said the congestion was not caused by any traffic crashes, and it appears that everyone is just heading on holiday at the same time.

"Everyone seems to be making the most of the two day space between now and the weekend," he said.

Police have tweeted asking those travelling on both the Bruce Highway and the M1 to have patience and stay calm.

The only delays being caused by crashes are on Browns Plains Rd at Browns Plains and Mt Kilcoy Rd at Mt Kilcoy.

No one was injured in the crash at Browns Plains around 11am this morning, but the left-hand lane heading east was blocked.

Mr Flood said traffic was building back from Ranchwood Ave to the Mt Lindesay Highway.

Meanwhile, a woman crashed her motorcycle around 10.26am this morning on Mt Kilcoy Rd.

The 28-year-old is suffering from serious head injuries and will be flown to hospital.

An emergency services spokesperson said paramedics were with the woman waiting on a helicopter.

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Myki only ticket in Melbourne from weekend

Melbourne's public transport system will only accept the myki smartcard from Saturday. Source: AAP

AFTER Friday, myki will be the only ticket in town.

Melbourne's public transport ticket Metcard will be relegated to the history books to make way for the new $1.35 billion myki smartcard system.

Metcard sales on trams and buses and Metcard use on trains, trams and buses ends on Friday, with myki the only ticket that can be used from the first service on Saturday.

This means commuters will need a myki card before boarding and there will be no top-up facilities on trams.

Cards can be topped up online, at a myki retail outlet or 7-Eleven, at a Premium Station ticket office or at a myki machine, found at all Metro train stations and some tram stops and bus interchanges.

Meanwhile, the Public Transport Users Association has welcomed the reintroduction of paper tickets as an alternative to myki on Mornington Peninsula buses.

The paper ticket will only be available to seniors card holders on routes 787 and 788.

Their introduction comes after it emerged the seniors daily fare covering that region would no longer be available under myki, forcing commuters to pay between $5.42 and $9.02 for a day's travel compared to the current $3.80.

The seniors ticket, which can be bought from the bus driver, is valid for one day's travel on the peninsula and in metropolitan Melbourne.

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said the paper seniors ticket is "proof positive" that paper tickets can be made to work alongside myki and that two-hour and daily short-term tickets should be retained.

"Given the system can accommodate this option, it should be made available to occasional travellers, visitors and tourists who neither want nor need to pay $6 for a myki card that won't be used again for months," he said.

Regional centres such as Geelong will receive myki in the first half of next year.

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Coast holiday traffic clears after 35km jam

CONGESTION on the Bruce Highway heading towards the Sunshine Coast has been cleared.

5.22pm: Cars travelling from Murrumba Downs to Beerburrum had been travelling at just 30km an hour with traffic banked up for 35kms.

Kym Cartwright from The Australian Traffic Network said traffic was cleared on the highway about 3pm.

"The Bruce Highway is travelling normally now," she said.

There are no issues on any of the other major highways or motorways.

Pine Rd at Richlands has been reopened after it was closed following an earlier crash.

2.30pm: According to Jayce Barker from ATN, the line of traffic headed towards the Sunshine Coast has been extended by around 35km.

All traffic is still moving at a top of 30km an hour.

Traffic has also become heavier on the M1, with delays being experienced from Robina back to West Burleigh.

It is still particularly heavy at Oxenford and Coomera near the theme parks.

Meanwhile, Pine Rd in Richlands has been closed following a two car crash at the intersection of Archerfield Rd.

The crash occurred around 1.30pm and four people were taken to hospital.

Their injuries are unknown at this stage.

1.03pm: Jayce Barker from ATN said cars are continuing to travel at a top of 30km an hour between Narangba and Caboolture but heavy congestion on the M1 and Gateway Motorway merge has been cleared.

Despite this, traffic is still causing problems closer to the Gold Coast, with reports of heavy congestion between Reedy Creek and West Burleigh.

There have also been reports of delays near Dreamworld at Coomera and Warner Bros. Movie World at Oxenford, as well as slow moving traffic through Robina and the Tugun Bypass.

An earlier crash at Browns Plains has cleared and a woman involved in a motorcycle crash at Mt Kilcoy has been airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital suffering from serious head injuries.

11.52am: Earlier, the Pacific Motorway was also experiencing long delays, with traffic snaking back to the Gateway Motorway merge at Eight Mile Plains.

Traffic headed towards the Sunshine Coast on the Bruce Highway was moving at 20-30km/h between Narangba and Burpengary.

Jay Lane from the Australian Traffic Network said the congestion was not caused by any traffic crashes, and it appears that everyone is just heading on holiday at the same time.

"Everyone seems to be making the most of the two day space between now and the weekend," he said.

Police have tweeted asking those travelling on both the Bruce Highway and the M1 to have patience and stay calm.

The only delays being caused by crashes are on Browns Plains Rd at Browns Plains and Mt Kilcoy Rd at Mt Kilcoy.

No one was injured in the crash at Browns Plains around 11am this morning, but the left-hand lane heading east was blocked.

Mr Flood said traffic was building back from Ranchwood Ave to the Mt Lindesay Highway.

Meanwhile, a woman crashed her motorcycle around 10.26am this morning on Mt Kilcoy Rd.

The 28-year-old is suffering from serious head injuries and will be flown to hospital.

An emergency services spokesperson said paramedics were with the woman waiting on a helicopter.

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Myki only ticket in Melbourne from weekend

Melbourne's public transport system will only accept the myki smartcard from Saturday. Source: AAP

AFTER Friday, myki will be the only ticket in town.

Melbourne's public transport ticket Metcard will be relegated to the history books to make way for the new $1.35 billion myki smartcard system.

Metcard sales on trams and buses and Metcard use on trains, trams and buses ends on Friday, with myki the only ticket that can be used from the first service on Saturday.

This means commuters will need a myki card before boarding and there will be no top-up facilities on trams.

Cards can be topped up online, at a myki retail outlet or 7-Eleven, at a Premium Station ticket office or at a myki machine, found at all Metro train stations and some tram stops and bus interchanges.

Meanwhile, the Public Transport Users Association has welcomed the reintroduction of paper tickets as an alternative to myki on Mornington Peninsula buses.

The paper ticket will only be available to seniors card holders on routes 787 and 788.

Their introduction comes after it emerged the seniors daily fare covering that region would no longer be available under myki, forcing commuters to pay between $5.42 and $9.02 for a day's travel compared to the current $3.80.

The seniors ticket, which can be bought from the bus driver, is valid for one day's travel on the peninsula and in metropolitan Melbourne.

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said the paper seniors ticket is "proof positive" that paper tickets can be made to work alongside myki and that two-hour and daily short-term tickets should be retained.

"Given the system can accommodate this option, it should be made available to occasional travellers, visitors and tourists who neither want nor need to pay $6 for a myki card that won't be used again for months," he said.

Regional centres such as Geelong will receive myki in the first half of next year.

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Xmas Day storms blamed for 3 deaths in US

TORNADOES across the US south and brutal winds, have knocked down countless trees, blown the roofs off homes and left many Christmas celebrations in the dark.

Holiday travellers in the nation's much colder midsection battled treacherous driving conditions from freezing rain and blizzard conditions from the same fast-moving storms.

As predicted, conditions were volatile throughout the day and into the night with tornado warnings still out for some parts of Alabama. The storms were blamed for three deaths and several injuries, and left homes from Louisiana to Alabama damaged.

In Mobile, Alabama, a tornado or high winds damaged homes, a high school and a church, and knocked down power lines and large tree limbs in an area just west of downtown around nightfall.

Meanwhile, blizzard conditions hit the nation's midsection.

Earlier in the day, winds toppled a tree on to a pickup truck in the Houston area, killing the driver, and a 53-year-old north Louisiana man was killed when a tree fell on his house.

Icy roads already were blamed for a 21-vehicle pile-up in Oklahoma, and the Highway Patrol there says a 28-year-old woman was killed in a crash on a snowy highway near Fairview.

The snowstorm that caused numerous accidents moved out of Oklahoma late on Tuesday, carrying with it blizzard warnings for parts of northeast Arkansas, where 25 centimetres of snow was forecast. Wind gusts of up to 48km/h also caused about 71,000 customers to lose electricity.

Blizzard conditions were possible for parts of Illinois, Indiana and western Kentucky with predictions of 10 to 17.5 centimetres of snow.

An apparent tornado caused damage in the west Alabama town of Grove Hill, located about 130km north of Mobile.

Trees fell on a few houses in central Louisiana's Rapides Parish but there were no injuries reported, said sheriff's Lt Tommy Carnline.

Near McNeill, Mississippi, a likely tornado damaged a dozen homes and sent eight people to the hospital, none with life-threatening injuries, said Pearl River County emergency management agency director Danny Manley.

Mississippi governor Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency in the state, saying eight counties have reported damage and some injuries.

At least three tornadoes were reported in Texas, though only one building was damaged, according to the National Weather Service. Tornado watches were in effect across southern Louisiana and Mississippi.

More than 500 flights nationwide were cancelled by the evening, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.com. More than half were cancelled into and out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport that got a few centimetres of snow.

Christmas lights also were knocked out with more than 100,000 customers without power in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

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Manila fires spark riots

ANGRY residents beat a man to death and threw rocks at firefighters after a shantytown fire left thousands of people homeless and another Christmas Day blaze in the Philippine capital left seven people dead.

A resident was beaten to death by his neighbours after shouting that he started Tuesday's shantytown fire in suburban San Juan city, a senior fire officer said.

The man was reportedly drunk and was not responsible for the fire, which started in a house where children were playing with lighted candles, the officer said.

About 5000 people were left homeless and 13 people were hurt in the shantytown. The injured included two firefighters and a volunteer hit by rocks thrown by residents who were impatient and tried to grab fire hoses to save their own shanties.

As firefighters struggled to penetrate the narrow alleys, one of them was mauled by a mob and rescued by a police officer. Two fire trucks also were damaged in the violence.

"It's Christmas and many of the men in the neighbourhood were drunk," the officer said, adding that some residents brandished knives.

In Quezon City, another of the 16 cities that make up metropolitan Manila, a pre-dawn fire on Tuesday killed a veterinarian and six household members who were trapped inside a house, an arson investigator said.

The blaze was suspected to be triggered by an overloaded electrical circuit, he said.

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US killer ambushes firefighters

A US ex-convict set a house and car ablaze, and shot dead two firefighters before killing himself. Source: AAP

A FORMER convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighbourhood to lure firefighters, then began shooting at them, killing two.

He then engaged police in a Christmas Eve shootout before killing himself.

Several homes were damaged by fire while police used an armoured vehicle to evacuate the area.

Police could not establish a motive and said the killer's sister was unaccounted for.

Police said the gunman, 62-year-old William Spengler, shot at the arriving firefighters, probably with a rifle.

"It does appear it was a trap," town police chief Gerald Pickering told a news conference.

"These people get up in the middle of the night to go put out fires. They don't expect to be shot and killed."

Spengler had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death in 1980 at the house next to where Monday's attack happened, Pickering said.

Spengler was granted parole in 1998 and had led a quiet life since, authorities said. He lived with his 67-year-old sister, Cheryl Spengler, and mother, Arline, who died in October.

Police said he was not allowed to own weapons.

A friend said Spengler didn't seem violent but "couldn't stand" the sister who lived with him. Roger Vercruysse said Spengler "loved his mama to death".

He said he believed Spengler "went crazy" after she died in October.

Two firefighters died at the scene on Monday and two were taken to hospital. A fifth man who was passing by was also injured.

Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. After the gunman fired, one of the wounded men managed to flee, but the other three couldn't because of flying bullets.

Pickering said seven houses were destroyed and police have not been able to get inside to determine if there are any more victims.

The incident happened in a neighbourhood which is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet at this time of year.

"We have very few calls for service in that location," Pickering said.

"Webster is a tremendous community. We are a safe community, and to have a tragedy befall us like this is just horrendous."

The incident came after other shootings, including the massacre of 20 students and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Grieving firefighters declined to talk to reporters. At an impromptu memorial vigil on Monday evening, about 100 people stood in the cold night air, some holding candles.

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Myanmar plane crash kills child, rider

A PASSENGER jet has crash-landed near an airport in northeastern Myanmar (Burma), killing an 11-year-old passenger and a motorcyclist on the ground.

The W-9011 aircraft with 71 people on board crashed on Tuesday while attempting an emergency landing three kilometres from Heho airport in Shan state, Information Deputy Minister U Ye Htut said.

A government official said a fire was reported in one of the engines as the plane approached the airport. He said the impact of the landing broke up the aircraft "in the middle".

Nine passengers and two crew members were among 11 injured people taken to hospital.

Among the passengers were 51 foreigners whose nationalities were not immediately known

Six crew members and two security men were among those on board.

Heho is an airport serving Kalaw township in the Taunggyi district, 480km northeast of Yangon.

It is the main airport serving Inle Lake, one of Myanmar's top tourist destinations.

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Floods dampen Christmas spirit in UK

The River Wye floods surrounding lowlands near Ross-on-Wye. Picture: AFP PHOTO/Paul Ellis Source: AFP

HUNDREDS of UK homes and businesses have been swamped by floods, from the southern-most parts of Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotland.

Despite a brief respite from the downpours on Sunday, water levels have continued to rise as rain washed down hills to swell rivers.

Others will be swapping turkey and presents for mops, buckets and sandbags as they desperately try to clear up and protect their homes from further flood threats.

Many will be unable to return home, instead spending the festive period with relatives or in temporary accommodation.

The Christmas spirit is somewhat dappened in York. Picture: AP Photo / John Giles

There is little let-up on the immediate horizon.

The Environment Agency still has one severe flood warning - meaning there is "danger to life" - in place for the River Cober at Helston in west Cornwall, where people have been evacuated from their homes.

Up to 30mm of rain is expected to fall between midnight and noon, which is expected to further contribute to the possibility of flooding, the EA said.

Flooding has forced thousands of people to put Christmas preparations on hold across the UK.

The EA currently has 145 flood warnings in place, urging people to take immediate action, across the UK, the majority in the Midlands and the South West, and a further 268 flood alerts.

Scotland has also been badly affected, with floods and high winds battering the east coast over the weekend.

There are currently 23 flood warnings in place across Aberdeenshire, Caithness and Sutherland, Dundee and Angus, Tayside and the Borders, and further outbreaks of rain are expected across the country from lunchtime.

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Cooler change in NSW for Christmas Day

SYDNEYSIDERS can expect to wake up to cooler weather on Christmas Day as a southerly change moves in bringing gusty winds and the chance of showers.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts a maximum temperature of 23 for the city and 24 in the western suburbs.

Forecaster Chris Webb said it would be rather windy along the coastal fringe, easing during the day with a shower of two expected here or there and the possibility of an early morning thunderstorm.

The northeast of NSW can expect some widespread and fairly active thunderstorms in some quarters.

Mr Webb said severe storms could occur in the northern and central tablelands, the north coast and in the northwest slopes and plains district as the southerly change moved through.

The state's southeast including Canberra can expect isolated showers and early morning storms clearing.

The northwest can expect a chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms while in the state's southwest it should be fine.

AAP ld

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Driver dies in Tasmanian crash

Tasmania has recorded its first road fatality of the holiday road toll period. Source: AAP

A MAN has died north of Hobart in Tasmania's first road fatality of the holiday season.

The driver was alone in a car when it crashed on East Bagdad Road near Bagdad about 1.45pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

Police said the man was the only occupant, but further information was not immediately available.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012 until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Three die in Vic as road campaign begins

A man has died after his car smashed into a tree and flipped on its side in Melbourne's southeast. Source: AAP

THREE people have died on Victoria's roads in a horror start to the state's annual holiday road safety campaign.

Police say an elderly woman died after a car crashed into a light pole in Bentleigh East, in Melbourne's southeast, on Sunday afternoon.

She had been a passenger in the vehicle. The driver is in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

The crash came only hours after a man died when his car veered off the road in nearby Moorabbin and smashed into a tree, flipping on its side.

He died at the scene.

The third crash came at 4.15pm (AEDT) in Kerang, in the state's far north.

Police say a sedan veered into oncoming traffic on the Murray Valley Highway and collided head-on with a truck.

The sedan driver, a woman and sole occupant of the vehicle, died at the scene while the truck driver was taken to hospital.

The three deaths came on the first day of Victoria's 12-day holiday road toll campaign.

There were nine deaths in Victoria during last year's campaign.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012 until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Sydney Harbour heliport plans put on hold

The company that was set to run a heliport in Sydney Harbour says it is putting the project on hold. Source: AAP

THE company that was set to run a heliport in Sydney Harbour says it is putting the project on hold to consider the operation's "feasibility".

Newcastle Helicopters, which was set to operate a floating heliport to provide for quick transfers to and from Sydney airport and scenic flights over Sydney harbour, announced on Saturday that it would be halting the plans until further notice.

"Effective immediately, Newcastle Helicopters has put the project of the Sydney Harbour Floating Heliport on hold until further notice, in order to consider the feasibility of the operation going forward," it said in a statement.

"It is Newcastle Helicopter's intention to address the relevant concerns and queries with thoroughly considered and accurate information, and is taking the appropriate steps to do so."

The announcement comes after Fairfax media reported on Saturday that the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) landing barge in Sydney Harbour was reportedly approved two weeks before it had asked about air safety or air traffic control regulations.

In a series of tweets earlier this week, Malcolm Turnbull also criticised the operation, saying he was told the decision to approve the helicopter service from a barge in Sydney Harbour was made by the RMS without consulting the premier or cabinet or community.

"Frankly what troubles me most is safety, summer afternoon, harbour full of boats, most with kids, noreaster ......," the federal member for Wentworth tweeted.

On Saturday, Mr Turnbull posted further tweets, urging people opposed to the heliport to sign a petition.

"So the NSW Govt Maritime Services dept only start to think about safety AFTER they have issued the helipad licence," he tweeted.

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US judge approves settlement in BP lawsuit

A FEDERAL judge has given final approval to BP's settlement with businesses and individuals who lost money because of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP PLC has estimated it will pay $US7.8 billion ($A7.47 billion) to resolve economic and medical claims from more than 100,000 businesses and individuals hurt by the nation's worst offshore oil spill. The settlement has no cap; the company could end up paying more or less.

US District Judge Carl Barbier, who gave his preliminary approval in May, made it final on Friday in a 125-page ruling released Friday evening.

"None of the objections, whether filed on the objections docket or elsewhere, have shown the settlement to be anything other than fair, reasonable, and adequate," he wrote.

BP and lawyers for the plaintiffs said they were pleased.

"We believe the settlement, which avoids years of lengthy litigation, is good for the people, businesses and communities of the Gulf and is in the best interests of BP's stakeholders," company spokesman Scott Dean said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. "Today's decision by the Court is another important step forward for BP in meeting its commitment to economic and environmental restoration efforts in the Gulf and in eliminating legal risk facing the company."

A statement from plaintiffs' lawyers Steve Herman and Jim Roy praised the settlement program's administrator, Pat Juneau.

"This settlement has - and will continue to - bring the people and businesses of the Gulf the relief they deserve," the lawyers wrote.

The April 2010 blowout of BP's Macondo well triggered an explosion that killed 11 rig workers and spilled more than 757 million litres of oil into the Gulf, closing much of it for months to commercial and recreational fishing and shrimping.

There is still a lot of litigation left, including a trial to identify the causes of BP's blowout and assign percentages of fault to the companies involved, Barbier wrote. That trial is scheduled next year.

Still unresolved are environmental damage claims brought by the federal government and Gulf Coast states against BP and its partners on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and claims against Switzerland-based rig owner Transocean Ltd. and Houston-based cement contractor Halliburton.

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Caterpillar lays off 50 workers: union

A union has slammed machinery maker Caterpillar's decision to lay off 50 workers ahead of Christmas. Source: AAP

THE Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union says mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar has laid off up to 50 workers at its operation in Tasmania.

Union state secretary John Short says the workers will be cut loose from the company's manufacturing plant in Burnie.

"It's a pretty mean-spirited act to lay off workers on the eve of Christmas," Mr Short said in a statement.

"It will take the merriness out of the family time meant to be enjoyed for these workers.

"The dedicated and skilled workers here in Burnie deserve better than this."

Mr Short said the company had started building machinery at a new plant in Thailand.

"When you add in job lay-offs before Christmas and the commencement of operations in new premises in Thailand, I think workers and the Burnie community have every right to know what Caterpillar's real plans are," he said.

Caterpillar did not immediately respond to AAP's inquiry.

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Fiji's military to 'monitor' parliament

FIJI'S ruling military has warned it will closely monitor parliament when the coup-plagued nation finally elects a new government, as officials wrapped up work on a draft constitution.

Military leader Voreqe Bainimarama, who seized power in a 2006 coup and tore up the last constitution, has pledged to hold elections in 2014 after introducing reforms he said were needed to make the country a proper democracy.

However, the role of the military, a key political player in the Pacific nation that has endured four coups since 1987, remains contentious, with the author of the draft constitution calling for it to stay out of politics after 2014.

But in a submission to the commission tasked with working on the new constitution, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) indicated it had no intention of restricting its role after the elections.

The military exists "to deal with both internal security situation and external threats," said the submission, which was seen by AFP.

"The forces cannot and will not be complacent in dealing with situations that undermine national interest."

The military said it would not allow any government that won office in 2014 to undermine its reforms.

"The RFMF will monitor the ongoing situation in the parliament and in Fiji, ensuring that what it had adopted since 2006 ... is fully implemented," it said.

Kenyan academic Yash Ghai, the head of the five-person Constitutional Commission that handed the draft document to the government on Friday, said the military should be subject to parliamentary oversight and focus on national defence.

"We think the professional military, their conscience should be to defend Fiji against external aggression and we would rather the police handle internal disorder issues," he told Radio New Zealand.

"We feel that the military must be responsible to the government and to parliament and they have to act within the confines of the constitution."

The new constitution is intended to guarantee, through a People's Charter, principles such as one-person-one-vote, an independent judiciary and transparent governance, as well as establishing a secular, corruption-free state.

The draft constitution is scheduled to be formally adopted by the end of March.

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Billabong CFO Craig White heads for door

Billabong's CFO Craig White has left the troubled surfwear retailer following talk of a takeover. Source: AAP

BILLABONG'S chief financial officer Craig White has left the troubled surfwear retailer.

It comes less than a day after the company began considering its lowest takeover offer in 10 months.

Billabong said Mr White departed on Thursday and Peter Bryant, the company's chief financial officer of the Americas, had been temporarily appointed to the role.

The company will conduct an international search for a permanent replacement as it looks to "implement a new organisational and reporting structure as part of its transformation strategy".

Billabong shares closed 5.9 per cent lower on Thursday at 80 cents, just six cents off its all-time lowest close of 74 cents on November 16.

Investors have wiped more than 20 per cent off the value of Billabong shares over the past two days following Wednesday's announcement about its earnings downgrade and that it was considering its fifth - and lowest - takeover offer in 10 months.

Former Billabong board member and president of Billabong's American business, Paul Naude, has made a $1.10 a share offer as part of a consortium which includes New-York based private equity group Sycamore Partners and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The $527 million takeover proposal comes with a long list of conditions.

Billabong now expects its full-year underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to fall to between $85 million and $92 million for 2012/13.

The new forecast is lower than its previous guidance of $100 million to $110 million, which was given to shareholders at the company's annual general meeting (AGM) on October 24.

Billabong attributed its earnings downgrade to weaker-than-expected sales during October and November.

Private equity firm TPG offered $854 million, or $3.30 per share, for Billabong in February, but that offer was rejected.

Billabong shares peaked at $14.06 in May, 2007.

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Fire threatens homes in Sydney suburb

A WARNING is in place for residents of the south western Sydney suburb of Airds where firefighters are fighting to contain a blaze that is threatening homes.

Inspector Ben Shepherd of the Rural Fire Service said firefighters were getting the upper hand on the fire but residents should remain vigilant.

The fire is burning at Georges River Parkway reserve behind Greengate and Woolwash roads.

"The fire activity has settled down somewhat ... but we still need people just to be vigilant," he said.

A number of fire trucks and aircraft are fighting the fire.

The fire is being treated as suspicious.

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Xie to stand trial for Lin murders

LIAN Bin 'Robert' Xie will stand trial in the Supreme Court next year charged with murdering five members of his wife's family in their Sydney home.

If convicted of the 2009 Lin family murders, Xie, 48, faces life imprisonment, Central Local Court heard on Wednesday.

Following lengthy committal proceedings, Magistrate John Andrews ruled there was enough evidence against Xie to put the case before a Supreme Court jury.

Xie applied for bail immediately after the decision was handed down, which was opposed by the Crown on the basis that if convicted, he faces life imprisonment.

Xie's wife, Kathy Lin, who has supported him throughout the proceedings, wept in court as she pledged to give in her passport as well as her husband's if he was granted bail.

Xie also started crying as he witnessed his wife's distress.

He is accused of murdering his brother-in-law, Min "Norman" Lin, 45, Mr Lin's wife, Yun Li "Lily" Lin, 43, her sister, Yun Bin "Irene" Yin, 39, and two boys, aged nine and 12, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Their bodies were found in a North Epping house, in Sydney's northwest, on July 18, 2009.

They had been beaten to death in their bedrooms with a hammer-like object, while the cause of death for four of the victims also included asphyxia.

During four weeks of hearings, the Crown alleged there was a "compelling" case Lin murdered the family in a crime of "extreme hatred and hostility".

Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC said the prosecution case against Xie was a circumstantial one that rested on "looking at all of the strands of information" that pointed to him being the killer.

This included DNA evidence in the form of a spot, which was found on the floor of his garage.

Mr Tedeschi submitted it contained the DNA of at least four different people and could "only be blood" taken from the crime scene.

He conceded, however, the case in relation to Xie's motive was "weak".

Defence barrister Graham Turnbull SC said the case against Xie was based almost entirely on speculation and he had no chance of being convicted.

He argued the DNA evidence would be inadmissible at trial.

Opposing bail, Mr Tedeschi said Xie had strong financial and family links to his native China and posed a significant flight risk.

Lester Fernandez, representing Xie, said the prosecution case was weak and Xie had strong community ties that would prevent him from fleeing.

Mr Andrews will hand down his decision on bail on Thursday.

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US concerned for 'detained' Laos activist

POLICE in Laos have detained a prominent development campaigner, a source close to the activist says.

Footage from closed circuit cameras revealed that Sombath Somphone, who went missing on Saturday in Vientiane, "was taken away by plainclothes policemen", according to a person familiar with the case who asked not to be named.

It was unclear why he was detained.

Laos officials were not immediately available to comment.

United States officials on Tuesday said diplomatic and aid agency representatives had been in contact with Sombath's wife, adding that they had "concerns for his well-being and safety".

"We have registered our concern with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Laos and encouraged them to make every effort to locate him and figure out what's happened here," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told journalists.

Sombath won the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership for his work in poverty reduction and sustainable development in one of South-East Asia's poorest countries.

A member of the activist's Participatory Development Training Centre (PADETC) said that Sombath's family was searching for the activist.

"I am still shocked and everybody here is praying about it," the aid worker said.

Laos is a one-party communist state which exerts total control over the media and does not tolerate criticism of its institutions.

Earlier this month authorities expelled the outspoken country director of Swiss charity Helvetas, Anne-Sophie Gindroz, for criticising the Laos government.

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Aust bonds lower after RBA minutes

AUSTRALIAN bond futures prices were lower after the release of the minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest board meeting reduced traders' expectations of future interest rate cuts.

RBC Capital Markets fixed income strategist Su-Lin Ong said local bond futures prices fell following the release of the RBA's minutes at 1130 AEDT.

"The minutes from the December meeting suggested it was quite a close decision and I guess the interpretation is that with the cash rate down to three per cent the hurdle to cut further may be quite high," she said.

"So that weighed quite high on fixed income markets."

The RBA cut the cash rate to three per cent in December, from 3.25 per cent previously.

Ms Ong said developments in negotiations on the 'fiscal cliff' of tax hikes and spending cuts due to apply in 2013, unless US political leaders can agree to alternative measures, was likely to drive bond markets over the coming days.

"I think most attention is on these fiscal cliff negotiations, we have had some progress since the weekend and I think there is an expectation that we are inching closer to both a compromise and agreement," Ms Ong said.

US President Barack Obama has offered a proposal to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner which would raise revenue by $US1.2 trillion ($A1.14 trillion), and cut spending by the same amount.

At 1630 AEDT on Tuesday, the March 10-year bond futures contract was at 96.640 (implying a yield of 3.360 per cent), down from 96.670 (3.330 per cent) on Monday.

The March three-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.220 (2.780 per cent), down from 97.235 (2.765 per cent).

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Man faces 10 years jail over flight abuse

AN international flight was diverted after a drunken Perth man allegedly tried to smoke a cigarette on the plane before punching and spitting on crew members.

The 34-year-old man was taken off the flight, enroute from Sydney to Japan on Monday night, when it was diverted to Cairns.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege the man was heavily intoxicated and was abusive towards the crew and other passengers.

He had to be forcibly restrained by the crew and was arrested when the plane landed in Cairns, police said.

Assistant commissioner Shane Connelly said the public needed to remember that when they travelled on an aircraft their behaviour was subject to Australian laws.

"Enough is enough. An aircraft captain and co-pilot can ill-afford to be distracted from their duties of safely flying an aircraft by having to deal with drunk, violent or disorderly passengers," he said.

"The cabin crew are there to make your flight safe and enjoyable.

"They should not have to restrain violent passengers, be abused or assaulted, or be interfered with in conducting their duties."

AFP responded to more than 1000 alcohol-related incidents at Australia's 10 major airports during the 2011-12 financial year.

Out of those incidents, 145 were for offences related to offensive and disorderly behaviour and excessive alcohol consumption.

AFP said the plane was forced to dump its fuel load when it diverted to Cairns and the airline would seek to recover significant costs.

The man was due to face Cairns Magistrate Court on Tuesday charged with smoking in an aircraft, disorderly and offensive behaviour on board an aircraft, and interfering with crew or aircraft.

The offences carry a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.

He will also be charged with assaulting crew general, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

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WA police find marron, marijuana at house

A 59-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with drug-related offences following a search of his home south of Perth, which also uncovered 37 live marron in the bathtub.

Police searched the man's Mandurah home on Saturday afternoon and found about 290 grams of cannabis and various electrical items allegedly stolen from a vehicle in the same area the previous night.

Officers from the Department of Fisheries also went to the house because the recreational fishing season for marron does not start until January 8.

The man was charged with one count of possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply, one count of supplying a prohibited drug and one count of receiving stolen goods.

He is due to appear in Mandurah Magistrates Court on Friday.

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Land tax revenue would have to triple: Vic

Land tax revenue would have to triple if Victoria abolished stamp duty, the state government says. Source: AAP

LAND tax revenue would have to triple if Victoria abolished stamp duty, the state government says.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has urged the states to reform their own taxation regimes, saying they could start by getting rid of stamp duty.

Victorian Treasurer Kim Wells said it would mean Victorian families would be hit with a huge increase in land tax.

"Labor would have Victoria more than triple land tax revenue and levy it on the family home," Mr Wells said in a statement after a meeting of treasurers in Canberra on Monday.

The meeting wound up without any major agreement on the GST.

Mr Wells said the Victorian coalition government had said on a number of occasions that it did not support extending GST to services like health and education.

"We have advocated for a number of sensible reforms, including a lowering of the low value GST threshold for imports," he said.

"The Commonwealth also needs to make an effort to close loopholes in the GST system which are undermining the revenue base."

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ANC conference starts with Zuma under fire

SOUTH Africa's ruling ANC kicked off what promises to be a contentious five-yearly party conference on Sunday, with embattled President Jacob Zuma facing a leadership challenge from his number two.

Thousands of singing and dancing ANC members clad in party colours and regalia descended on the city of Bloemfontein for the five-day conference, which will go a long way toward deciding who will lead South Africa until the end of the decade.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is hoping to wrest control of the party from Zuma.

Should he succeed, the ANC's commanding electoral standing means he is almost certain to become the country's next president.

But Zuma -- despite being marred in a series of financial scandals and leading the party to its most serious crisis in decades -- is expected to prevail.

Preliminary voting has put the incumbent well ahead of his rival in the leadership stakes, and he remains the odds-on favourite to remain in power after the 2014 elections.

But with the party in the kind of crisis seldom seen since it was banned by the apartheid government in 1960, Zuma could be in for a rocky ride.

The conference will cap a horrendous year for the storied revolutionary movement.

Despite the cadres' best efforts, 12 months of celebrations to mark the party's 100th year have been drowned out by allegations of corruption, flashes of authoritarianism and economic mismanagement which critics say borders on gross negligence.

Zuma is expected to address some of those issues in a speech later on Sunday, before candidates for key party posts are named.

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Union warned about WA dock's standards

A KARRATHA man's arm was crushed as he worked at the dock supplying Chevron's massive Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia on Saturday, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) says.

The man was airlifted to a Perth hospital after his arm became trapped between the dock and a barge at the Mermaid Marine Supply base in Dampier, which is used exclusively by Chevron.

MUA WA secretary Chris Cain described Chevron and its contractor as "cowboys", saying poor safety standards had been a problem at the Mermaid Marine Supply base for months.

"It's becoming clearer and clearer that Chevron and their contractors like Mermaid are cutting corners to make up time and money on the Gorgon project," Mr Cain said.

The union said WorkSafe WA had been warned that poor training and management made an accident "inevitable".

Safety representatives had arranged for WorkSafe WA inspectors to visit the site on Friday.

"We've got serious issues when the day after WorkSafe says there's no problem, ambulances are called to an accident of the type exactly predicted by health and safety representatives," Mr Cain said.

The union said the accident raised serious questions that need to be answered, such as why WorkSafe was called to investigate the accident hours after it happened.

WorkSafe and Mermaid Marine have been contacted for comment.

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Three boats intercepted in past 24 hours

THREE boats carrying a total of 214 people have been intercepted off Australia's north-east coast since Friday.

The boats were carrying between 54 and 101 people each.

HMAS Maryborough, operating under the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC), helped a vessel that sought assistance north-east of Christmas Island early on Saturday.

The vessel had earlier been detected by a Customs and Border Protection surveillance aircraft.

Initial indications suggest 54 passengers were on board.

On Friday a boat carrying 101 people was intercepted north of Christmas Island by HMAS Pirie, operating under the Border Protection Command, after being detected by an RAAF maritime patrol aircraft.

Border Protection Command said 97 passengers and four crew were on board.

A third boat carrying 56 passengers and three crew was intercepted by HMAS Bathurst northeast of the Ashmore Islands, also on Friday.

Passengers from all three boats will be transferred to Christmas Island for the usual security, health and identity checks.

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Two dead after shooting at US hotel

US police say a man and woman are dead after a shooting at a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

Las Vegas Police Lieutenant Ray Steiber said the shooting happened at about 8.30pm on Friday at the Excalibur hotel-casino.

Steiber said a man shot a woman near the front entrance of the high-rise hotel and the man then turned the gun on himself and was found dead at the scene.

Steiber said the woman was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Neither the gunman nor the victim was identified.

However, Steiber said the woman worked as a vendor at the hotel's concierge desk, where tourists can get show tickets and restaurant reservations.

He said the relationship between the shooter and the victim wasn't immediately clear.

No one else was injured.

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Gillard planting budget bombs: Baillieu

VICTORIAN drivers will pay more for licences as the state government claws back $750 million in revenue, and the premier has accused Prime Minister Julia Gillard of budget sabotage.

Delivering a slim $137 million surplus forecast for 2012/13, Premier Ted Baillieu said $1 billion had been wiped from the state's bottom line since this year's budget, largely due to a weak property market.

Estimated stamp duty revenue has been revised down by an average of $293 million a year over the next four years.

Vehicle taxes are also predicted to be $40 million less than forecast in the May budget.

Victorians will pay for the revenue downgrade with more expensive driver's licence fees and a tightening of eligibility for the $7000 first home owner grant.

Three-year driver's licence fees will be $20 more expensive from April next year and 10-year permits will be $70 higher.

To qualify for the $7000 first home owner grant, buyers will have to live in the property for a minimum of 12 months, instead of just six months.

The government is expecting to raise $75 million by selling off state-funded aged care places to private providers in Melbourne.

Government departments will be expected to trim $290 million in spending through a two per cent efficiency dividend to start from January 1, 2014.

Treasurer Kim Wells did not rule out further public sector job cuts on top of the 4200 already announced.

He said the current voluntary redundancy program was ahead of schedule, with 2300 already accepted.

Mr Wells said the states were facing sharp revenue falls but he did not support raising the rate of the GST or broadening its base.

Mr Baillieu said the federal government was to blame for a significant part of the state's revenue woes.

He said the commonwealth had announced major policies such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Gonski education reforms that would deliver a nasty blow to the states' finances.

"It is a real problem, it's a real challenge," he told reporters.

"You can't have all of these noble initiatives without having revenue streams to be able to pay for them.

"There are time bombs being planted into the forward estimates of the commonwealth budget and state budgets and they are being planted by the commonwealth."

Shadow treasurer Tim Holding said the government was reducing services to families and was formulating a plan to increase taxes.

"The government is clearly hatching a secret plan to dramatically increase the tax burden on Victorian families and it's always someone else's fault," he told reporters.

Community and Public Sector Union Victorian secretary Karen Batt said the government was rehashing the Kennett era strategy of privatising services.

"They say it won't affect services but believe me it will," she told reporters.

"It will have a direct impact on the ability of this state to provide for our aged parents into the future."

Opposition aged care spokeswoman Jenny Mikakos said once aged care beds moved to the private sector there was no guarantee services would be available to families across Victoria.

"Once the beds get sold there is no guarantee that these private providers will keep the same number of beds open in any particular location," she told AAP.

Comment was being sought from Aged Care Minister David Davis.

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Russia denies saying Assad may fall

RUSSIA'S foreign ministry has denied that a top diplomat said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is losing control of his country.

It said in a statement on Friday that Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov "has not made any statements or special interviews recently" on Syria, but was simply citing the stance of the Syrian opposition while giving a speech on Thursday.

Russian state-owned news agencies had quoted Bogdanov as saying that rebels might win the civil war, a comment that appeared to dramatically shift Russia's stance on Syria.

The US later on Thursday commended Russia for "waking up to the reality" by acknowledging the regime's impending fall.

Analysts viewed the diplomat's statement as Russia's attempt to begin positioning itself for Assad's eventual defeat.

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Afghan interpreters get pathway to Aust

AFGHAN interpreters and others working with Australian troops and government agencies can now seek resettlement in Australia if they believe they are in danger from the Taliban.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said this reflected Australia's view it should help current and former employees who have provided valuable support to Australia's efforts in Afghanistan.

"Australia regards itself as having a moral obligation to those Afghans who made a contribution as locally engaged employees, who may be at risk in the future when transition occurs and the Australian and international security assistance forces draw down," he told reporters in Perth on Thursday.

This has been welcomed by the opposition and Greens and follows a similar move in 2008 to allow some 600 Iraqis, who helped Australian troops in Iraq, to emigrate to Australia.

Mr Smith said those helping the Australian mission, including interpreters working with Australian soldiers - referred to by the troops as terps - employees of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAID or the Australian Federal Police, would be considered for resettlement "in the usual way" under the nation's humanitarian program.

The minister said decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis and it was hard to tell how many would be accepted.

"Potentially we're looking at hundreds," he said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the coalition welcomed the decision.

The Afghan employees had risked their lives and those of their families by supporting Australian troops in Afghanistan and deserved to be offered protection, he said.

But he believed the government should have made the offer sooner.

"These friends of Australia should never have been asked to continue to risk their lives each day under the uncertainty caused by the delay in the government making this important decision to grant them entry to Australia," Mr Morrison said.

"The coalition today welcomes the end of that uncertainty."

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the party had spoken out on behalf of the brave men and women who worked with Australian soldiers in Afghanistan for some time.

She said the Greens had even introduced a private member's bill seeking to allow Afghan staff to come to Australia.

"It is great to see that they will finally receive the recognition they deserve," she said in a statement.

"By offering these people, who risk their lives to help our troops, safer pathways to Australia it will stop them from having to risk dangerous boat journeys to get the protection they deserve."

Refugee Council of Australia chief executive Paul Power also welcomed the announcement, but had reservations.

"While our preference would be for these places to be in addition to the 20,000 places under the Refugee and Humanitarian Program, as was the case in 2008 when additional places were offered to Iraqis who worked with Australian troops in Iraq, we recognise that Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program is larger now than it was in 2008," he said.

"What is most important is that the Australian government has recognised its responsibility to protect Afghan people who have put themselves at risk to support Australia's activities in Afghanistan."

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Coastal drowning deaths rise

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner is urging parents to be vigilant of their swimming children. Source: AAP

THERE has been a rise in coastal drowning deaths in Australia, which have hit their highest level in years.

Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) said the drowning toll was unacceptable.

From July 2011 to June 2012, 119 people drowned off the nation's coast, far higher than the eight year average of 92, according to SLS.

"This figure is significantly higher than last year's 70 coastal drowning deaths, indicating that there is significant work ahead of us to reduce the drowning toll - every life lost is one life too many," said SLSA chief executive Brett Williamson.

He said the task of ensuring the safety of all those visiting Australia's 11,912 beaches was "extremely challenging".

"Despite this extensive network of services, coastal drowning deaths are still at unacceptable levels," he added.

SLSA wants to help reduce drowning deaths by 50 per cent by 2020 - saying it is an ambitious but achievable task.

Of the drowning deaths last year, 89 per cent of the victims (106 people) were male. While 29 per cent, 35 people, were in the 15 to 29-year-old age group, the National Coastal Safety Report found that the highest drowning rate was in the 70 to 74-year-old age group, with 1.2 deaths per 100,000 population.

A total of 45 per cent of the drownings happened at a beach, with 56 per cent of people drowning within 5km of a lifesaving service.

SLS manager for NSW Dean Storey said the new figures were concerning.

"We have more people and more assets than ever before patrolling longer and further, we are investing heavily in new technology, public education campaigns and safety awareness initiatives, however we are seeing the drowning toll continue to rise," he said.

Mr Storey called on people to become more aware of coastal safety.

"With a small amount of planning and effort these tragedies could be avoided," he added.

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Hewson to join board of PNG miner Larus

Former opposition leader John Hewson will join the board of oil and gas explorer Larus Energy. Source: AAP

FORMER opposition leader John Hewson will join the board of oil and gas explorer Larus Energy as a non-executive director.

Dr Hewson will join the Papua New Guinea focused company as it develops its PNG oil and gas project.

Dr Hewson said there was considerable potential within Larus Energy's asset in PNG.

"The company is well positioned to develop and commercialise its assets," Dr Hewson said.

Dr Hewson is currently working alongside local financial interests and banks in bidding to build a gas fired power plant and a biochar project in PNG.

Larus Energy's chairman Kay Philip will step down from the board at the end of 2012.

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Russia 'deeply regrets' N. Korea rocket

RUSSIA says it deeply regrets North Korea's long-range rocket launch, and warns it would do nothing to help regional stability.

"Russia deeply regrets the new rocket launch undertaken by North Korea in defiance of international opinion, including calls by Moscow," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The launch would "not help the strengthening of stability and would have a negative effect" on the situation in the region, it added.

Russia said it was "unacceptable" that the launch flew in the face of UN Security Council resolution 1874 that bans North Korea from the use of ballistic missile technology in rocket launches.

It called on North Korea to refrain from any new steps that would contradict UN Security Council resolutions but also urged "other sides" not to take actions that could further raise tensions.

The defence ministry said that trajectory of the rocket had not taken it over Russian territory.

"Experts are now looking at data to determine whether a new satellite is in orbit," the spokesman of the defence ministry's airspaces forces Alexei Zolotukhin told Interfax.

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Respected police officer to be farewelled

Slain police officer Bryson Anderson will be remembered at a public service in Sydney on Wednesday. Source: AAP

FAMILY, friends, dignitaries and the public will gather on Wednesday to honour the life of a respected Sydney detective killed in the line of duty.

Bryson Anderson, a 45-year-old father of three, will be farewelled at a full police funeral at St Patrick's Cathedral in Parramatta.

"We'll no doubt mourn (him)," Commissioner Andrew Scipione told the Fairfax Radio Network on Tuesday.

"We'll cry hard but we'll also remember the fine things he's done. We'll acknowledge him, the leader he was in communities."

Detective Inspector Anderson was stabbed after responding to a neighbour dispute at Oakville, in Sydney's northwest, on Thursday.

He worked as a duty officer at Hawkesbury local area command and recently turned down a promotion in order to continue in the job he loved.

"He was larger than life," Mr Scipione said.

"Having said that, he was well-respected. There were people that looked up to him. He always brought a laugh to any conversation. On top of that he was compassionate and caring."

VIPs including Premier Barry O'Farrell, Governor Marie Bashir, Parramatta Lord Mayor John Chedid and Mr Scipione will attend the service.

Bishop Anthony Fisher will preside over the church proceedings that are expected to last two hours.

Mourners will hear eulogies from Insp Anderson's wife, Donna, his brother Warwick, who is a retired police officer, and another brother Damian.

Mr Scipione invited the public to attend and said overflow arrangements would be in place for those to listen to the proceedings from outside the cathedral.

Afterwards, a roadside guard and marching escort will proceed along Victoria Road between Marist Place and O'Connell Street.

Participants will include the Mounted Unit, Police Band and uniformed officers, as well as visiting interstate commissioners and deputies.

The procession will also include the hearse carrying Insp Anderson's coffin, and his pallbearers.

Motorists are advised Victoria Road will be closed between Church and O'Connell Streets from 3pm until 6pm.

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High Court hears landmark Palm Island case

A LANDMARK case before the High Court about the validity of alcohol restrictions for indigenous people on Palm Island could have broader implications for programs that target only Aboriginal people.

On Tuesday, the High Court in Canberra began hearing an appeal from indigenous woman Joan Monica Maloney who was convicted of alcohol possession on Palm Island in 2010.

Ms Maloney is challenging the Queensland law that restricts alcohol on Palm Island on the basis that it contravenes the Racial Discrimination Act and constitution.

The alcohol restrictions are considered "special measures" under racial discrimination laws.

The High Court accepted an application from the peak indigenous body, the National Congress of Australia's First People, to make submissions as a friend of the court.

Congress spokeswoman Jody Broun said "special measures" were used across Australia to enact laws for the "advancement" of indigenous people without any yardstick for their effectiveness, duration or community support and acceptance.

"The legal principles, rather than the details of this case, provide the opportunity for a watershed moment in Australian history," she said in a statement.

Ms Broun said the case went to the heart of the nation's conversation on constitutional reform, in light of moves to recognise Aboriginal people in the constitution and scrap race-based sections.

"Is there any place in a modern Australia for race-based laws which do not treat everyone equally under the law," she asked.

The Palm Island alcohol management plan has attracted controversy since it was introduced in 2006.

The Townsville Bulletin reported last year, that one-third of the island's adult population was in court for breaching the alcohol restrictions on a single day in September 2010.

The Human Rights Law Centre is assisting the Congress on a pro-bono basis.

"If the government is genuinely committed to making a positive difference for Aboriginal communities, it must respect and empower those communities, not impose predetermined solutions," law centre spokesman Ben Schokman said.

AAP understand that, if successful, Ms Maloney's case could potentially have broader implications including for the ten year extension of the Northern Territory Intervention, depending on how the High Court defines special measures, advancement and consultations.

In its submissions to the court, the Congress argues special measures must be designed and implemented on the basis of prior consultation and active participation of the communities affected.

The Federal Attorney General and state counterparts from Western Australia and South Australia have filed submissions to intervene in the case.

Lawyers for the Federal Attorney General have argued in submissions that the appellant's reliance on the UN declaration of the rights of indigenous people concerning "free, prior and informed consent" is flawed.

The submission notes there is a lack of international consensus about meaning of this term.

Although Australia supports the declaration, it is not binding, the submission says.

The High Court is likely to hand down a decision on the case early next year.

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Taliban attack Pakistan police station

TALIBAN militants armed with a rocket, hand grenades and automatic weapons have attacked a police station in northwestern Pakistan, killing six people, police say.

The attack occurred on Monday in the city of Bannu, which serves as a gateway to the North Waziristan tribal area, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan. The city has been hit by repeated attacks over the year.

The militants began the attack by firing a rocket at the gate of the police station and tossing hand grenades, triggering a battle with police last lasted over an hour, said senior police officer Wagar Ahmed.

Three policemen and three civilians were killed in the attack, said Ahmed. The civilians were coming out of a nearby mosque when they were shot by the militants. Eight people were wounded, including three policemen and five civilians.

Three militants were killed during the attack and one escaped.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press from an undisclosed location.

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Sydney bombing investigation leaps forward

POLICE have made a series of breakthroughs in their investigation of the terrorist bombings of the Israeli consulate and a Jewish club in Sydney 30 years ago.

Operation Forbearance has leapt forward since the NSW Police, Australian Federal Police (AFP), NSW Crime Commission and ASIO reopened the case in August.

Police have established the gas cylinders that formed part of the car bomb that exploded on December 23, 1982, at the Hakoah Club, at Bondi, had been stolen from Sydney's Central station.

They have also identified a third person of interest, a woman, and two more vehicles linked to the two attacks.

They are consulting with the FBI and the Israeli police to compare the components used in the Hakoah bomb with devices used in similar bombings around the world in that era.

Terrorism Investigation Squad commander Wayne Gordon told reporters the cylinders - once used to fuel motorised luggage trolleys on the platforms at Central station - were traced back to the former State Rail Authority using the latest forensic technology.

"The investigation has progressed," he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

"And the jigsaw and the pieces of it are starting to come together."

He said Forbearance was the first cold case involving terrorism in Australia that had been reopened.

Police released an image of a woman they suspect was involved in buying the vehicle used in the Hakoah Club attack.

They also released a photo of a silver 1979 Chrysler station wagon, believed to be the type of vehicle used to transport the woman and her co-offenders, previously identified as two men.

The three were in their 20s at the time, police believe, and may have been linked to the May 15 Organisation, a pro-Palestinian terrorist group.

Police also believe the three are still alive and some could be living in Australia.

Authorities have interviewed a number of witnesses and people of interest relating to the attacks.

Police also issued photos of a 1970 green Ford Falcon, the same make, model and colour as a stolen vehicle found burned out after the attack.

The stolen Falcon's number plates had been removed and attached to a 1970 green Valiant sedan used in the Hakoah Club bombing.

The bombing at the Israeli consulate general in William Street earlier on December 23 injured two people and caused significant damage.

Only one of the two gas cylinders in the Hakoah Club attack exploded, damaging only the underground car park where the vehicle was parked and other vehicles.

"It was quite clear that the intent was to drop that building," Det Chief Supt Gordon said.

He also asked that anyone with information come forward.

"We are confident people in the community know (something)," he said.

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US drone strike kills at least three

US drones targeting a militant compound have killed at least three people in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

The strike took place on Sunday in Tabbi village, five kilometres north of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan which is known as a bastion of Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants.

"US drones fired four missiles on a militant compound, killing three rebels," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Another security official confirmed the attack and casualties but said the identity of those killed in the strike was not immediately known.

Tabbi village, which is very close to the Afghan border, is said to be a hideout for militants belonging to several groups including those from Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Haqqani network.

The al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan, is one of the thorniest issues between Islamabad and Washington.

Washington has long demanded that Pakistan take action against the Haqqanis, whom the United States accused of attacking the US embassy in Kabul in September last year.

Pakistan has in turn demanded that Afghan and US forces do more to stop Pakistani Taliban crossing the border from Afghanistan to launch attacks on its forces.

Attacks by unmanned US aircraft remain contentious. They are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, which says they violate its sovereignty and fan anti-US sentiment, but American officials are said to believe they are too important to give up.

Casualty figures are difficult to obtain. A report commissioned by legal lobby group Reprieve in September estimated that between 474 to 881 civilians were among 2,562 to 3,325 people killed by drones in Pakistan between June 2004 and September 2012.

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Bikie expected to be extradited to NSW

The national leader of the Comanchero's is believed to be one of two men arrested in Queensland. Source: AAP

THE national leader of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang is believed to be one of two men arrested in Queensland.

Queensland Police have arrested a 28-year-old man and a 26-year-old-man at Hope Island on the Gold Coast following reports of a disturbance at a home on Sunday.

Police allege the 28-year-old man is a member of the Comanchero, with media reports indicating he is the national leader.

It is expected he will face extradition proceedings to NSW in coming days for an offence of affray.

The second man is also wanted by NSW Police on a warrant for an incident relating to a public-place shooting in Sydney in July 2012 and it is expected he will also face extradition proceedings.

Both men are in custody and will appear at Southport Magistrates Court on Monday.

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Walking Dead wins game of the year at VGAs

THE Walking Dead: The Game has taken a bite out of the Spike Video Game Awards.

Telltale Games' interactive episodic series based on the zombie comic book franchise was selected as game of the year at Friday's extravaganza, which honours outstanding achievements in the video game industry over the past year.

"Look, Walking Dead fans, this is obviously for you," beamed Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.

"Thank you so much. You guys watch the TV show. You read the comics. You play the video games. You make all this possible."

The Walking Dead also won prizes for best downloadable and adapted game, as well as best performance by a human female for Melissa Hutchison as young survivor Clementine and studio of the year for Telltale Games.

The Avengers star and shooter fan, Samuel L Jackson, hosted the much-censored 10th annual ceremony at Sony Pictures Studios, his fourth time hosting the show.

Gearbox Software's cartoony shoot-'em-up sequel, Borderlands 2, won the most awards - for best shooter, multiplayer, performance by a human male for Dameon Clarke as villain Handsome Jack and character of the year for chatty robot Claptrap.

Other titles winning multiple trophies included 343 Industries' sci-fi shooter Halo 4 as best Xbox 360 game and graphics; Queasy Games' musical platformer Sound Shapes as best handheld game and song for Cities by Beck; and thatgamecompany's artsy downloadable adventure, Journey, as best independent, PlayStation 3 game and original score.

For the first time, the VGAs were streamed on Xbox Live, the online service for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. During the ceremony, online viewers could vote on what songs and clips would be played during the VGAs.

The winners of most categories were chosen by an advisory council, while viewer votes selected character of the year and most anticipated game, which went to Grand Theft Auto V.

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Rioters clash with police in China

POLICE in a southern Chinese city bordering Vietnam have clashed with thousands of rioters who were protesting against excessive brutality meted out to a suspected smuggler.

The incident occurred on Friday in Dongxing city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with rioters destroying numerous police and border patrol vehicles and clashing with security forces, local police said in microblog postings.

"Five policemen were lightly injured and nine anti-smuggling vehicles were damaged ... no one (else) at the scene was injured or killed," the Fangchenggang prefecture public security bureau, which oversees Dongxing, said on its microblog site late on Friday.

"During the incident the police did not adopt overly violent behaviour."

According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, as many as 10,000 people joined in the rioting and more than 20 police and customs vehicles were smashed or burned.

Up to 100 people were "killed or injured" during clashes, it said.

Increasing numbers of anti-riot police and security forces arrived in Dongxing on Friday.

The rioting erupted after locals on a busy street saw a motorcyclist being treated brusquely by anti-smuggling police after their vehicle crashed into him, authorities and the centre said.

"Some people in the crowd thought the motorcyclist was dead and they refused to let the police vehicles leave ... they began overturning and torching police cars," officials said.

Police said about 1000 people were at the riot, but only a few engaged in lawless behaviour.

Photos posted online showed a line of overturned police and government vehicles, some on fire, and a tense line of riot police confronting crowds.

Calls to Dongxing government and police went unanswered on Saturday.

Academics estimate China saw 180,000 protests last year over a wide range of issues, including corruption, government-backed land grabs, police brutality and unpaid wages.

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