One killed in clashes in southern Yemen

One person has been killed in an exchange between security forces and suspected insurgents in Yemen. Source: AAP

ONE person has reportedly been killed and three injured in an exchange of fire between security forces and suspected secessionist insurgents in southern Yemen.

The independent website Yemen News, citing medical sources, said on Saturday the dead man was a passer-by caught in the crossfire between the two sides in the southern port city of Aden.

However, officials in the separatist Southern Movement said he was one of its supporters and accused police of killing him.

Meanwhile, insurgents suspected of affiliation to the Southern Movement torched stores owned by northerners in the southern city of Hadramawt, reported Yemen News.

"They attacked my store, claiming I belong to the occupation forces," the site quoted a shop owner as saying.

The unrest came two days after three people were killed and dozens injured in a crackdown by police at an anti-government protest in Aden.

The Southern Movement calls for independence or autonomy for the former Marxist republic of South Yemen, which merged with more populous North Yemen in 1990.

Aden was the capital of the former South Yemen and is a stronghold of secessionists.

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Palestinians hurt in West Bank clashes

Three Palestinians have been wounded in clashes with Jewish settlers in the northern West Bank. Source: AAP

THREE Palestinians have been wounded in clashes with Jewish settlers from a wildcat settlement near a village in the northern West Bank.

Settlers from Esh Kodesh clashed with Palestinians from Qusra village, south of Nablus, on Saturday, throwing rocks at them and destroying olive trees that belonged to them, according to witnesses and Palestinian security sources.

One Palestinian was hit by a live round fired by the settlers, and the two others by rubber bullets shot by Israeli security forces who arrived on the scene.

A military spokesman said the clashes had broken out "between around 150 Palestinians and 25 Israelis from the West Bank who were throwing stones," adding that the security forces were on the scene.

Confrontations have multiplied this year between Esh Kodesh settlers and Palestinians living nearby.

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Bus crashes into Indian restaurant

A BUS has collided with three cars before plowing into a popular Indian restaurant in Brisbane's West End.

Ten people suffered minor injuries in the accident on Melbourne Street, according to a Department of Community Services spokeswoman.

Traffic is likely to be affected in the busy entertainment precinct.

More to come.

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Ex-Canada envoy offended by Affleck film

THE Canadian former ambassador to Iran who protected Americans at great personal risk during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis says it will reflect poorly on Ben Affleck if he doesn't say a few words about Canada's role if the director's film Argo wins the Oscar for best picture.

But Ken Taylor - who said he feels slighted by the movie because it makes Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics in the rescue of six US citizens caught in the crisis - is not expecting it.

"I would hope he would. If he doesn't than it's a further reflection," Taylor said.

"But given the events of the last while I'm not necessarily anticipating anything."

Taylor kept the Americans hidden at the embassy in Tehran and facilitated their escape by getting fake passports and plane tickets for them.

He became a hero in Canada and the US afterwards. The role he played in helping the Americans to freedom was minimised in the film.

"In general it makes it seem like the Canadians were just along for the ride. The Canadians were brave. Period," Taylor said.

Affleck's thriller is widely expected to win the best picture trophy.

Two other high-profile best picture nominees this year, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, have also been criticised for their portrayal of some factual issues.

Affleck said in a statement on Friday night he thought his issue with Taylor had been resolved.

"I admire Ken very much for his role in rescuing the six houseguests. I consider him a hero. In light of my many conversations as well as a change to an end card that Ken requested I am surprised that Ken continues to take issue with the film," he said in a statement.

"I spoke to him recently when he asked me to narrate a documentary he is prominently featured in, and yet he didn't mention any lingering concerns."

Taylor noted that former US President Jimmy Carter appeared on CNN on Thursday night and said "90 per cent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian", but the film "gives almost full credit to the American CIA".

Carter also called Argo a complete distortion of what happened when he accepted an honorary degree from Queen's University in Canada in November.

"I saw the movie Argo recently and I was taken aback by its distortion of what happened because almost everything that was heroic, or courageous or innovative was done by Canada and not the United States," Carter said.

Taylor said there would be no movie without the Canadians.

"We took the six in without being asked so it starts there," Taylor said. "And the fact that we got them out with some help from the CIA then that's where the story loses itself. I think Jimmy Carter has it about right, it was 90 per cent Canada, 10 per cent the CIA."

He said CIA agent Tony Mendez, played by Affleck in the film, was only in Iran for a day and a half.

The movie also makes no mention of John Sheardown, a deputy at the Canadian embassy who sheltered some of the Americans.

Taylor said it was Sheardown who took the first call and agreed right away to take the Americans in. Sheardown recently died and his wife, Zena, called the movie disappointing.

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Volunteer firefighter dies in WA blaze

A VOLUNTEER firefighter has died while battling a blaze southeast of Perth.

The man was killed in a bushfire at Quindanning, near Williams, about 150km southeast of Perth, a Worksafe spokeswoman said.

Police can't access the area where he died because the fire is still burning and it's unsafe to do so, she said.

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Wanted man 'armed and dangerous'

Police are searching for an armed man in connection with the death of a Sydney factory worker. Source: AAP

POLICE are searching for an "armed and dangerous" man they believe killed a factory worker in a fit of rage outside his Sydney workplace.

Gordon Cramp, 37, has an arrest warrant out on him for murder following the death of a 65-year-old man in Dunheved on Thursday morning.

The victim's body was found in the yard of a factory on Links Road at 5.30am (AEDT).

Cramp is believed to be armed and dangerous and police are warning the public not to approach him.

He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 165cm tall, with a thin build and short dark hair.

St Mary's Local Area commander Superintendent Ray Filewood told AAP on Friday that Cramp worked at the factory last year but was laid off.

It's thought he was looking for another man who held a senior position at the factory but instead attacked the 65-year-old man.

"It appears in a fit of rage he's fatally wounded this chap. There doesn't seem to be any provocation to it.

"That's why we have concerns for him being in the community," Supt Filewood said.

He said Cramp was known for carrying knives and in the past had possessed firearms.

Supt Filewood said Cramp was still believed to be in the area of St Mary's, Penrith, Mt Druitt or Hawkesbury.

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Man shot in the face at Mount Gravatt

Police respond to reports of a man being shot in Mount Gravatt this afternoon. Picture: Nine News

A MAN has been shot in the face at a Mount Gravatt housing commission home that neighbours say was well known to police.

A man and a woman emerged from the Norton St home with their hands in the air around 2.30pm, according to a neighbour who asked not to be named.

Police ordered the pair to lie on the ground, the neighbour said.

She later emerged to find two police in her front yard, who remained there for about an hour "with their guns pulled".

"They told me, don't come out here, there's been an incident," she said.

"I went inside and watched Judge Judy."

Police respond to reports of a man being shot in Mount Gravatt this afternoon. Picture: Nine News

A police spokesman said a woman, 44, and a man, 24, from Wishart,  were assisting with inquiries.

The shooting victim, 31, was rushed to Princess Alexandra but was not critically injured, according to ambulance crews.

Doreen O'Brien, who lives on Perkins St behind the house involved in the shooting, told The Courier-Mail that SERT officers stormed into her property and took over her backyard for about an hour.

"We had up to eight of the SWAT team in our yard," she said.

"They had bulletproof vests, guns on their legs and hips - they were well and truly geared up.

Police respond to reports of a man being shot in Mount Gravatt this afternoon. Picture: Nine News

"Apparently a chap shot another one in the mouth and then he barricaded himself in the home."

Another neighbour, two houses away from the shooting, said: "I've been looking after my one-year-old grandson today."

 Emergency services were called to the Norton Street residence about 2.10pm.

Police said the victim was standing outside the house when he was shot once in the face following a suspected dispute.

Police have the shooter in custody and have cordoned off the scene while the investigation continues. 

Meanwhile, police have been called to another shooting at Winchester Terrace,  Pimpama on the Gold Coast.

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No decision made on whale hunt: Japan

The Japanese whaling season could be cut short after a dramatic clash on the high seas. Source: AAP

JAPANESE officials insist no decision has been made to cut short the country's Southern Ocean whaling season after a dramatic clash with Sea Shepherd vessels.

Japan's whaling fleet was forced to abandon a refuelling operation on Wednesday after a series of collisions with the conservation activist group's boats.

Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson said whaling had been suspended and he didn't expect the remaining 18 days of the season would see any hunting.

But Japan's Consul-General in Melbourne, Hidenobu Sobashima, said that comment was wide of the mark.

"That is not correct," Mr Sobashima told AAP.

"We have temporarily suspended refuelling activities but not more and not less than that."

Asked if the season would continue, Mr Sobashima said: "I'm not in a position to explain the detail of the movements of the whaling fleet."

News agency AFP also quoted a Japanese Fisheries Agency official in Tokyo saying the whaling program would continue.

Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR), which co-ordinates the annual hunt, was yet to comment.

Mr Sobashima said Japan had protested to the embassies of Australia and The Netherlands in Tokyo, but would not respond to federal environment minister Tony Burke's comment that whaling was in "flagrant violation" of international law.

"However, I'd like to say that what is being done is lawful in accordance particularly with article eight of the international convention for the regulation of research whaling," he said.

Sea Shepherd said its three vessels in the area - the Steve Irwin, Bob Barker and Sam Simon - were rammed by the Nisshin Maru, but Mr Sobashima laid the blame with the conservation group.

"It's the Sea Shepherd who are endangering the life and property of the crew and the safe navigation of the sea and therefore the Sea Shepherd activities are illegal and impermissible," he said.

"It's the Sea Shepherd vessels who approached the Japanese vessel and collided."

Captain Watson rejected that version of events.

"Their argument is that we hit their fist with our face," he said.

"It was more like a case of road rage."

Mr Sobashima said Sea Shepherd's claim the Japanese fleet had been illegally refuelling was false.

As the Greens repeated their call for an Australian naval ship to be sent to patrol the area, Prime Minister Julia Gillard continued to rule it out, saying it would put Australian personnel at risk.

"When did we become the nation that apparently has got the capacity to police every ocean in the world?" she told reporters in Adelaide.

Sea Shepherd estimates only 12 whales have been caught so far this season, while Mr Sobashima said figures were not available.

The Consul-General said he was confident Australia's case at the International Court of Justice to ban the annual hunt would not succeed.

"We believe that what we are doing is lawful, therefore the International Court of Justice would favour the Japanese position," he said.

Japan claims it conducts scientific research that is lawful under an International Whaling Commission Ban, and is continuing a cultural tradition.

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Young Indian sisters raped and murdered

POLICE say three sisters aged between six and 11 were raped and murdered before their bodies were dumped down a well in western India.

The bodies of the three schoolgirls were found last week, two days after they went missing on February 14 from their home in the Bhandara district of Maharashtra state, police superintendent Aarti Singh said on Wednesday.

"The bodies of the three young girls were found in a well, with their schoolbags and footwear," Singh told AFP by phone from Nagpur, adding they were aged six, nine and 11.

"The post-mortem has confirmed that the girls were raped and then murdered."

No arrests have been made but Singh said four people had been detained for questioning and investigations were still under way.

Family members said the girls went to look for their mother who was out of the house and no one heard from them again.

The incident led to protests by villagers, Singh said, echoing angry rallies in the capital New Delhi after the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in December.

That incident sparked a nationwide debate about the treatment of women and girls and their safety in India.

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Union chief 'pub thug' threatens Newman

File picture. Former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh at the 2009 Australian Workers Union National Conference with then AWU Assistant National Secretary Ben Swan (left) and AWU National President Bill Ludwig. Picture: Brendan Radke Source: Gold Coast Bulletin

A TRADE unionist has threatened to "take down" Queensland's premier over his government's cuts to public service jobs and workers' rights.

In a fiery address to the Australian Workers' Union National Conference on the Gold Coast on Wednesday, newly-elected Queensland branch secretary Ben Swan let loose over the Newman government's industrial relations policies.

Mr Swan attacked Premier Campbell Newman over his decision to sack 14,000 public sector workers.

But he was most vocal about amendments made to legislation last year that stripped job security and no-contracting-out clauses from public servants' work agreements.

The union is taking the matter to the High Court after exhausting other legal options.

Mr Swan described the move as an "absolute disgrace" and said it would not be tolerated in the private sector.

"This is a premier that knows no bounds, but he is a premier that will be taken down," he told delegates.

"I can guarantee him that.

"I'm coming for you, Campbell. I'm not going to miss you, brother."

Mr Swan said the Newman government's attitude towards workers' rights was representative of conservative governments across the country.

He said a date was yet to be set for the union's High Court challenge.

A spokesman for Mr Newman said Mr Swan's comments were indicative of everything that is wrong with the ALP.

"They are the language of a drunken bar-room thug, not those of a holder of official office," he told AAP.

It was not an isolated attack. On Tuesday, the same union official called Mr Newman "arrogant and indifferent" over comments the Queensland premier made last year about public service job cuts - then likened the Premier to excrement.

Mr Swan made the remark while speaking to a resolution condemning the cuts at the AWU national conference on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

Mr Swan was alluding to comments Mr Newman made last year in describing the process of cutting 14,000 public service jobs as getting "the poopa scoopa out" to clean up after Labor's excessive hiring.

Mr Newman had made the analogy while apologising for the anxiety caused by the cuts.

Mr Swan told union delegates: "I would return the favour to Newman on behalf of all public sector workers in this state by calling him for what he is, an arrogant and indifferent t---.

"He disgraced the position of premier."

Mr Swan also accused Mr Newman of lying to the public in the lead-up to last year's state election, which the Liberal National Party won in a landslide.

"When Newman said that the public sector had nothing to fear from him, he lied," Mr Swan said.

"When he said he was not a right-wing ideologue, he lied."

AWU delegates passed the resolution.

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Man jailed for life over Qld house fire

A QUEENSLAND man has been sent to jail for life for setting fire to his ex-girlfriend's house in a jealous rage, killing two people and seriously injuring his former lover.

Craig Anthony Leonard, 30, was given a minimum non-parole period of 20 years in the Queensland Supreme Court in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Leonard pleaded guilty to murdering Nicholas David Spohn, 23, and Jennifer Anne Bachmann, 43, in April 2011.

He also pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to his ex-girlfriend Rina Linda Mayall, then 24.

The court heard Leonard set fire to Ms Mayall's house north of Brisbane while she was in bed with her new boyfriend, in a jealous fit fuelled by drink and drugs.

Months earlier she ended her eight-month relationship with Leonard and rebuffed attempts to reconcile, Crown Prosecutor Michael Byrne SC said.

After drinking heavily and injecting amphetamines, Leonard drove to the Beachmere house on the night of April 17, and set a mattress under the home alight using petrol.

The house caught fire and Ms Bachmann and Mr Spohn, who were asleep, died of smoke inhalation.

Ms Mayall jumped from a verandah and broke her back.

Mr Byrne told the court Leonard later told police he just wanted to "put the wind up" his ex-girlfriend and "f*** her up financially".

In a statement, Mr Spohn's mother, Erika Varga, said their family had been robbed of a life with their son.

"We will never see him, hold him, hug him and tell him how much we love him," it read.

Ms Bachmann's sister, who cannot be named, told the court through tears how her sister was so badly burned DNA tests were needed to identify her.

In sentencing, Justice James Douglas said there was evidence to suggest Leonard's crime was a stupid act brought on by intoxication, but that didn't detract from its seriousness.

"To describe it as stupid or senseless is to severely understate the effect of what you have done," he said.

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Aboriginal man had police assault record

A YOUNG Aboriginal man who was allegedly bashed and falsely accused by police had assaulted an officer less than a year before, a police misconduct inquiry has been told.

The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) is looking at allegations that officers in Ballina, on the NSW far north coast, bashed Corey Barker in custody and later accused him of attacking them, after he intervened in an altercation between police and two of his friends in January 2011.

He was serving a nine-month suspended sentence for assaulting police at the time of the incident.

Mr Barker, now 24, pleaded guilty to the assault, resisting arrest and using offensive language in a street at nearby Byron Bay in 2010.

Court documents state that he pushed an officer when a wine bladder was pulled from his grip, then swung violently and swore, before a vicious struggle ensued on the ground.

He later spat on one officer but told the PIC it was an accident.

The inquiry was also told Mr Barker had been convicted in 2008 of bashing his best friend because he'd been talking to his girlfriend and that he'd had anger issues as a teenager.

CCTV footage showed him repeatedly punching Mitchell Clark in the head before flinging him to the ground and continuing the assault.

Mr Barker pleaded guilty and was given a 12-month good behaviour bond.

On Tuesday, lawyer Robert McIlwaine, representing one of the officers in the 2011 incident, asked Mr Barker if he had a problem controlling his anger.

"As a kid, yes," Mr Barker replied.

He said he had first sought counselling when he was 17 and was taking prescribed anti-depressants at the time of the incident.

"Once you were tackled from the side (by police), you lost your temper," Mr McIlwaine said of Mr Barker's intervention in the confrontation between police and his friends.

The case was referred to the PIC after CCTV footage from inside Ballina police station contradicted testimony from officers, and a magistrate found they had lied about the incident.

Mr Barker said when his mother visited him at the police station one officer made a lewd gesture while standing behind her.

"I saw an officer behind doing a gesture, pretending to squeeze her arse," he told the inquiry.

"They were just trying to aggravate me."

Four officers then attempted to move him from the cage to another room, intending to take him to a cell down the hall.

"They had shoved me through the door ... to provoke me," he said.

Police falsely claimed he had punched Senior Constable David Hill on the nose in that incident.

Senior Constables Hill and Ryan Eckersley and Constables Luke Mewing and Lee Walmsley gave court evidence about the punch.

The CCTV footage showed the officers wrestling Mr Barker to the ground, kicking him in the head and kneeing him in his side.

The officers handcuffed him and dragged him along the floor down to the cells with his arms in a vertical position.

"It had to be the top of the cake for pain in that incident," Mr Barker said.

He suffered injuries to his face, neck, arms and hips.

The inquiry continues on Wednesday.

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Homes believed lost in Melbourne fire

A 51-year-old man has been seriously injured while fighting a fire in Victoria's southwest. Source: AAP

HOMES are believed to have been destroyed in out-of-control grassfires in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

Emergency warnings are in place for Epping, Campbellfield and Somerton on both sides of the busy Hume Freeway.

Victoria's Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley told ABC Radio an undetermined number of homes are believed to have been lost.

A CFA spokeswoman said it was a large fire that was affecting different areas.

A watch and act alert is in place for residents in parts of Epping, Lalor and Thomastown, which are expected to be impacted by a fast-moving grassfire of 1600 hectares within the next two hours.

Roads were jammed with cars as fires burned on both sides of the Hume Freeway, Mr Lapsley said.

"Roads are gridlocked out in that area," he said. "People are either trying to get out or get home."

He said the incident controller had asked people to find a safe place where they were, because he knew that asking people to go on the roads would only make the situation worse.

Mr Lapsley said the fire would be travelling.

"It will be spotting, throwing embers forward," he said. "It's running down on the Hume Freeway. It follows close to the Merri Creek."

Significant smoke over the area is impacting on the highway.

About 70 fire trucks and six helicopters are fighting the blaze.

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Baillieu urges action on A-League thugs

Victoria's premier has called for lifetime bans for thugs who misbehave at Melbourne A-League games. Source: AAP

THUGS rioting at Melbourne A-League games should be banned for life, Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu says.

Unruly soccer fans destroyed dozens of seats and lit flares at the Melbourne derby earlier this month, leaving a damage bill of thousands of dollars.

Flares were also set off at the Melbourne Victory game last weekend.

Mr Baillieu urged both Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart to work with Victoria Police to identify the offenders.

"I am a Melbourne Victory member myself and I am a sports fan, and I absolutely deplore what I have seen," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"It's just ugly, unacceptable, and sends absolutely the wrong message.

"Any more the clubs can do should be done. We will give them whatever support is necessary.

"These people have got to be out of the door, never get in, not banned for six months or 12 months, never get in."

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton said police were closing in on the offenders.

He said those responsible were known to police and had a history of disrupting public events across Victoria.

"They're known to us as people that do this sort of behaviour," Mr Ashton said.

"They do go out and try to cause disruption and not be focused on the event."

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